The 17 hour train journey wasn't as bad as we had both thought. We managed to sleep despite a number of children that were sitting around us. We also had a group of rather drunk lads on the train of whom the conductor was looking for any reason to throw off. Shaun was very happy as the people who know him will know. After the number of rather strange hostels that we had experienced so far we were initially relieved that the hostel we had booked over the Internet was clean and had a fully equiped kitchen, unlike the New York hostel which only had plastic plates, knives and forks. Have you ever tried cooking with a plastic knife and fork? After checking in however the strangeness of American hostels continued. We opened the door to our double room to find just enough room for the two single beds and our two bags. The sink that was in the room had no water supply and the light was suspended from a piece of make shift wood. The Carpet didn't even reach the walls! At least the shower block was clean.
We spent our first day wandering around Lake Michigan and the Navy pier ( which is basically a large version of the Blackpool pier but a lot less tacky). The second day we went on a boat cruise down the river which runs down the center of the town. In true tradition this was also eventful with the stuttering commentator and the microphone breaking down. It was a nice cruise though. After this we brought a couple of items from a very large Guess shop as it is so cheap here and then headed on to try the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. We ordered a small pizza between us and still couldn't finish it! Still, that's tomorrow's lunch sorted.
On 23rd September we went down to the beach. We even braved a dip in the very cold Lake Michigan. It was nice not to have that dried salty feel on the skin like you get from swimming in the sea. You can't get over how big this lake is, you really do feel like you are in the sea. In the evening we went up the John Hancock Tower for a drink to take in the views over Chicago.
Tomorrow we are off on the 44 hour train journey to Seattle. We had hoped to hire one of their movie players to help keep us sane but the company went bankrupt two days ago. We will just have to bask in intellectual conversation putting the world to rights...?
We spent our first day wandering around Lake Michigan and the Navy pier ( which is basically a large version of the Blackpool pier but a lot less tacky). The second day we went on a boat cruise down the river which runs down the center of the town. In true tradition this was also eventful with the stuttering commentator and the microphone breaking down. It was a nice cruise though. After this we brought a couple of items from a very large Guess shop as it is so cheap here and then headed on to try the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. We ordered a small pizza between us and still couldn't finish it! Still, that's tomorrow's lunch sorted.
On 23rd September we went down to the beach. We even braved a dip in the very cold Lake Michigan. It was nice not to have that dried salty feel on the skin like you get from swimming in the sea. You can't get over how big this lake is, you really do feel like you are in the sea. In the evening we went up the John Hancock Tower for a drink to take in the views over Chicago.
Tomorrow we are off on the 44 hour train journey to Seattle. We had hoped to hire one of their movie players to help keep us sane but the company went bankrupt two days ago. We will just have to bask in intellectual conversation putting the world to rights...?
