Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States, standing 1,450 feet tall (or, as was advertised inside, 283 Barack Obamas tall).
Nik was reluctant to stand out on "the ledge", a fully-enclosed glass box on the side of the building, but I managed to convince him to venture out in the end. I, on the other hand - relishing any opportunity for cheesy photos - decided to do this:
Might I add here that I was not the only one behaving childishly (some crazy French people were too).
After our ear-popping trip back down 103 floors, we saw a bit more of downtown Chicago before taking a leisurely lunch at Giordano's, where Nik had the famous deep-dish Chicago pizza. Think of a pie. Then double the density.
We then caught the train about 20 minutes out of the city to Oakbrook to meet Kelly for dinner. I met Kelly (and her friend Sarah) when I was in Paris on my own last year. We spent Bastille Day together and I did a fair bit of sightseeing with them; we have managed to keep in touch over the last 18 months so it was great meeting up with her. The three of us had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (not at all factory-like as it turns out), before Nik and I headed back into the city again.
Wednesday also delivered blue skies, but it was below freezing and COLD. We were up bright and early to fit in Lincoln Park Zoo - even the animals were still asleep when we got there. I think it's fantastic that the city has a free zoo, and it's much better than one would expect for a free service. We saw leopards, lions, the tiger, camels, a bear, wolves, a jaguar and various birds. Apparently the zoo is home to an Australian Red Kangaroo, but we didn't see it. Poor animal was probably freezing so far from the hot outback. Our later stories will feature a kangaroo though (its stuffed toy counterpart, in fact) so for now just remember our Australian comrade and his suffering and leave it at that.
After the zoo we went back to Museum Campus (where we had gone previously for the Field Museum) and spent about 90 minutes at the Shedd Aquarium. Kelly had sent us a 2-for-1 entry voucher, so it ended up being great value. We caught the "Fantasea" performance, an impressive animal show featuring lights, pulleys and all kinds of fancy staging...plus a bunch of penguins, dolphins and one very scary hawk.
Until recently, the Shedd was the largest indoor aquarium in the world. And one can see how. We wandered the length of the exhibits, enthralled by all the different fish, amphibians, reptiles and other sea creatures.
In particular, "Granddad", an Australian lungfish shipped over to the States in 1933 (from Sydney). He is at least 86 years old and is supposedly the oldest fish in any aquarium in the world. When we caught him he was just chilling at the bottom of his tank, looking grumpy.
We bussed back across the city to Millennium Park to view the skyline as is mirrored in the now famous Cloud Gate sculpture; or, "the bean", as it is often called by locals and tourists alike (although apparently the artist behind the sculpture finds this name "completely stupid").
Chicago really is a beautiful city with some incredible architectural masterpieces, and this is reflected in its unique skyline.
Kelly had very kindly invited us to her house for a home-cooked meal that night, so we caught the train out to Orland Park, which is about an hour out of the city. Nik and I were amazed by the effort people clearly put into their Christmas lights. Almost every house had lights around the trees in their yards or ornaments on their lawns. And with the snow covering the gardens and houses the whole scene looked like a Christmas suburban utopia. Kelly's house was no exception.
We met her boyfriend, Rich, and her parents - all of whom were very welcoming and keen to listen to us talk about Australia (something which we never fail to tire of when overseas). As usual everyone was impressed with Nik's knowledge of history and politics. It was a perfect way to spend our last night in Chicago.
I dozed on the train journey back whilst Nik read (On The Road, a wonderfully appropriate companion to traveling through America). We were sorry to see the last of the lights and the skyline; Nik in particular. Having seen his disappointment at our relatively short breeze through the Windy City, I have a feeling he will find himself blowing in again soon.
i saw tha red kangaroo at tha zoo
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