So... What next?

13/12/2009

The days in Chicago were going by filled with aural, visual, amusing and flavourful experiences, all nicely wrapped up in a thick layer of snow!






Yes, I know this image portrays death more than fuzzy, amusing experiences, but humor me.

The first three days it felt cold, but nothing extravagant. No, actually, scrap that. It was fudging freezing!!!


Ready to hit the streets. Don't let the clear skies fool you!

It was rather stupid to leave the house without 654123 layers of clothes on. We are talking temperatures that even reached -25 degrees Celcius one day! I really cannot understand what the hell those geese were doing, picking crap through the snowed-on grass.


Look at my baby in the background! (No, not the goose! Charlie!!)

And then, we woke up on monday morning to find everyone covered in snow. Within one night, there was a good 4 inches (10cm) of snow in the streets. Absolutely beautiful, but as you can understand, tricky to walk on nevertheless. Which also made my need for new shoes much more imminent... Luckily, I was already covered when it comes to clothing (thanks to the former USSR, in a sort of twisted way...).




"Breezy and chilly" doesn't quite do it justice...

Despite the cold and the winds of course (did I mention that chicago is also called "The city of winds"? Well, it is!), we roamed around the city as much as possible. Chicago has soooo much to show and the week that we were planning to spend here was already seeming too little.


Chicago: View from the John Hancock tower.


Yes, Santa was there too!

The city is big and the size of the map is small. It kinda reminded me of Beijing, where due to the size of the city, it is impossible to fit every single street on the map. Hence, they only portray one every five streets. I would look at the city map, deciding where I wanted to go and I thought "yeah, this should take me about half an hour". Two hours later, I'd still be walking! Getting to Millenium Park, one of Chicago's most well-known attractions, was one of those cases. We only barely made it during daytime and had to go again another day. The so-called "bean" on Millenium Park is the biggest and most impressive landmark.


Hey, is that someone arsing out over there? :p





It is a huge piece of art, shaped as a bean onto which all its surroundings are reflected and you can't even begin to imagine the ideas for poses people come up with to do in front of it.

We also tried the shopping thing, and to be honest, it is no different than anywhere else in the world; lots of shops, lots of floors, lots of clothes, lots of people running frantically all around to find that special pair of shoestrings that their beloved one has been wanting for so long.



For some of the Chicago days my friend C. from Greece joined us and it was a delight to see her and spend some time with her. But the biggest advantage of all: SHE IS NOT A VEGETARIAN!!! So we could go and enjoy the delicacies of Wiener Circle, the city's best hot dog stand! And daaaaamn it was good.


And C. obviously agrees!

Out of everything we got up to in Chicago though, I'd say the highlight for me by far was the theatrical play "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (T.M.L.M.T.B.G.B. as it goes by - easy to say, no?). It is a 60 minute play, during which they perform 30 different skits, every single one of them extremely interactive with the audience. No wonder it has been running for 21 years! It was one of the most creative, entertaining, inspiring, touching theatrical plays I have ever seen. Hands down, THE one thing everyone should go and see in Chicago!

We ended up staying a few days extra in Chicago, but the day to move on arrived. Wisconsin was Charlie's next destination and to be more specific Stevens Point. As if it was not already cold and snowy enough, we were looking for more.....

M.