Hello!
Sorry that this update is so overdue...
From Yellowstone NP we drove back to Denver to drop off the rental car and then to fly to Chicago.
We spent two days in Denver where we looked around the town and went to a baseball match, the Colorado Rockies (Shaun's team), against the LA Dodgers at Coors Field. I also started my new diet of beer and buffalo wings. The baseball match was a definite highlight, even though the Rockies lost. The atmosphere was great, and there was a brewery right there in the stadium. It was everything I expected from a baseball match (although the hotdog was a little disappointing), and Shaun even caught a t-shirt that they fired into the crowd at the 7th inning stretch!
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| Beer tasting |
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| 16th St Mall, Denver |
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| Coors Field |
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| Coors Field |
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| Baseball |
Chicago:
We were met in Chicago by our friend Victoria who we met in Africa two years ago. It was so nice to hang out with a friend, and to be staying in a wonderful apartment right in the city after being on the road camping just by ourselves for so long.
We spent four very full on days taking in the sights of the city, visiting the aquarium and Field Museum, trying the local food, watching football and drinking beer. Chicago is a gorgeous city right on Lake Michigan (so large you can't see the other side) with lots of character and an interesting history. It was ravaged by fire around 1870 and was almost completely rebuilt, leading to some fantastic old, almost gothic looking architecture amongst the modern buildings & skyscrapers. It also has an elevated rail system that runs through the city, and walking along the street underneath the trains you can almost imagine yourself there back in the 1920's!
Buckingham Fountain in the park by the lake front.
They were filming Transformers 4 and closed down a couple of streets right by Vic's house! We were lucky enough to see the Transformers and even saw Mark Whalberg walk past!
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| Optimus Prime! |
The Chicago River
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| The Michigan Bridge |
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| This building had pieces of stone from other famous buildings around the world. |
A famous Picasso sculpture
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| The colorful down town with the elevated railway |
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| The Bean - you can see a great reflection of the city, and yourself! |
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| The Bean |
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| The Bean |
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| The city skyline along Lake Michigan |
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| The old water tower, from before the Chicago fire |
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| The view from the John Hancock Centre where we enjoyed a cocktail and a great view of the city. The view from the ladies bathroom was fantastic! |
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view from John Hancock Centre
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Aquarium and Field Museum:
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| Aquarium |
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| Field Museum |
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| This is Sue, she is the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found. However, her skull is too heavy to display with the rest of her skeleton, so it is kept upstairs. |
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| Archaeopteryx - the bird ancestor |
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| Archaeopteryx - the bird ancestor |
Sports:
Thursday night was the kick off for football season, so we headed down to the pub to watch the Denver Broncos play Baltimore Ravens.
Sunday Fun-day. Sunday is the day when most of the football games are played. This entailed going to the pub by 11am to watch the Chicago Bears play the Cincinnati Bengals, drinking beer and eating more wings!
To walk off the morning of beer and chicken wings we went for an afternoon walk around Navy Pier and went on the ferris wheel.
We also had the pleasure of sampling some of the famous Chicago cuisine. First we had Pizza Pot Pies at Oven Grinders (and we had the luck to only have a short wait for a table!). The pot pies were delicious, a bolognese type sauce with lots of cheese served in a thick bread (pizza) bowl. Shaun finished a whole pound, it was frightening to watch! I wish i'd taken a picture, but here is one from the internet...
The next night we went for famous Chicago style (deep dish) pizza at Lou Malnati's. It was something else! So much topping! We managed to finish a large pizza between the three of us, which is no mean feat. Although Shaun did eat four of the eight pieces! Unfortunately I was too engrossed in my dinner to take any photos, so again, here are a couple from the internet...
We also were treated to ribs at the famous Twin Anchors restaurant that has been popular since it was established in 1932. Apparently it was one of Frank Sinatra's favourite restaurants! The ribs were very good!
Thank you so much to Vic for hosting us around Chicago, we had a fabulous time.
We then got up at 5am to catch a bus to Toronto, that took 12 hours. It was a shame it was the most uncomfortable bus I've ever been on, but at least it was three times cheaper than flying! We are staying in a really nice suburb about a 45min train ride from down town Toronto with our friends Jess and Nathan who we also met on our trip in Africa!
I will write an update on our adventures here (we are off to Niagara Falls tonight) some time later. One blog is more than enough for one day...
C&S
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