Chicago and onwards

Well I last left you in the land of 10,000 lakes, now time to move on to the Windy City - Chicago.

As I had become accustomed to my own personal chaffeur service I again was collected from the airport and whisked off to the Diamond B&B in Palatine - thanks Ed! So a week in Chicago.....what´s a girl to do?

Started off by popping into the diner of course for a slap up lunch and then retired to the patio at the B&B to catch some rays and fulfill the requirements for my daily homage to Bacchaus....who was most pleased by my devout attentions! Fully sated there was then the opportunity to watch thee video - of Scott ad Amy´s wedding of course and what a video and consequently wedding it appeared to be!

The next day Ed and myself headed into town to be tourists where we took a architectural boat tour around the city - very interesting and highly recommended. Made for a better trip actually knowing what you´re looking at, also gives you a sense of the size of the city and gives you a idea of how to get your bearings once you´re back on terra firma.

So talking of solid ground...... back on land we went wandering around in order to find Andy´s - a world famous jazz club, and find it we did and not too be disappointed there we found some live music and a most hospitable innkeeper. The actual place itself has a lot of character and a nice atmosphere - as it wasn´t exactly busy I can´t say what it would be like if it was but I´d imagine that it would be excellent....maybe next time I´ll have to go back and check! After that out to Navy pier to take a stroll and feed the old bellies - if you haven´t been basically its a really long pier with a lot of shops, bars, etc along its whole length and is the usual venue for corporate events, award shows, expos, etc - that should give you an idea as to size. Not a bad place to while away a couple of hours and indulge in a cheezborger or 2!

That evening we went to Scott and Amy´s for dinner where I had the opportunity to catch up on a few of the last 13 years since I last visited and very pleasant it was too!

Over the next few days I took myself into the city and had a good look around, taking in some sightseeing tours and visiting a couple of galleries and the like and of course patronising only the finest drinking holes and shooting the breeze wih the random people you find yourself sitting beside - most memorable of which were 2 pilots who were supposed to fly in 8 hours and were in fact flying 3 sheets to the wind.....isn´t there supposed to be some kind of law against that?!? Funny boys though - as I wasn´t flying the next day I wasn´t that concerned and I never did hear of any accidents so I guess they were fine after all!

On the Saturday Scott took me to Wrigley Field to watch the Chicago Cubs who were being soundly beaten so we left to find some entertainment elsewhere only to find out later that they had made a miraculous comeback and we had missed the action - ah well we had some fun bar hopping before ending up in a blues club where a woman with an amazing voice was warbling away and plucking at her guitar strings like a genius - thanks to Scott for keeping me entertained, I had a great day! Next time the beer is on me!

Sunday we went up to Scott and Amy´s lake house and only got lost once - nice navigation Ed! Took a little spin around the lake on the speed boat admiring the houses on the front - some nice piles I have to say.....maybe someday when I settle down....(now I´ve got the Littlest Hobo in my head and I´m sure it will stick for the rest of the day!). On our way back we popped in to see Patrick and Kathy and the boys and watched a little football and attempted to again catch up on some of the last 13 years. All to soon it was time to leave and go back and pack the bags ready for a 5.00 start the next morning. Thanks Ed for being my taxi driver and host with the most!

This next bit is becoming far too common.....storm rolled in at the airport meaning a 1 hour delay while sitting on the tarmac - this then rolled on to my connecting flight in Detroit which I just missed and this resulted in a 6 hour delay before I got back to New York.....great no?

Back in New York for a couple of days Shelly very kindly put me up and fed and watered me. I also had the opportunity to meet up with Greg and Katy who I had met last year in New Zealand - good catching up with you guys, cheers for making the effort to come out even though you´re both very busy people! So that was North America - time to move on to Argentina and find the latin in me (after a 14hr delay at JFK of course - bloody american airlines, no explanation - nada! They didn´t even announce the delay, they just waited until it spread by word of mouth and they then had three or four hundred angry, pissed off, tired people on their hands - excellent customer service!) Moan over - next time news from Buenos Aires! x