We spent today shopping, the main thing to do in this city. Kicking it off we went to moonstruck cafe, our new annual visit, for a very large breakfast/lunch which really set us up for the day.
Century 21 was our next destination, it's the fab discount apartment store alongside the site of the world trade centers. Macy's and the stores along 32nd street followed and we rounded it off with a visit to Ambercrombie on 5th Avenue. I popped into the Apple Store, it was packed.
For dinner, we headed down into Soho and ate in an asian fusion restaurant, peep, which was very funky indeed. The toilets are situated half way into the venue, and consist of 1 way mirrors. You can see everyone outside whilst you sit on the loo! Crazy!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Day 9 - Welcome NYC
As usual, we're doing so much, there is too little time to fully write up the blog entry for today. I'll fill in the pieces afterwards, much like yesterday, which I completed on the flight over to New York. But highlights of today included:
- Getting up at 7 to leave for the airport.
- Getting to the airport and almost missing our flight!
- Arriving in NYC, our hotel is on Times Square (handy for us).
- Getting tickets to see Legally blond the musical that evening, and meeting the cast afterwards. The theater is beside our hotel.
- Getting tickets to the midnight showing of the new Halloween film! Was cool!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Day 8 - Last day in Chicago
Being our last day, we had a list a mile long of outstanding things to do. Prioritisation was key! We rose nice and early and actually managed to leave the apartment around 11am, not bad for us really! We started the day with a visit to the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center, which conveniently is located right beside our hotel.
The Hancock, whilst not the tallest sky scraper in the city, is much loved due to it location north of the loop, giving it amazing views south of the downtown area, east to the lake and north to the gold coast and it’s beaches. We had vouchers for the audio tour, which gave us a great commentary of the city beneath us. A nice feature is the skydeck, an exposed area with the windows removed; allowing you to feel the breeze, smells the scents and hear the sounds of the city beneath. The windows here, unlike the sears tower, ran from roof to floor, approaching the edge for a clearer view is certainly not for the faint hearted!
Leaving the Hancock we headed just south to the Ohio Street beach. Yes most of the streets up this end of the city have beaches alongside the lake front. Whilst artificial, it did seem like the real deal. An 18 mile stretch of cycle/walk ways, called lake shore drive, runs along the lake front bordering the city itself. There are numerous beaches scattered along it. I can only imagine that during the middle of the summer months, this area must get really packed. When we arrived, only the odd roller bladder and cyclist were about. The beach itself was very clean. The sand was nice and hot. It really is a great treat being on a beach during the summer. The water was warm, and as its fresh water, wasn’t salty! We would have loved to have time to take a swim, but with too much to get done today it would have to wait until the evening, but when we did get time to return the weather had changed. Ah well.
We headed downtown for some food, dining in Panda Express for a change. The orange chicken really is great. Next on our list was a visit to the Shedd Aquarium, located in the museum campus area of the city. The Shedd is a massive indoor aquarium, costing around $24 each for a day pass, we only had time for around 2 hours, but you could easily spend your whole day looking and learning about all the amazing fish inside. 
It had areas devoted to the oceans of the world, the coral reef, the artic with whales and penguins, but the star of the day had to be the dolphins. We were treated to a really cool dolphin show, were the trainers demonstrated some of the dolphins “natural” behaviours – like jumping and swimming backwards! Natural indeed! Nonetheless great to see.
Leaving the Shedd, we headed back downtown for some final shopping along the magnificent mile which is Michigan Avenue before returning back to apartment to pack and prepare dinner. We had hopped to head out for a drink but we only managed to make it as far as the subway station. After waiting some 20 mins for a train, we decided to cut our losses and head back to the apartment for an early night.
Tomorrow we’re off to New York City on an 11am flight. We should touch down around 2:30pm local time, which is an hour ahead of Chicago, we’ll be on Eastern Standard Time. This has really been an amazing city. The skyline is awesome, comparable with New York. Its cleanliness is on par with Toronto and it’s friendless is not a match on any European counterpart. It really has everything, apart from the crowds. It’s been a very pleasurable 8 days and would highly recommend a visit to anyone back home. With AerLingus flying direct to O’Hare daily, there is no excuse. (Oh and it’s only $2 to get into the city via train, which is around 1 hour away from the city).
Until we hit New York and its bright lights!
The Hancock, whilst not the tallest sky scraper in the city, is much loved due to it location north of the loop, giving it amazing views south of the downtown area, east to the lake and north to the gold coast and it’s beaches. We had vouchers for the audio tour, which gave us a great commentary of the city beneath us. A nice feature is the skydeck, an exposed area with the windows removed; allowing you to feel the breeze, smells the scents and hear the sounds of the city beneath. The windows here, unlike the sears tower, ran from roof to floor, approaching the edge for a clearer view is certainly not for the faint hearted!
Leaving the Hancock we headed just south to the Ohio Street beach. Yes most of the streets up this end of the city have beaches alongside the lake front. Whilst artificial, it did seem like the real deal. An 18 mile stretch of cycle/walk ways, called lake shore drive, runs along the lake front bordering the city itself. There are numerous beaches scattered along it. I can only imagine that during the middle of the summer months, this area must get really packed. When we arrived, only the odd roller bladder and cyclist were about. The beach itself was very clean. The sand was nice and hot. It really is a great treat being on a beach during the summer. The water was warm, and as its fresh water, wasn’t salty! We would have loved to have time to take a swim, but with too much to get done today it would have to wait until the evening, but when we did get time to return the weather had changed. Ah well.
We headed downtown for some food, dining in Panda Express for a change. The orange chicken really is great. Next on our list was a visit to the Shedd Aquarium, located in the museum campus area of the city. The Shedd is a massive indoor aquarium, costing around $24 each for a day pass, we only had time for around 2 hours, but you could easily spend your whole day looking and learning about all the amazing fish inside. 
It had areas devoted to the oceans of the world, the coral reef, the artic with whales and penguins, but the star of the day had to be the dolphins. We were treated to a really cool dolphin show, were the trainers demonstrated some of the dolphins “natural” behaviours – like jumping and swimming backwards! Natural indeed! Nonetheless great to see.Leaving the Shedd, we headed back downtown for some final shopping along the magnificent mile which is Michigan Avenue before returning back to apartment to pack and prepare dinner. We had hopped to head out for a drink but we only managed to make it as far as the subway station. After waiting some 20 mins for a train, we decided to cut our losses and head back to the apartment for an early night.
Tomorrow we’re off to New York City on an 11am flight. We should touch down around 2:30pm local time, which is an hour ahead of Chicago, we’ll be on Eastern Standard Time. This has really been an amazing city. The skyline is awesome, comparable with New York. Its cleanliness is on par with Toronto and it’s friendless is not a match on any European counterpart. It really has everything, apart from the crowds. It’s been a very pleasurable 8 days and would highly recommend a visit to anyone back home. With AerLingus flying direct to O’Hare daily, there is no excuse. (Oh and it’s only $2 to get into the city via train, which is around 1 hour away from the city).
Until we hit New York and its bright lights!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Day 7 - We clean up with Oprah
We kicked off the day with a visit to the Post office. Lucky for us there is one located in the basement of the John Hancock center, which is right beside our hotel.
We then made the track to the local laundry. It was some way away, in fact it was some way out of town. But we found it, and if your ever in this area, the location can be found below.
View Larger Map
Yo Yo's was very cheap. Soap power only cost 50cents, with a full wash $1.50. With every good and clean, we headed back to the hotel to shower and freshen up, why? It was 100F/37C outside! Amazing or what.
All refreshed, we took the bus down to the Harpo Studio, where the Oprah Show is taped. We'd just missed a taping, Oprah had left the building, but all the production crew where still present. After taking our photos we head back to the apartment for dinner.
We spending the evening in Boystown, was a bit of a mess getting up there as the read line was out of service. Tomorrow is our last full day in Chicago. There is still so much to do, this really is a great city!
We then made the track to the local laundry. It was some way away, in fact it was some way out of town. But we found it, and if your ever in this area, the location can be found below.
View Larger Map
Yo Yo's was very cheap. Soap power only cost 50cents, with a full wash $1.50. With every good and clean, we headed back to the hotel to shower and freshen up, why? It was 100F/37C outside! Amazing or what.
All refreshed, we took the bus down to the Harpo Studio, where the Oprah Show is taped. We'd just missed a taping, Oprah had left the building, but all the production crew where still present. After taking our photos we head back to the apartment for dinner.We spending the evening in Boystown, was a bit of a mess getting up there as the read line was out of service. Tomorrow is our last full day in Chicago. There is still so much to do, this really is a great city!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Day 6 - Manic Monday
Today we got to see The Bangles in the world famous House Of Blue but before that did some more sight seeing. Taking it easy, we didn't leave the apartment until after 2pm. I know very late, but it was a late night before.
We took the train north, and visited OZ park, which is dedicated to Frank Baum, writer of the Wizard of Oz, himself a Chicago native. The park is located in a very sleepy neighborhood with very fashionable boutiques!
Taking the brown elevated train back into the city, we rode the loop around downtown. The loop is basically that, an elevated track, which loops around downtown. Trains enter at one end, loop once and head back to the suburbs. It's great seeing the city from the an elevation.
After some shopping, we headed back to the apartment, ate, changed and headed over to the House of Blues, where the Bangles were to take the stage. I forgot my passport, and as everywhere is very ID strict, I'd to run back to the apartment and taxi it back. The Bangles were good, they sang their major songs towards the end of their set, but up until then, it was all new numbers for us. They played from 10 - 11:30pm. We didn't drink too much as drink was almost double standard bar prices. Crazy!
We took the train north, and visited OZ park, which is dedicated to Frank Baum, writer of the Wizard of Oz, himself a Chicago native. The park is located in a very sleepy neighborhood with very fashionable boutiques!
Taking the brown elevated train back into the city, we rode the loop around downtown. The loop is basically that, an elevated track, which loops around downtown. Trains enter at one end, loop once and head back to the suburbs. It's great seeing the city from the an elevation.
After some shopping, we headed back to the apartment, ate, changed and headed over to the House of Blues, where the Bangles were to take the stage. I forgot my passport, and as everywhere is very ID strict, I'd to run back to the apartment and taxi it back. The Bangles were good, they sang their major songs towards the end of their set, but up until then, it was all new numbers for us. They played from 10 - 11:30pm. We didn't drink too much as drink was almost double standard bar prices. Crazy!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Day 5 - Movie Sets
The sun is back. Wow, it was great weather again today. We're both bright red, typical! Today we hit the park, Millennium Park to be exact. It was a gift to the city to celebrate the turning of the twentieth century. It features wonderful gardens, an outdoor stage and amazing water monument consisting of two glass pillars, which have local citizens projected onto it from within, every 10mins they "spit" water. It's very hard to describe, but its great fun. The entire area is covered with water! Some of the photos below best help to describe it!
Close by we visited, Buckingham Fountain, made famous as the fountain in the opening sequence of "Married with Children". Again close by we visited the Latin culture festival, sampling some great food.
Heading back into two, in the loop area, we stumbled across the film set for the latest batman movie! Gotham city is in fact Chicago City! An entire city block was closed down. Extras where dressed up in Gotham Police Department uniforms, Gotham City Police and Ambulance cars where everywhere! It was great fun. Photos where a no-no, but we managed to take some until the camera died! So we headed back to the apartment for some lunch, giving us enough time to get it recharged.
So we headed back downtown to, hoping to catch some of the filming of the new batman movie. We did see some car chase scenes. As we were in the area of the Sears Tower, now the third largest building in the world at 110 floors, we decided to head over and up. For some 20 odd years, it was the world’s tallest building. Another first for this city of firsts! Naturally the views from the top are awesome. It’s very safe and enclosed.
Walking back to the apartment, we managed the catching the filming of Wanted, the new Angelina Jolie film. We ate in the apartment before heading out to McCools Pub for one and then onto Boystown.
Close by we visited, Buckingham Fountain, made famous as the fountain in the opening sequence of "Married with Children". Again close by we visited the Latin culture festival, sampling some great food.Heading back into two, in the loop area, we stumbled across the film set for the latest batman movie! Gotham city is in fact Chicago City! An entire city block was closed down. Extras where dressed up in Gotham Police Department uniforms, Gotham City Police and Ambulance cars where everywhere! It was great fun. Photos where a no-no, but we managed to take some until the camera died! So we headed back to the apartment for some lunch, giving us enough time to get it recharged.
So we headed back downtown to, hoping to catch some of the filming of the new batman movie. We did see some car chase scenes. As we were in the area of the Sears Tower, now the third largest building in the world at 110 floors, we decided to head over and up. For some 20 odd years, it was the world’s tallest building. Another first for this city of firsts! Naturally the views from the top are awesome. It’s very safe and enclosed.Walking back to the apartment, we managed the catching the filming of Wanted, the new Angelina Jolie film. We ate in the apartment before heading out to McCools Pub for one and then onto Boystown.
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