Chicago! Chicago!

This has to be the best hostel yet. The Getaway Hostel with a logo of a man in a gangster’s hat getting away… It has a great common area, with leather sofas, lots of PCs, a wonderful kitchen and eating area, and an outside space on two levels with loungers. We arrived early in the day and stored our luggage – even had a free breakfast before going out to explore. We finally got a train into the city – standing room only, and excruciating as my knee got trapped and I couldn’t move. So painkillers from Linda and then a short walk to the John Hancock building and the open-top city tour bus. Much the best way to see a city if you haven’t got much time. I suppose the tour took about two hours, with a very good guide who knew his stuff. I fell asleep at one point and maybe missed something, who knows! I have learned to sleep on buses since travelling Green Tortoise. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that I’m now programmed to drop off, stretched out on the back seat, every time I catch the No. 96 from Barry to Cardiff.

Chicago has the most amazing architecture – old mixed with new. I suppose they had a second chance of getting it right after a fire, about a century ago, destroyed all the wooden buildings and left plenty of room for town planning to reconstruct the city. It is certainly a very pretty city, with lots of water: the river that runs through the city, bordered by skyscrapers, cafes and restaurants; and the lake itself, Michigan, with its miles of beaches, boats and parks. Both days we explored the city, using the buses to get around.

On the evening of the first day, some of us went out to Kingston Mines, a blues club fairly near the hostel. Great music from Eric ‘Guitar’ Davis and another couple of bands. Most of the group left after the main act, but Pat and I remained with Michele for a while longer. Great atmosphere and music! A sort of mixture of blues and rock. On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a night pharmacy as I needed something to kill the pain and itch of the bites on my neck and face. Got a telling off from the sales assistant for asking her advice; she refused on the grounds that I might sue her. Let’s hope this particular level of litigation-fear never hits the UK.

The next day we took a taxi to downtown Chicago and strolled through the park, got ourselves our free Chicago Trolley and Opentop Bus T-shirts, and had a bit of a gander at the famous bean. This is a massive shiny silver bean that you can walk around, and under, and see yourself and the buildings of Chicago reflected/distorted in. Quite a show-stealer! Pat went off to do some shopping in Macy’s and Linda and I went off on the opentop bus again, with me falling asleep again, unsurprisingly. While searching for a toilet sometime later, on the Golden Mile, we discovered a gem of a restaurant with the most amazing decor. A few more days here wouldn’t go amiss. So much to see!

In the evening, before leaving on the bus at midnight, a few of us went on a river and lake cruise. It left the pier at Michigan St. at about 7.45pm and went upriver, then returned and went through the Chicago Lock and out on Lake Michigan. The city looked amazing as the light faded and all the buildings lit up. But windy! Actually, that’s not why Chicago is named the windy city, but rather because its politicians can be a bit windy, full of hot air. Now I never knew that before!

So here I am, sitting in the hostel waiting for the off. In an hour’s time I’ll be swaddled in my sleeping bag, lying like a sardine on one of the mattresses on the bus, on the way to Lake Erie and Niagara Falls, and only three days away from New York, and the end of this journey. But I’ll come back to Chicago again when I get the chance.