So, my very first trip to the United States of America. As the flight
attendant on the flight from Calgary was giving step by step
instructions for turning off electronic devices, and then explaining how
to find your way around Chicago airport after "de-planing" (concluding
with "but you can always look at the signs"), I was beginning to wonder
what I was letting myself in for... Added to the fact that I hadn't
particularly enjoyed Wellington, Auckland or Calgary I was a little
apprehensive about our time in another city. Thankfully I was pleasantly
surprised and absolutely loved the place, phew! I think the fact that
the sun was shining and we're well and truly back in summer now
definitely helped! In three days we went from snow to almost 30 degrees -
quite a change!
Of course we stayed with another one of Kirsty's contacts, in the form of Rachel, an old housemate, and her husband Tom. They live in a suburb called Wheaton, out to the west, so we got to experience quiet suburban life as well as the hustle and bustle of the city. Again, something which I think helped me to cope with the experience! We split our time between going in to explore the city centre and enjoying places in the local area. It was great to be able to see things other than just the usual tourist sights and we were very well looked after by our excellent hosts.
Of course we stayed with another one of Kirsty's contacts, in the form of Rachel, an old housemate, and her husband Tom. They live in a suburb called Wheaton, out to the west, so we got to experience quiet suburban life as well as the hustle and bustle of the city. Again, something which I think helped me to cope with the experience! We split our time between going in to explore the city centre and enjoying places in the local area. It was great to be able to see things other than just the usual tourist sights and we were very well looked after by our excellent hosts.
Whilst we were there we caught the opening night of the summer
music festival where there are free concerts most evenings in
Millennium Park. The venue is a huge stage with an acoustic-enhancing
sculpture surround, which has permanent seating and then an open grass
area for people to sit too - a most wonderful facility. The concert was
great, the Grant Park Orchestra played Pomp and Circumstance, an Elgar
cello concerto and a symphony by Dvorak. Just in case anyone forgot
where they were there was a reminder in the form of the national anthem
at the beginning, where everyone stood up and sang along, or in our
case, just stood up and looked slightly bemused, whilst trying to decide
if it would be inappropriate to finish eating a brownie. The Americans
love a bit of patriotism!
Another very American experience was a trip to a baseball game, that really made me feel like I was in a film! We went to watch the Chicago Cubs versus the Boston Red Sox in an interleague match. We kitted ourselves out with Cubs T-shirts and got stickers and a "My first visit" certificate from the stadium so I think we can officially say we're fans now! Our basic understanding of the sport beforehand was "it's a bit like rounders" but by the end we had a much better idea of what was going on and even though the Cubs lost it was a very enjoyable experience. I didn't realise the game had started for ages as hardly anyone in the crowd was paying attention, they were too busy chatting (sorry, shouting) to each other and buying beer and hot dogs from the many sellers going round the stands. I thought the players were still warming up! As well as the customary national anthem before the game, we were also treated to the sight of Vince Vaughn coming out onto the pitch to throw a ball! Apparently he's from Chicago and was there to promote a new film. The most surreal moment of the whole thing was probably the "seventh inning stretch" where He then sang a random song and everybody stood up and went crazy, not really sure what was going on there!
During our stay we also sampled a delicious deep pan Chicago pizza (which is kind of like pizza in pie form!), went on a cycle tour of the city, had a drink at a bar on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center (it pains me to spell it like that, but when in Rome...), saw the impressively huge Buckingham Fountain and Chicago Bean (bean shaped shiny sculpture), walked along Navy Pier, went to the Art Institute and visited some exhibitions in the Wheaton area.
We went to the local Irish pub to watch the England vs. Sweden game and were the only two watching it as everyone else was more interested in the baseball or golf! Still, the extremely friendly barman cheered along with us when we scored. Tourists are clearly a rarity in Wheaton and Kirsty managed to utterly confuse the lady in the post office with her travellers cheques! I don't think she'd ever seen one before and couldn't get her head around why we expecting to be given US dollars for something that had an amount in British pounds written on it... Thankfully we were helped out by another customer who overheard the conversation and then drove us to the bank to try there instead. As she was so friendly and helpful we could forgive her comment of "So I take it you're mother and daughter then?"!! Not sure which one of us should be most insulted by that! I know I look young, but surely not that young! Anyway, after a bit more confusion Kirsty was eventually handed some dollars at the bank so that was the end of that adventure!
Another very American experience was a trip to a baseball game, that really made me feel like I was in a film! We went to watch the Chicago Cubs versus the Boston Red Sox in an interleague match. We kitted ourselves out with Cubs T-shirts and got stickers and a "My first visit" certificate from the stadium so I think we can officially say we're fans now! Our basic understanding of the sport beforehand was "it's a bit like rounders" but by the end we had a much better idea of what was going on and even though the Cubs lost it was a very enjoyable experience. I didn't realise the game had started for ages as hardly anyone in the crowd was paying attention, they were too busy chatting (sorry, shouting) to each other and buying beer and hot dogs from the many sellers going round the stands. I thought the players were still warming up! As well as the customary national anthem before the game, we were also treated to the sight of Vince Vaughn coming out onto the pitch to throw a ball! Apparently he's from Chicago and was there to promote a new film. The most surreal moment of the whole thing was probably the "seventh inning stretch" where He then sang a random song and everybody stood up and went crazy, not really sure what was going on there!
During our stay we also sampled a delicious deep pan Chicago pizza (which is kind of like pizza in pie form!), went on a cycle tour of the city, had a drink at a bar on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center (it pains me to spell it like that, but when in Rome...), saw the impressively huge Buckingham Fountain and Chicago Bean (bean shaped shiny sculpture), walked along Navy Pier, went to the Art Institute and visited some exhibitions in the Wheaton area.
We went to the local Irish pub to watch the England vs. Sweden game and were the only two watching it as everyone else was more interested in the baseball or golf! Still, the extremely friendly barman cheered along with us when we scored. Tourists are clearly a rarity in Wheaton and Kirsty managed to utterly confuse the lady in the post office with her travellers cheques! I don't think she'd ever seen one before and couldn't get her head around why we expecting to be given US dollars for something that had an amount in British pounds written on it... Thankfully we were helped out by another customer who overheard the conversation and then drove us to the bank to try there instead. As she was so friendly and helpful we could forgive her comment of "So I take it you're mother and daughter then?"!! Not sure which one of us should be most insulted by that! I know I look young, but surely not that young! Anyway, after a bit more confusion Kirsty was eventually handed some dollars at the bank so that was the end of that adventure!
Chicago was a great place to break up the epic journey across
Canada and we're looking forward to more American adventures in New
York! But for now it's back to Canada...
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