Chicago - hot hot hot

Today in Chicago was HOT!!! It was one of the hottest days on record with a temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (which is 40 degrees Celsius). Too hot to go out and do much so there was a lot of time spent at the pool!

The heat reminds me of another 'hot' time in Chicago...the great fire of 1871. The fire burned down most of Chicago. It started about 9pm on Sunday October 8 and didn't get under control until early Tuesday October 10. The traditional account of the origin of the fire is that it was started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by the O'Leary family. In 1893, the  reporter who wrote the O'Leary account, admitted he had made it up. The barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire, but the official report could not determine the exact cause of it.

I never understood the meaning of the children's song until now....

"Late one night, when we were all in bed,

Old Lady Leary lit the lantern in the shed,

And when the cow kicked it over,

She winked her eye and said,

“There’ll be a hot time in the ol’ town tonight!”

FIRE!  FIRE!  FIRE!"

One of the few buildings to survive the fire was (ironically) the Chicago water tower which still stands today (in photo).

Tonight we went to the "Rainforest Cafe" for dinner. VERY kid friendly with animals and trees all over the place. Neve freaked out a bit but eventually calmed down and enjoyed it!

The girls enjoyed the photo booth at the Rainforest Cafe.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Chicago and fly to New York  -  "Start spreading the news....."

Chicago - general observations

Today was a rest day for most of the family...just hanging out by the pool and not doing much. I (Claire) had to work - but that is why we are in Chicago so can't really complain about it.

  PROOF I AM WORKING!!!










We did manage to do an 'architectural tour' of Chicago by boat this evening. It was great and the history and stories of the buildings is really interesting. It was another hot day so being on the water was a nice place to be.

 The girls with their balloon 'wings' walking along Michigan Ave, the main street in Chicago.

 I have noticed a few things about Chicago...
- not sure if EVERYONE here is on holiday (it IS the middle of summer and school holidays here) but everyone dresses REALLY casually. Shorts, t-shirts and thongs seem to be the standard uniform. I think I can count on one hand how many people I have seen in suits or dressed as if they are going to work (and most of those are at the course I am at!).
- there are more African American and Hispanic American people than Caucasian Americans.
- everyone is super polite. Even everytime I walk into the hotel there is someone who stands at the door who acknowledges you - usually by saying 'welcome back'....which is weird when you have only been gone 5 minutes to go across the road for ice cream.
- Neve LOVES the revolving doors that go into just about every shop, building and restaurant. I swear she would spend all day just going around and around in them if she was allowed
- bread here is far too sweet....it almost tastes like cake.
- all the pedestrian crossings are perfectly timed so that by the time you reach the next intersection the light has changed so you can walk straight across - bonus.

One more day in Chicago before we fly to New York. It has gone too fast already!

Chicago - heating up

Today is hot....34 degrees. Tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be hotter - not looking forward to that.
Despite the heat, we did manage to see some more 'cool' stuff today.
I found that famous sign from the Chicago theatre...

And we also managed to find the Chicago Cloud Gate (or 'the bean' as most people call it) in Millennium Park. It looks like liquid mercury (which I am told it is supposed to look like) and reminds me of "The Terminator" movies - I keep expecting it to morph into some alien creature and run through downtown Chicago. It was pretty amazing and my favourite thing so far.....

Unfortunately Eloise slept through the whole thing....




The architecture in Chicago is amazing...not sure if New York is going to be able to beat this!!!

















After visiting 'the bean'. We went to the family fun fair in Millennium Park. There were lots of activities for the kids to do (all for free - yay!). The girls made kites (which actually DID fly) and started a tower of blocks (which hopefully someone else will finish for us) and saw a flamenco show. Neve was straight out there grabbing the marracas and getting right into it.....

Chicago - the windy city

Another sunny day in Chicago.

Chicago is known as the 'windy city' - although technically it is no breezier than any other city.
The following "windy city" explanation is from the Freeborn County Standard on November 20, 1892:

“

Chicago has been called the “windy” city, the term being used metaphorically to make out that Chicagoans were braggarts. The city is losing this reputation, for the reason that as people got used to it they found most of her claims to be backed up by facts. As usual, people go to extremes in this thing also, and one can tell a stranger almost anything about Chicago today and feel that he believes it implicitly. But in another sense Chicago is actually earning the title of the “windy” city. It is one of the effects of the tall buildings which engineers and architects apparently did not foresee that the wind is sucked down into the streets. Walk past the Masonic Temple or the Auditorium any day even though it may be perfectly calm elsewhere, and you will meet with a lively breeze at the base of the building that will compel you to put your hand to your hat.

”

Today we discovered a few more fun facts about Chicago....

1) Michigan Ave (the ''magnificent mile") has loads of great shops on it - and is only 2 blocks from our hotel - except it also houses the Disney Store, which no parent can come out of without spending money or causing massive tantrums.

2) The "House of Blues" (birthplace of blues music) is actually a restaurant and show - not a club that I first imagined
3) There is a Weber restaurant that cooks all it's food on giant Weber BBQs. Shane was VERY excited about this one and we HAD to have dinner here tonight

 4) The waiting time to go up in the lift of the Hancock Building is about an hour
5) Neve is OBSESSED with the self-serve drinks machines in most cafes - insisting that we need to refill our cups about 10 times before we leave.
6) The Woody made out of Lego outside the Lego shop is actually pretty cool

Another day tomorrow - more amazing facts to come!!!

Let's go!!!

OK....so we are off!!

So we left the house at 8am on Wednesday 18th July, and arrived at our hotel at 8pm on Wednesday 18th July - so a blissful 12 hours of travel.....>WRONG! Pesky time difference meant that we were actually on the move for almost 28 hours!!!

We crossed the international date line on our flight from Sydney to Los Angeles (somewhere in the middle of the pacific) which meant our clocks went backwards a whole 24 hours. So we took off from Sydney airport at 1pm on Wednesday and landed in Los Angeles after flying for 14 hours at 9am on Wednesday.....VERY WEIRD.





 Our flight path from Sydney to Los Angeles.









We then had to wait around in Los Angeles before taking another flight from Los Angeles to Chicago.

But the girls were VERY good the WHOLE time...they were very excited about having their own TVs to play with on the plane and getting their own special meals to have at their table. Excited to the point of not wanting to sleep - but we all eventually got a few hours of sleep!

 

 So here we are in Chicago....a BIG 12 hours in sleep heaven last night and a swim in the pool on the 19th floor we are refreshed and ready to hit the town.

We managed to find the river that runs through the centre of the city....

 And found the 'lake' called Lake Michigan (which is so big you can't even see the other side!) and went to Navy Pier to have a ride on the big ferris wheel which gave us a great view of the city.

 Chicago is a great city with loads of contrasting buildings - some very old and some very new. There are LOTS of things to do and see and although Neve wanted to do and see it all today, we have a few more days to get things done.

And so ended our first 'official' day of our trip (the day of travel doesn't count in my book!).....ready to get up and do it all again tomorrow. 

Outline

Here is a brief outline of where we will be going on our trip....still a few details to iron out and a few more places to add to the list - but these are the definite 'locked in' ones.

Chicago, USA (1 week)

 New York, USA (10 days)

Dublin, Ireland (3 weeks)

Dubrovnik, Croatia (4 days)

Brac Island, Croatia (1 week)

 Sardinia Island, Italy (1 week)

Vienna, Austria (1 week)

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland (1 week)

Zurich, Switzerland (4 days)

Plus a few more gorgeous places.

Jealous much??