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Chicago from the air
View from top of the Sears tower Chicaaaagggoooo…
Chicago was a long 12 hours from Toronto on the bus via Detroit ( I didn’t see eminem) and involved another delightful stop at customs, this time it was the Americans asking the questions. It took Fran ages to get through, they read loads of her journal, probably thought she looked dodgy..! Only joking. Anyway, arrived in Chicago late as usual but got checked in ok. Very expensive for a hostel, but we both had nice rooms, very spacious with an attached bathroom-which is handy for midnight loo runs!
First thing on the agenda, as always it seems with large US cities, is to go up something large and we chose the Sears Tower over the Hancock Observatory because it was taller! Fantastic views of the city and the surrounding suburbs at the top of what is now the tallest building in the Americas. The architecture in Chicago is amongst the best we have seen over here and the skyline is awesome. The best way to see it and learn about the history of Chicago’s skyline (apart from going up a large building!) is via a boat tour, and we went on an excellent one. Our guide was
ooooh nice boy
Great pose next to the original spot of the Chicago Trade Center! really informative and we learnt a great deal about the history of Chicago’s architecture, plus she was sporting an awesome jumper-not too dissimilar to a Noel Edmonds classic from back in the day! Anyway-we also went on a another boat tour, this time to see the harbour and get a different view of the City. This too was informative and we also met a couple of guys on the boat from England who told us to go to San Francisco (which we are!) as they loved it, I think everyone we have spoken to has loved San Fran! We also went to Navy Pier which too be honest is like a pier in England with loads of eateries and over-priced attractions, we didn’t spend long there.
The first whole day was quite tiring and so in the evening we went to a British themed pub and had a nice meal and a couple of drinks. I had some strongboooooo (that’s for the Norwich boys! Oooooo!) which was nice to have after drinking beer all the time! The evening was spent conversing with some cool people, I wandered around the hostel and chatted to a Canadian lady and a random
art student who were both interesting and who kept me up til gone 2 in the morning! That wasn’t a good idea as me and Fran had put our name’s down for the walking tour of Chicago the next day, Fran was awake and ready, I wasn’t-not good. Struggled through it though and it wasn’t that bad. There wasn’t an awful lot of ‘walking’ done which was quite ironic! We learnt about the Buckingham fountain (one of the worlds largest), millenium park, the ‘Loop’ area, government buildings and about the main library (mike and Vicki-you would have enjoyed the library-it was a huge building, really impressive!). The tour was good in the respect that we met some awesome people again, three guys from England who we spent the rest of the day with. Kieran, Rob and Alex….hope you guys are all ok! We went out for some authentic Chicago pizza at a place called Giordano’s, and let me tell you…the pizza’s we have n England called ‘Chicago Town Pizza’s’ are nothing like the beast we had! Huge pizza, I didn’t even finish my two slices….although that might have been due to the pitchers of beer we had..!! Ma-I promise I’m
Random bronze statues
Another random pose with some bronze children...! eating well….and not living off pizza and beer!! Had to do the pizza thing though-especially here in Chicago. We all ended up in a pub and we met a couple of aussie guys from the hostel in there and that was a nice way to finish the day…but it didn’t end there! A stop at an off licence later and we were back in the hostel drinking cheep beer and chatting! Me and Kieran were up til fourish (medal) and we must have been fairly gone because if you look at the photos there is one of him on a cow…! Quality day-cheers you lot!
We had to do something cheap on our last day so we did the zoo at Lincoln Park which was free! As far as free zoo’s go this was amazing, top class. The gorillas were by far the best-as it was raining (very hard, got soaked on the way there) they were inside and you could get so close to them. Me, Fran and Kieran had an awesome time there, and as it was free it was even better! We walked back down Magnificent Mile through Millennium park which was good as we got
to see the Buckingham fountain illuminated which is quite a sight. Forgot to mention the cinema after the zoo, we saw Silent Hill which was ok…wouldn’t recommend it but then I haven’t played the computer game the film is based on so what do I know!
Other random stuff included …
Someone stealing one of my heavy duty plastic bags…! (not really worth it!)
The hostel had a free ping-pong table but the bats didn’t have any rubber on-how annoying is that…I couldn’t whip out any of my moves!
There was a random man wandering around in checked Py’s and a white t-shirt with bed hair all day long, he freaked us out quite a bit…when me and Kieran were drinking late in the kitchen he would come in get some ice in a glass and just shake it…weird!
Oh and for once not getting lost on the subway! Didn't make it onto the El train which was a shame.
Anyway, we are in Houston now and I’m a bit behind as I’ve got to do a blog for Memphis as well, sorry for being behind!! Will get up to speed soon! May the best
Cheesy pose at Giordano's
Alex, Me, Kieran, Fran and Rob having pizza team win 2mrow, I don’t think Spurs will get fourth but here’s hoping! Hope everyone is well and will write my Memphis blog for you all soon!
Take it easy and as Jerry Springer would say…’take care of yourselves and each other’.
Peace
Thommo
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sam
non-member comment
heyman!
alrite dude! good to hear your haven a sweet time! me jay rich n tits are still in new zeland at the mo, some pretty cool views, propa lord of the rings stlye! i keep expecting to get attacked by an oark! trecked up a glacier yesterday with no ropes, i thort at one point there was a high probability of me dying but we live to tell the tale! oh well look forward to hearing bout the rest of your travels soon mate, peace out, sam