Chicago! Chicago!

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Day 63- Monday

What a day! Our last evening in Urgup, Cappodocia was spent having dinner in a lovely retaurant on a rooftop terrace. Down below was the express bus station. At eight our dining was interrupted by 5 young men down below lined up in front of the 8pm to Istanbul ( a vile 12 hour journey) singing the Turkish national anthem. The bus had to wait till they finished before it could move off! I could only assume that the five were farewelling one of their friends who was off on some international adventure, perhaps to somewhere like Insearch to study.

Monday morning, after sleeping badly, as one does before a big journey, we were awakened by the call to prayer from the minarets of the various mosques in the town. Our shuttle ride to the airport came at 6.30am. Then an hour's ride for an 8.50 flight. One hour to Istanbul. Then 4 hours to wait for our flight, with two of those spent queing and being processed. Three hours to Frankfurt! As we were about to land we looked at the onward boarding pass and realised that it was 4.10pm and it seemed to say that our boarding time for the next flight was 4.15!
So that was a bit of a panic and a rush. Luckily , as we raced through the terminals I checked an indicator board and learned that the actual departure time was not till 5.15 so we did have an hour to get from one terminal to the next (by train!) .

So finally we were on the last leg of the journey. Connie had been so excited and frantic all day. Nine hours to go! Finally, after flying over Iceland, Greenland and eastern Canada we caught sight of Lake Michigan and the great city of Chicago! It was just before sunset here so we had a clear view.

Christine, Connie's Chicago sister had organised everything perfectly. Connie's daughter Nora touched down from Melbourne about an hour later and at the same time another sister's daughter, Kat, arrived from Denver on her way east to resume her senior high school year next week. Connie's son Peter was already in Chicago with Christine. So what a great reunion. Christine had not seen Norah and Connie for 17 years! There was a car to pick us up...someone holding a sign with our names on it.
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Day 64- Tuesday

We all awoke early in our wonderfully comfortable beds in our suites at this gracious old hotel in the main street. Christine is renovating her house here so had to go off and check things with the builder (she lives half the year in Palm Beach so has. somewhere else to stay during renovations but has graciously come back here to stay with us and play tourists together) So we walked around for a bit and then took a double decker red bus tour all around the city to get our bearings. It was one of those hop on and off things which we had also done in Istanbul . So of course we hopped off at the Sears Tower. I don't normally like to go up in high places , but not wanting to disgrace Connie...stepped in to the elevator, took a firm grip of the wall rail, closed my eyes and wow! Soon we were up there on floor 101!What a spectacular sight!

The city is so huge and flat, being built on the prairie. I had no idea haw beautiful a city it was. Liz loved ind another freind was here last year and was most impressed. But nothing can prepare you for the amazing skyline. There are many many older high rise buildings as well as outstanding newere ones. They all seem to compete with each other for interst and beauty! Of course I found myself wishing for a better camera with which to capture a little of it.

But as with so many magnificent sights , it is impossible to do justice to it. So I just try to concentrate on remembering it and not just snapping all the time so I fail to experience the wonder of it . That evening we went to dinner in a nearby restaurant. It resembles the one where Michael works... classy Italian. But despite it's class you wouldn;'t believe the portion sizes! We foolishly ordered 6 main courses. I doubt that we could have finished 3! I had something relatively siomple...shrimp and asparagus risotto but could only finish half. It came in an oval dish 8 inches long! Poor Kat, who weighs about 104 pounds got a delicious chicken but it was an entire bird! We took the leftovers away in doggy bags, put them in the fridge and ate them the next day for lunch.

Day 65- Wednesday

We went on a boat trip to view the three arms of the river and particularly to enjoy the wonderful variety of architectual styles. In the evening Kat and I went to see one of the top shows running at the moment...Jersey Boys...the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It really was fantastic. The next night I went alone to see the other top show on which is Wicked. This is a latter day prequel to the wizard of Oz, with many ideas for sets and costumes from Harry Potter, I would say. Quite spectacular but not as thrilling as the Jersey boys.

Day 67- Friday

Nothing like variety in the program. Lying in bed contemplating our next move on Saturday to Cleveland I realised that I was not well enough for an 8 hour bus trip. ( All Amtrack trains booked out...this is Labor Day weekend and also the last weekend of the summer vacation) . I had not been feeling well since I arrived. It had started with dizziness in Turkey on the last morning. However despite the rigours of the three plane trips I was fine till I got here. Basically gastroenteritis with dizziness and a bit fluey. So we called the hotel doctor who advised that I go to North Western University Hospital Emergency room. ( What with it being a Friday before a long weekend and needing bloodtests etc) Sounds a bit dramatic, but not really. When they heard I had been travelling for 8 weeks in Asia and Turkey they gave me a face mask to wear in the waiting room! Within an hour of my arrival I was lying in a bed in a room in the non- critical emergency room. They gave me all kinds of tests and put me on an IV drip and kept me there for 6 hours . By then the results of some of the tests had come back and malaria had been eliminated. Probably just travellers gastro. Armed with two scripts I walked the four blocks back to the hotel. I was mainly feeling a bit dizzy. But it has all marred my enjoyment of Chicago of course.

I decided that I could not take the 8 hour bus trip nor could I arrive in Connie's siter-in-laws's house with some exotic illness and just ask to be allowed to go to bed. We discussed various options ...such as stya on in Chicago alone for a few days or fly to Cleveland and stay in a motel but Christine suggested that I fly to Palm Beach with her for a few days until I am feeling better and can join Connie and Norah in Boston. So no Cleveland or Niagra Falls for me!

This hotel is so interesting. Monday night when we arrived there were lots of people in evening dress including a lot of people attending an Orthodox Bar Mitzvah. Today there are lots of families going to the baseball. Kids in team shirts armed with catcher's mitts etc!

So not so much to report and not well reported as I am not feeling the best. Hopefully a few days in Palm Beach will set me right.

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Photos

Chicago skyline
From the top of the Sears tower 103rd floor!

Italian Restaurant
Supersize me! We should have only ordered 3 dishes, not 6.