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Our flight to Chicago was only 4hrs, but because of the time difference it was about 10:30pm when we arrived. They had a good transport pass there called Ventura. It was $25 for 3 days unlimited travel on buses and trains but it also can be used as a cash card. So we each got one and caught the train to our hostel, which was about 15mins outside of downtown. Once we checked in we remembered it was a Friday night and the local area looked worth checking out. So we headed to the local beer garden and that's where I had my first taste of how much Americans love Aussies.
Most of the time they just wanted to hear us talk. Usually the first thing they say is how much that want to go to Australia but according to the locals, Americans only get 1-2 weeks paid leave per year, which is probably why you don't see a lot of yanks in Aust.
The next morning we got up and did a bit of sight seeing. I didn't have a huge to-see list for Chicago and I wanted to just wander more that race around seeing stuff. Anita and I had lunch (slept through breakfast) at a place called Harry Carey's, which was an Italian style place full of baseball memorabilia and pics of celebs that had been there. That seems to be a thing in America. They always have pictures of famous celebrities. Next we headed over to the Navy Pier, which I guess is like Southbank but out on a big rocky pier. There was a lot of construction going on while we were there plus it was really hot in the sun so we caught a cab to Millennium Park to meet up with Georgia and Sav. Chicago is very much an architecture's delight and there is some unusual art around. Things like a giant reflective bean and a fountain that sprays water out of the mouth of a face projected up onto it. So after my dose of culture Georgia and Sav headed off to shop and pointed Anita and I in the direction of a barber shop I was on the hunt for. Once I got my hair did, we headed back to our hostel room to sort out dinner. Chicago is home of the original deep dish pizza so we wanted to go to the restaurant where it all started but there was at least a 30min wait so we went to the next best deep dish pizza bar which is apparently Oprah Winfrey's favourite. Even though there was also a 30min wait here, they took our orders and sat us at the bar until a table was ready. This place is what I imagined a sports bar to look like. It had 3 TV's showing basketball, ice-hockey and baseball. Chicago deep-dish pizza is amazing with its quiche like base and over the top - toppings. I ate far too much but I couldn't stop myself!
After dinner we went to a bar on the 96th floor of a hotel that over looked the whole city. It's good fun to get dressed up and go to a nice bar like that because you aren't paying through the nose for drinks. I had a Hennessey Cognac that cost me $14.
The next day we had a well earned sleep in. Georgia had left early to go on a walking tour and Sav, Anita and myself went on the mobster tour of Chicago. They pick you up in a fancy VIP bus with fancy seats and tinted windows and drive you around Chicago and take you to famous spots where mobsters lived. We got out and wandered around the spot where John Dillinger was shot and killed by a very small government outfit called the FBI. We also took a drive by (haha get it?) of how and where Al Capone came to power. Mobsters of Chicago were viewed as public icons back in the day. It was a time of the depression and prohibition and people like Al Capone hated cops and sold alcohol in secret bars around the city. He was like a superhero; they just turned a blind eye when he murdered someone. Ironically after everything Al Capone had done, he was eventually charged for tax evasion.
For our final night in Chicago, we wanted to go and see some local blues so we caught a cab to a bar called B.L.U.E.S. (subtle right?) - sidenote catching cabs around big cities with 4 people is quite cheap, we haven't had a cab ride that has gone over $20 at all on this trip -.
So we pull up a seat in the bar and get a full hour and a half of pure blues. They did impromptu jams along with their originals and made sure everyone was laughing and having a good time. When they had finished we had a cha with them and bought one of their CD's.
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