Chicago grows on you. First impressions were not good as you drive north through the poor ghetto areas of south Chigago. It's the same with the downtown area. All the skyscrapers seem to block out the sun and make the streets look dark and deserted. However once you get to find your way around it is actually a great city.

We arrived in Chicago on Friday. Gwen had only booked the hotel the previous evening via the internet. It was a fantastic place called the Write Inn located in the lovely district of Oak Park about 10 miles west of the city centre. For some reason we got one of their signature rooms which included a small dining room and kitchen , vanity unit and a whirlpool bath !And all this for $75 per night. The Ernest Hemingway museum and childhood home were in the same block as the hotel and Frank Lloyd Wright's former house and now museum was only 3 blocks away.

We spent 4 days in Chicago. One very hot day we went on a fascinating architectural boat trip on the river covering the history and design of the numerous skyscrapers. We then took a walk along Navy Pier which is how I imagine Blackpool would appear on a hot summer's day. Another day we walked around Chicago's newest attraction Millennium Park (see photo of its most popular feature the metal bean) and then hired bikes (this time with brakes and gears to Gwen's relief) and cycled part of the 18 mile track which runs alongside Lake Michigan. We also attempted to go up the Hancock Tower which has great views of the city. I am a bit scared of heights so was not too disappointed when we were turned away because of a private function.

The final day we succeeded in getting to top of the Seers Tower , the tallest building in America (and the world until the Petronas Towers in KL were built about 10 years ago). There are 103 floors and I was not looking forward to the journey to the top but it was fairly painless and the views were spectacular (see photos) Evenings were always spent in the Oak Park area. Although the green line train service into town was good we were warned it could be a problem at night so we played safe. We tried both Greek and Italian restaurants and the final evening went to local cinema to see the film Eagle Eye - not really my cup of tea.

Could have stayed longer in Chicago but our 4 days were up and it was time to move on.