Day 61 - Chicago

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I got up early, leaving everyone behind and headed over to Soldier Field for the tour. I was told that I didn't need to book in advance and to just turn up at 11am. I thought it best to arrive early just in case, and got there around 10ish only to be told to come back to the gate at 11am. I took a seat over by a police memorial for those killed in the line of duty in the city.

When 11am finally came around, there was a large queue now, and some school trips as well, as we waited around for an eternity before being let in to book our tour tickets.

Eventually our tour guide joined us and our tour finally started as we headed through a corridor and then on to a concourse, up some stairs and before us was the pitch and stands of Soldier Field itself. Goosebumps ran up my arms and spine briefly. Sadly <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bon Jovi had recently played the stadium so the pitch was still being re-laid so we couldn't go on it. Still the rest of the stadium, with the newest part the Skybox, looked so impressive and slightly futuristic.

We headed back below and made our way into the visitors changing room which was huge (well it has to be for all the members of a NFL team!) and in some seats were replica jerseys of some famous players who have played against the Bears including Brett Favre, Joe Nameth, Dan Marino and Joe Montana.

Next was the Skybox itslef, where its only $900 per game for a seat, food and a parking space! Here the view was impressive, and included the skyline of Chicago in the background. The seats were lush and the facilities were better than most homes. At this point I got a call from Todd. The main reason I was anxious for the tour to start was because we were attending the Cubs game that day at <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrigley Field which started at 1pm, and involved me travelling across the city to get there. He asked how much longer I was going to be, and if I could pick Kristina up from the hostel when heading to the stadium.

It seemed Kristina was not feeling well so had a lay in before heading to join the others at the game. My tour was almost offer, apart from seeing the original seats at the back of the original Soldier Field. As soon as it was over, I left quickly catch a cab back to the hostel. There I met up with Kristina and we headed to the subway round the block from the hostel and headed to <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrigley Field.

When we finally arrived, there was rain in the air and the game had just started. A topless Todd headed down to the bottom concourse to hand our tickets to us through the railings before we headed in ourselves. Very quickly we made our way up the stairs and out onto the bleaches that sit opposite the home plate. The place was packed, and the atmosphere was already high as we joined the 2nd inning with the game tied at zero.

Already Todd, Scott, Zach and Becca had had some drinks and I was soon encouraged to get my first one in as well. Back downstairs I had my ID checked and then giving a red bracelet before we headed back up top and get some beers. Again I had my ID checked but at least I had remembered to keep my passport on me at all times by this point of the tour (actually I learnt around Las Vegas to do so!) It seemed the red bracelet was so that stewards and officials could see who is of the right age to be having a beverage, but this didn't guarentee me free access to getting said beverage without further ID checks. It didn't really make sense to me, but hey it was a ball game and I had some catching up to do.

The centre field catcher, Marlon Byrd was encouraged to throw the ball he was tossing back and forth with right field into the bleachers, and finally obliged, tossing it in our direction. At first I wasn't concerned in getting the ball cos I didn't think it would come our way, but as the ball left the field into the stands, I quickly rose with the others and just missed it by fingertips. If I had got up sooner and used the bleacher I was sitting on that ball would have been mine!

Still no matter, the game itself was awesome, as I tried to get Todd and Zach to explain the rules of pitching to me. I was struggling to tell the difference between a strike and a ball but as we were on the other side of the stadium it's no wonder!

Despite the light drizzle on and off, the beer flowed, the home runs were scored and the Cubs thrashed the Brewers 15-3. "Go Cubs Go". "Hey Chicago, what do you say? Cubs are going win today?" What a catchy song played at the end, and what a fantastically awesome experience that day had been.

As the crowds left Wrigley in all directions we checked out the stalls and shops right by for a souvenir tee or jersey, where I ended up getting a blue tee with the Cubs badge on the front, and the name and number of Marlon Byrd on the back. After today I think we had all become Cubs fans for life.

The time was some point after 4pm so Annabel, Zach, Steve, Scott and Kylie and I decided to go out for dinner that evening. Eventually we came across a nice looking oriental restaurant and after a wait of 40 minutes we finally got a table. Sarah, Jess, Becca and Todd were taking in a <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shrek theatre show somewhere, Joanna and Kristina were doing their own thing, so was Sumi and Mark was meeting up with someone he knows or something else. We had all planned to meet up back at the hostel to go out somewhere later that evening.

Back at the restaurant we had a wonderful time eating and drinking, trying out everyone else's dishes and plying ourselves with more and more wine. It truly is a wonderful meal and with 5 wonderful new people in my life. The meal was topped off when I got a text from Zoe, and we had a brief chat, which was the best yet we've had. The six of us had decided not to meet the others as planned, so I headed outside to call Todd to let him know, only for him to say that he and the girls had changed their plans as well. I don't think Joanna, Kristina and Sumi were joining us anyway, and that just left Mark.

After dinner, the 6 of us headed for a walk taking in Madison Avenue, and we ended up going up the <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John Hancock Tower for another wonderful experience. At the top of the tower was a bar and restaurant and an almost panoramic view of the city. The floor was split into two levels with the main restaurant on the first level on one side of the building. Up the stairs and through a corridor to the other side was a lounge area and a square bar right slap bang in the middle. The place was already heaving, but this didn't stop us from heading to the nearest windows to look up against them to try and see the view of complete darkness and lit up skyscrapers lower down. The main intention was to just check out the view, but now that we were here, it would be rude not too order a drink or two and take in the whole atmosphere. So we found a booth near the entrance and after checking the impressive menu out, where all the cocktails looked inviting, we quickly decided to order a bottle of $60 <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moët and strawberries! What's more, when the waitress brought our order complete with a ice bucket, there was no serving it ourselves, no, the waitress showed off the bottle to us all, then carefully took the foil off the top, before popping the cork expertly, before pouring the lovely crystal liquid into our fancy glasses, finishing off by placing a strawberry in each one. The result was almost pure perfection, and with the impressive view what a perfect ending to a fantastic day.

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