Day 14 (14/12/09) - Chicago ("Come On, Feel The Illinoise")

After filling up on the free breakfast offered by our hotel, we braved the near-freezing temperatures and grey streets to acquaint ourselves with the Windy City. Although it wasn't snowing today (as it had been yesterday), we couldn't even see the tops of the skyscrapers for all the mist and low cloud cover.

After a short stop at the Chicago Visitor's Center, we figured out the CTA map and caught the subway and a bus to Museum Campus; there we spent a few hours at the Field Museum of Natural History, which was - in a word - awesome.


The main entrance was very impressive: upon entering we were greeted by two giant elephant sculptures and Sue, the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil ever found.


We walked through a few of the exhibits (and almost got lost) - one on the various Native American Indian tribes of the States, one on ancient Egypt and another on evolution.


For $5 each we were also able to watch a special 3-D presentation on dinosaurs. Apparently their theatre is the only completely digital 3-D theatre in Chicago. The Museum was amazing, and I would suggest setting aside at least half a day to explore the various exhibits. In fact, the museum is so big that it even houses a large McDonalds restaurant in the basement. We were especially lucky as we went on a day where admission was free (one of the guides at the Visitor's Centre had clued us in on this and the free Tuesdays at the Planetarium, which we plan to visit tomorrow).

Upon leaving the Museum we doubled back to check out Soldier Field, but there was nothing of interest going on so we headed back toward the city center. We caught the subway again, this time to Daley Plaza to check out the Christkindlmarket (modeled on the Nuremburg Christmas Market). There was a large nativity set out the front and vendors selling traditional German foods and handicrafts.


We also got to see the City of Chicago's Christmas Tree. I was impressed to learn that the City is only putting up the one tree this year (for the first time since 1955) in an effort to conserve energy. They have also used low-energy LED bulbs for the lights. If you would like to read more about the tree, check out this page.


We headed back to our hotel, freshened up and flicked through our growing pile of brochures and magazines in search of a place for dinner. Nik found the perfect place for us to grab a bite and unwind a little: 10pin Bowling Lounge. 10pin describes itself as redefining the bowling experience by "combining a retro sport with a hip upscale lounge". And hip it is. We began with dinner, then moved our food and our drinks down to the lanes where we donned our bowling shoes. There are large screens at the end of the lanes, displaying alternately ESPN and video clips of whichever songs are playing. The song repertoire was wide and varied: from Cat Stevens to Beyonce. And I schooled Nik in the art of bowling whilst enjoying their signature drink, the 10pintini.


That's a lie. I lost horribly. Turns out a Wii Bowling champion doth not a real-life champion maketh. Ah well.

We have another full day lined up tomorrow, but with free internet again we hope to keep you updated regularly.