Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Simon & Kim's Global Adventure
Arriving at the Greyhound in Chicago we had to make our across the city to catch a tram to our hostel. Walking through we spotted loads of camera's and crew members before passing several Transformers trucks and realised that Transformers III was currently being filmed. Si immediately widened his eyes searching for Megan Fox but unfortunately the area filming was occurring was under strict security and surveillance so we were allowed no where near.
Trams in Chicago were above street level so we had a brief glimpse of the city beneath us as we made our way to our hostel. The hostel was massive and resembled many we had stayed in when in Australia. After a quick shower we put our bags in storage and went for a wander. Down the road was a road with a supermarket, shops and many bars so we bought lunch and headed to the park for a picnic. The park was pretty large and had several small lakes and a small free city zoo in the middle. For a small zoo there were plenty of animals, although their pens weren't the best we have seen on our travels. Our favourite animal here was the Polar Bear who was very lively jumping in and out of the water and swimming around. After the zoo we walked to the nearby beach on Lake Michigan which was busy and average. Behind the beach the city buildings dominated the skies. We chilled on the pier watching people and paddle boarders. After going back to the hostel and getting into our room we grabbed some tea and had a few drinks.
A short tram-ride the next morning took us back into the city. We followed the Lonely Planets walking tour and managed to see most the sites. Not long after we set off our bellies rumbled so we stopped off in a hot-dog store for possibly the best hot-dog in America. There was such a wide variety of toppings that the owner had created and gathered during his USA tour. Down the street we strolled around Millennium Park. There was a open-air stage complete with lightening and sound system. The stage looked really good as it was surrounded by metal that had been curved back. Above us was a metal spiderweb holding the lights. As we left the park we passed the metal bean. A giant sculpture that distorts the scenery it mirrors. After more walking round Windy City looking at sculpture, shops and buildings, we found a collection of Sports Bars where we sipped beers and watched baseball in preparation for our trip to Wrigley field the next day.
Before the baseball game we popped into town, chilled and wandered in the local shops near our hostel. The game began at 7pm so we made our way towards Wrigley Field and the surrounding pubs earlier. The area was fill with fans wearing various Cubs tops. The Chicago Cubs were playing the Milwaukee Brewers (local rivals). We visited a few bars before entering the grounds. We bought the cheapest seats inside the ground and could hardly see the action. The only seats cheaper were those outside the ground on the top of surrounding buildings. We grabbed a beer and tried not to laugh as the entire stadium rose to the national anthem, hand on heart! It was so unbelievably corny. We stood beside them feeling massively out of place. Hot dogs were doing the rounds and others were selling giant bags of popcorn. Despite being over-priced people were constantly buying and constantly tipping the servers. As we watched the game from new stolen seats we realised how slow and unexciting the sport was. People around us were barely watching the game and many stayed for only an hour or two, either arriving late or leaving early. It made no sense to us. Its a tremendous boring game to watch as the players barely hit the ball. In the entire four hours only seven people made it home and there was only one home-run which Simon missed as he was on the loo! The best bit was watching young kids faces light up as they caught baseballs either thrown to them or hit into the crowd by the players.
On our last day in Chicago we walked around Navy Pier. We found it to be overly touristy and overpriced with very little to look at. As we headed back to town we saw Centennial Fountain which projects water into the river every hour. The water sprays in a massive arc almost reaching the far side of the river. Whilst we were there we noticed two boats dash through it, one full of young lads enjoying the cold spray and another full of people ducking for cover. With plenty of time to spare we decided to chill out in the afternoon by going to watch Dinner with the Schmucks. We purchased tickets and waited for the movie to start in Lucky Strike, a upscale bowling alley frequently visited by the rich and famous! We both enjoyed watching the movie on the comfy spacious seats and were constantly laughing out loud!
Late that evening we made our way to the Greyhound Terminal to travel overnight to Toronto. The bus was due to leave at 11pm and we arrived two hours thinking we would be guaranteed a ticket. Greyhound always tend to oversell tickets and first people in the queue get on the bus. This time however, it was different. They didn't oversell the tickets and the bus was full so we were stuck. We had no-where to stay as there was a festival in town and all reasonably priced rooms had been booked out so had to kip at the station. It was such a rough night. Americans who use the Greyhound are not the most sane or desirable people! Luckily security threw out most the homeless who didn't have bus tickets. Our nights entertainment was provided by a young single mother who was running away to Vegas with her kid and was asking people for money. Those who donated money then started to believe she was on the game and finally social services became involved. Its so kind of Americans to raise their voices and publicly dramatise their lives to keep us entertained! It was such a relief to be sat on the bus the following morning at 7am.
- comments