Expectations: 0, Chicago: 1

Chicago had appeared on our US itinerary almost by default - our first plan had been to go directly from Boston to Vancouver and then drive down the Pacific coast from there - but it very quickly became apparent that this would involve enormous amounts of driving for very little reward (apologies to Seattle and Portland!). So instead we decided to wedge Chicago in and then fly straight into San Francisco.

We had very few expectations regarding Chicago - beyond being the background to the car crashes of the Blues Brothers, the site of the Elevated railway from The Fugitive and the home of the Cubs we knew almost nothing about the place. We liked the Mayor's greeting on the posters at the airport - "We're Glad You're Here!"


It was certainly helped by having stunning weather to set off its waterside setting, but we really enjoyed taking an architectural tour on the river, pointing out the different styles and approaches to the skyscrapers that define the city. Johnny was also blown away at the amazing fact that the Chicago River now flows in the opposite direction to its natural course. Yes, in the early 20th century, Chicago undertook a bigger engineering task than creating the Panama Canal and fixed their drinking-water problems by making this highly-polluted river flow out of the lake rather than into it.


We both loved Millennium Park, a recently-created green space that joins the business district with the lakeside - Bec becoming particularly transfixed by the stunning sculpture Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor, which perhaps inevitably is referred to as The Bean by Chicagoans:


We also enjoyed the lakeside areas, which have become so beach-like in places that we felt compelled to hire rollerblades!





We also were compelled to visit the observation deck of the John Hancock Center, Chicago's tallest building, which has a stunning view due to Chicago's air being reasonably clean and its ground being exceptionally flat.


After 3 days in Chicagoland, we were extremely impressed with the town. We're glad we came!