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After breakfast in the hotel we headed out for a wander around Chicago. We started at Navy Pier which we discovered was under major reconstruction and really was a summer destination, as there was barely a soul to be seen. So on to find the start of Route 66 - the girls being particularly happy about the extra trekking to find it! After lunch the kids headed back to the hotel (it was freezing cold) and Clare and Nige went on to the Chicago Institute of Art. We had 2 hours before closing and wasted (!!) more than half of that looking at old stuff (Chinese, Roman, Byzantian etc) before getting to the good stuff - American Modern and Impressionist. We thought Washington DC had a good collection but the amount of paintings here was unbelievable. We found ourselves practically running to see as much as we could before getting tossed out at closing time! This is an amazing gallery and a must see if you are visiting Chicago.
Wednesday was ball game day. We had booked tickets to see the Chicago Cubs play St Louis Cardinals back in NZ. This was the second game of the season (it should have been the third but the game last night had been postponed until later in the season due to cold and rain). We arrived by train to Wrigley Field and the whole area outside the stadium was an explosion of noise and colour (mostly red and blue). After the girls bought Cubs tee shirts and donned them over their winter gear we headed up to our seats. The seats were high but had great views. The weather turned extremely cold (3 deg) and the wind was bitter. We hunkered down and stuck it out for the whole game until we felt the onset of hypothermia! Long enough to see the Cubs take a 2 - 0 lead which they held to. This was their first win of the season.
After getting back to our hotel for a break (which includes Nige's new found television pleasure - Velocity - a 24/7 channel dedicated to cars) we wandered down the Millenium Mile looking at shops and then found a Mexican restaurant called Chillies where we pigged out on Mexican food. Tomorrow it is back on the train for an over nighter to Grand Junction, Colorado, and the beginning of our little road trip. Chicago was great.
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