the 'el' train line
me in the sears tower, 99th floor
sears tower
grant park, buckingham fountain
buckingham fountain
view of chicago from millennium park
me in front of 'cloud gate'
reflection in 'cloud gate'
asian sculpture
crown fountain
more sculptures
oprah's studioFriday 29th May
Well we woke up and we were still alive!! That’s a good start. Had a bit of a drive this morning to get to Chicago city but the road was like a 5 lane freeway all the way. Once we got out onto the freeway we could see the Sears Tower in the distance which was about 40 kms away. As we got closer it got busier and busier, I guess it was peak hour with people going to work.
Once we got into the heart of the city the Tom Tom went crazy. There were roads above and below each other and when we were driving along under ground and between buildings the Tom Tom did not know where we were. It kept telling us to turn and there were no corners and it just became crap. So we just drove as close as possible to the tower and found a car park and went in. It was a car park where they park your car for you. It was going to cost $26 for the day but at least the car was safe.
Made our way out and walked to the Sears Tower which was about 5 blocks away. Paid our money and went up the elevator to the 99th floor. The tower is 1450 feet tall and 1725 feet to the top of the antenna. We spent around and hour at the top of the tower. It was a nice clear day and you could see up to 50 miles away. It was good as you could see where we had just driven from and you could see all around the city.
Once down we made our way to Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain. On the way we stopped at Subway where the guy was really helpful and told us where to go and what to do in the city. Once lunch was had we walked to the fountain. It was massive and is actually 85 metres in diameter and has 134 jets.
From the fountain we made our way to the Millennium Park which is a city park built on the old rail yards. It is 24.5 acres in size and you really could spend most of the day there if you wanted. From the changing displays to the Crown Fountain, the Cloud Gate, the Pritzker Pavilion and the gardens and flowers it was just beautiful. It was only finished in 2001 and is a big part of the city now as it attracts tourists and locals.
From there we walked back into the city and to the Chicago River where we found a cruise boat that does 90 minute cruises for $23. So we paid our money and set off on the cruise. The cruise included going through the lock and out into Lake Michigan to see the cityscape from the harbor and then back into the river and through the city where the tour guide pointed out all the significant buildings etc. The tour was good and the 90 minutes went really quickly.
Once back on land Bronte wanted to walk to the Oprah Studios which was located a few kms away, so we walked and found the studio. Oprah is not filming at the moment so the studio was not open to go in. The Oprah shop was there but it shut at 5.30pm and we got there at 5.35pm. From there we walked back to pick up our car and then drove to Milwaukee where we had booked our next lot of accommodation which was about 3 hours away.
Got to the motel and it was really nice. Once booked in we headed out for dinner. Went to a place called Applebee’s for dinner which is like a restaurant/bar which does grilled meals and the like. The food was really nice and the waitress was really cool and she loved our Aussie accents. Over here apparently we have accents, and I thought it was the Americans with the accent. Well back to the motel as we are heading into Downtown Milwaukee tomorrow.
Well we woke up and we were still alive!! That’s a good start. Had a bit of a drive this morning to get to Chicago city but the road was like a 5 lane freeway all the way. Once we got out onto the freeway we could see the Sears Tower in the distance which was about 40 kms away. As we got closer it got busier and busier, I guess it was peak hour with people going to work.
Once we got into the heart of the city the Tom Tom went crazy. There were roads above and below each other and when we were driving along under ground and between buildings the Tom Tom did not know where we were. It kept telling us to turn and there were no corners and it just became crap. So we just drove as close as possible to the tower and found a car park and went in. It was a car park where they park your car for you. It was going to cost $26 for the day but at least the car was safe.
Made our way out and walked to the Sears Tower which was about 5 blocks away. Paid our money and went up the elevator to the 99th floor. The tower is 1450 feet tall and 1725 feet to the top of the antenna. We spent around and hour at the top of the tower. It was a nice clear day and you could see up to 50 miles away. It was good as you could see where we had just driven from and you could see all around the city.
Once down we made our way to Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain. On the way we stopped at Subway where the guy was really helpful and told us where to go and what to do in the city. Once lunch was had we walked to the fountain. It was massive and is actually 85 metres in diameter and has 134 jets.
From the fountain we made our way to the Millennium Park which is a city park built on the old rail yards. It is 24.5 acres in size and you really could spend most of the day there if you wanted. From the changing displays to the Crown Fountain, the Cloud Gate, the Pritzker Pavilion and the gardens and flowers it was just beautiful. It was only finished in 2001 and is a big part of the city now as it attracts tourists and locals.
From there we walked back into the city and to the Chicago River where we found a cruise boat that does 90 minute cruises for $23. So we paid our money and set off on the cruise. The cruise included going through the lock and out into Lake Michigan to see the cityscape from the harbor and then back into the river and through the city where the tour guide pointed out all the significant buildings etc. The tour was good and the 90 minutes went really quickly.
Once back on land Bronte wanted to walk to the Oprah Studios which was located a few kms away, so we walked and found the studio. Oprah is not filming at the moment so the studio was not open to go in. The Oprah shop was there but it shut at 5.30pm and we got there at 5.35pm. From there we walked back to pick up our car and then drove to Milwaukee where we had booked our next lot of accommodation which was about 3 hours away.
Got to the motel and it was really nice. Once booked in we headed out for dinner. Went to a place called Applebee’s for dinner which is like a restaurant/bar which does grilled meals and the like. The food was really nice and the waitress was really cool and she loved our Aussie accents. Over here apparently we have accents, and I thought it was the Americans with the accent. Well back to the motel as we are heading into Downtown Milwaukee tomorrow.
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