Chicago

First of all, for the family that have copies of the itinerary for our journey, we've put back our departure dates from Chicago and New Orleans by two days (and from Miami by one day) - we decided we would probably need more time in Chicago to do it justice. We're able to change the dates of any of the flights we've booked at no extra charge, as long as the routes are unchanged.

When we were planning our trip and deciding on the destinations in the US, Chicago was the one I mentioned without hesitation. I was really excited to come here.  It's surprising how small downtown Chicago is, only about 5 streets by 15. It's called The Loop, because of the loop of elevated railways the 'El' that services it and runs above the roads (reminds me of scenes from 'ER', which is based here). The 'El' is bloody noisy and looks quite ugly actually.   Within downtown you have all the high rises and the shopping malls. Most of all the other stuff is situated in the many neighbourhoods (77 altogether). We soon realised that we needed to head out a bit to see stuff, go to restaurants and get a taste of what Chicago is all about.  There's something about Chicago that makes you feel like you've got to work to 'see' it, it's not particularly user-friendly or accessible.

One evening we headed out to some of the recommended neighbourhoods - Greek 'Town' (really just a street), Little Italy (half a street) and Pilsner (Latino district), again just a street of taquerias (places that serve tacos). We walked about 5 miles through the 'hearts' of these areas and still felt like we were missing something. It wasn't particularly late, but the streets were deserted and a bit forlorn.   It's not all bad! Good things about Chicago - it's gleamingly clean, the skyscrapers sparkle, the sky (at least while we've been here) is blue and cloudless. Architecturally it's stunning. The city of Chicago suffered a fire in 1871 which razed all but a couple of the buildings in downtown to the ground. This means that everything is fairly new. The first skyscraper was born in Chicago. We went on a Architectural Cruise with a docent who talked us through some of the notable buildings along the river front. It was one of the highlights of our time here. Every building is unique, in contrast to New York. It's difficult not to keep comparing Chicago to New York (where we went a couple of years ago). The similarities seem to end at the skyscrapers. It definitely lacks the wow factor - Brad and I have found that the city lacks a certain 'something', it's a bit bland.   Chicago is on the fringe of huge Lake Michigan (you can't see the other side) and has two branches of a river running through it.  There are loads of bridges crossing the rivers, but not many sections where you can walk alongside them - at the time that most of the building was done in the city, the river was considered dirty and not pleasant to be around.  Newer developments embrace the river and provide access to it.  Interesting fact (or maybe not...) - the river in Chicago is the only one in the world that flows backwards (thanks to locks) - they flow from the lake, not into it.  Did I get that the right way round?   It's more than possible that if we weren't visiting Chicago as part of a long trip, we'd enjoy it more. There's lot to spend money on - theatre, gourmet restaurants, museums, music, comedy, sports. Maybe if we were allowing ourselves the budget to do these things, Chicago would be more of a draw. I would suggest coming in Summer though, some of the attractions have closed for the Winter at this time of year, such as Buckingham fountain. You need to wrap up warm - it's not called the Windy City for nothing. After the heat of California, it's can be shockingly cold here!

You have to try the local cuisine (when it suits us) of course, so we've sampled the traditional pizza pie, which is heart-stopping fare. It comes served in a deep pie dish with the dough stuffed in and up the sides. We've tried a couple while we've been here.  They were quite different, base-wise.  One was more like short crust pastry, like a quiche, and was slightly on the sweet side.  The other was more like traditional pizza dough, but was double-layered!  At both places we went to, we had to order the pizza as we entered the restaurant because (being so deep) it take 45 minutes to cook!  Plus, it takes about that long to get a table, these restaurants are so popular.  Giordano's provided us with one of those devices that vibrates and flashes when your table is ready - it was shaped like a pizza slice, which was pretty cool.  Brad never believed he'd be happy sharing a small pizza with me.  Yes, it's that filling!   The Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Springer shows are filmed here. Although we knew people book up to year in advance to be in the audience, we thought it would be worth a try to go to the studios. We headed to NBC studios in downtown and were told that Jerry is away, but we can see the Steve Wilkos new show being filmed. Now, anyone who's watched Jerry Springer will know who Steve is, particularly if I said 'Steve!, Steve!, Steve!' in a big deep voice. He used to be the massive bouncer on the show that would pull fighting people apart. He's lost lots of muscle and now hosts his own show in a similar vein. People who are at the end of the line and have tried to resolve their issues by every other means write in to the show and ask Steve to intervene and help sort out their family issues. The audience can come up to the stage and offer advice, relate the issues to their own experience, but it's not confrontational and violent (like Jerry Springer is). The show we were on featured a girl of sixteen who was pregnant with her third child and living at home. Her mum was chucking her out in 10 days - unless Steve could help them work it out. It was quite tame really. I don't even think the mother and daughter really worked things out at all, although they hugged and 'made up'. Brad and I were put on the front row. All the (prompted) clapping at the right time, nodding approval and looking sad/shocked/encouraging was hard work. We declined the offer to stay and watch another recording - they tried to coax us with free pizza.   We spent some time (about half an hour!) in the Museum of Contemporary Art. The most ridiculous exhibit was a male-female couple who looked like they were having fully clothed slow motion sex, even moving into positions on the floor. It was most bizarre! Funnily enough, it made the local tv news that evening, although they weren't allowed to show it. They had their clothes on, for God's sake! Americans can be so up-tight!

Chicago has a free zoo, which is a nice touch. We also went to the Nature Museum, which I only really wanted to go to because it has a butterfly 'haven'. You can walk among the 1000 butterflies in a greenhouse that's like a steam room. We came out a bit frazzled. Butterflies are nice until you see how they come out of a cocoon - hideous. Made us feel a bit yukky.

Sears Tower in Chicago used to be the highest building in the world and has an observatory.  I personally think it's cheating if buildings have bloody great big poles sticking out the top to add to the height!  We elected instead to visit the bar (free entrance) on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Centre, which is not quite so high, but has better views, apparently.  The Hancock has an observation deck two floors below the bar, which costs more than the price of a cocktail to visit and has longer queues.  The Lonely Planet has some very good advice!   My favourite thing about Chicago is the 'bean', a huge highly polished stainless steel sculpture at the fringe of Millenium Park. On the outside of it you can see the city reflected in it and if you walk underneath it and look up inside it's concavity you see lots of reflections of yourself. It's gorgeous.   Is there anybody still reading this?  I've think I've put myself to sleep.....best go now   x