Revenge Of The Bedbugs - Part II

---

Aaah, Chicago - what a fabulous city! We managed to land smack bang in the middle of the most gianormous 4-day outdoor Blues Festival in the world. Even better for our backpacking budgets .... it's FREE! (Free's real cheap). Playing the finale on Sunday night was the master of blues himself: B.B. King. (Pity we flew north at lunch time the very same day).

Chicago has an awesome vibe. We couldn't put our fingers on why, but it possibly had something to do with the multitude of bars, clubs, festivals, beaches, shopping strips and tropical-strength sun. It's a cultural mecca, bursting with architectural masterpieces (by Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry & Mies Van der Rohe to name a few). We were staying in the rather upmarket suburb of Lincoln Park, even witnessing a movie being made round the corner from our hostel. And of course Penny was on constant Oprah-alert. (Dave decided to disown her at this point).

Must mention the phenomenal Chicago-style Pizza. Based on the concept of a pie, the damn things are an entire meal in one slice.

On the downside, we appear to have been cursed. Errupting in those all-too-familiar itchy red welts (as previously seen in Cradle Mountain Tasmania), we realised we were victims of a repeat bedbug attack. Bastards!!! We were unsure whether the little buggers got us in Chicago or in our 5-star hostel experience in New York (the latter more likely). We exchanged rooms in Chicago just in case & sent the poor hostel ownder into a flurry of panic.

---