We arrive at the airport late night, it's very generic like most airports and I'm more than tired. Customs was a piece of cake, the usual "what's the address you are going to? How long for? Where next?" they didn't seem too bothered about our return ticket being from Rio.
We boarded the Met and headed into Downtown Chicago. Arriving at the Central Station we really weren't too sure on how to get the the hostel so we took a cab and arried 20 minutes later in a fairly leafy area of the city. Hostel seemed ok, usual generic style that we are used to.
AHHHH..to be woken up at the right time.
Emma and I are awoken to the knocking of our door at the time of 6:45. It is Matt, he has forgotten how to tell the difference between the small and large hand on a clock and thinks it's 9:30. Good start! Decent first day in Chicago, we had the greatest breakfast you could wish for. We walked into a small dim lit dinner and it couldn't have been any more "american" if it tried, one of the booths were occupied by 4 cops drinking strong coffee. We take a booth and put in our order. Unlimited coffee, this is where my love affair for cheap, crappy, filter coffee starts. I get quite a few cups down me and tuck into my breakfast. The rest of the day was spend looking at buildings, visting the FREE Zoo (something you just wouldn't get in England) playing mini golf on Navy Pier and having dinner and beer at Sluggers sports bar, the offical bar of the Chicago Cubs just opposite Wrigley field.
(Navy Pier the sometimes delectable Ms Winters and the Skyline below)
Day 2 - Nails arrives. The boy wonder turns up a day late. Not really a long story, he thought he'd booked the same flight but turns out he got the day wrong and had to fly on his own. Gutted! We went up the Sears Tower, it's big alright..but pretty boring. Then it's off to Pizza Uno or somewhere like that to get some famous Pizza Pie. I have to say it was amazing. see below..
We arrive at the Gayhound station. All Greyhound stations are in the shitty end of town, we found this out straight away. We wait for ages and finally board the bus, it is full of poor people and rowdy "gangsters" hollaring at each other and drinking on the bus despite it being forbidden. I thought the 17 hour trip to Niagra would be a NIGHTMARE, but it turned out these "gangsters" were actually harmless and charming.
THOUGHTS ON CHICAGO - We didn't really get too long but it seems like a tough place. Nails nearly got mugged on the Met on the way to meeting us at the Hostel. Coming from Rural Britain it was quite a shock to see how many Afican Americans there are in the US and more importantly, how bad a card they've been dealt (One of my best friends is black, I can't be racist and are used to the company of other ethnic backgrounds, it's just an observation). This was reflected on EVERY City we visited.
Now onto Niagara via Cleveland and Buffalo.
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