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Published: March 27th 2011
A couple of weeks after I moved back to Orland, Claudine came for a visit. I first met her and her friend Marie at a hostel in London, and the three of us ended up moving to a flat together in Edinburgh. Claudine and Marie were only in Scotland for three months, and after they left, I moved into a flat with Steven, an Englishman. The three of us had some fun times in Edinburgh, getting to know the city and the culture and the whisky 😊 That was back in 2008, and I hadn't seen her since, so I was super excited to see her. She's from Quebec, and taught me a lot about her homeland and the Québécois. I couldn't wait to show her my home. And since I just moved back after two years in Colorado, it was a refresher for me, as well!
Being the planner I am, I made lists and lists of stuff to do for her week here. I emailed them to her, asking her opinion and input, and somehow, managed to whittle them down to a manageable amount for a weeks trip!
We went downtown a lot, but I also showed her
around our south suburbs, mostly in the form of our bars!
One day we went to Navy Pier. We took the ferris wheel and got to see some pretty views of the city. I love the Tiffany stained glass exhibit inside the pier, so we walked around there before going on a boat tour of Chicago. Then we went to Water Tower place and shopped around a bit and I showed her the Water Tower. We stopped in the Hershey Store across the street to check out some of their huge chocolate bars.
Another day, the Field Museum was having one of their free days, so of course we went! You know me and taking advantage of free stuff!! We went to Grant Park and Millennium Park to check out the bean.
She got to experience both great baseball teams in Illinois... The Sox and The Windy City Thunderbolts. ...you weren't actually thinking i'd take Claud to a cubs game, were you? no way! The Thunderbolts are a minor league team about ten minutes away from our house. We went with a group of people and then hit some bars. Claudine got to hear my friend Dave
sing the National Anthem at the thunderbolts game (he's awesome!) and then we went to a karaoke bar where we might have been the only people under the age of 60! We made up for it though, by bar hopping to a couple of other bars in Palos Hills afterwards. Another night we went to Hollsteins in Tinley Park. Every bar we went to, all the guys loved Claudine's accent! lol
Another day, I made sure we stopped at White Castle so Claudine could try some authentic sliders. 😊 Then we went walking to another one of my favorite stops in the city, Graceland Cemetery. There's some awesome old graves and mausoleums in there, and I love walking around it.
All week long, my family had been talking up their annual "Karaoke Party" that was going to take place on Saturday. Originally, Claudine was scheduled to fly back a day earlier, but she decided to stay and change her flight. This was the first year I was going to be in town for the karaoke party, so I was excited, too! I always get to hear all the stories and am jealous of the drunken fun everyone has!
Claudine and I had gone out to the bars Friday night, to some bars in Orland and then ended the night at Jordans, down the street from me. We had a little
too much fun, and we were definitely paying for it Saturday! So maybe we didn't get wasted at the karaoke party, but it was still an awesome time!
I can't wait till I can afford to go to Quebec and visit Claudine and she can show me around her hometown!
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Claudine
non-member comment
Ouiiiiiiiiiii
Wow! I don't know if you've only just put this up but I'm so happy for the great memories! I can't believe it's been 7 months already. Also I'm sorry but according to Brits, I have an American accent... which means I don't have an accent in America :P Hehe can't wait till you come up North and visit me in my beautiful French city :) Cheers x