The Atrium of our Hotel.
And we have already gotten the hang of the "el," riding it wherever our hearts desire. The first step of our adventure was braving Wrigleyville in the madness of Cubs fans. Even though the Braves lost in the 11th inning (heartbreak) we still got to enjoy a 4-hour game in Wrigley Field for only $15 stand-room-only seats and we managed to sit for the whole game in awesome seats off of 1st base (thank you people who don't show up to games).
Rivals, but we remained civil.
We made it back to the hotel through the sea of cheering Cubs fans and met up with Chris's cousin Lauren. After an Italian dinner at Exchequers, she showed us around the city a little bit as dusk, which made for some great photos. We crashed early after a long day of travel and site-seeing.
Night views around Chicago River.
Chris and Lauren in Millennium Park.
Today we left the hotel today (Friday) by 11am to do a bit of exploring. First stop was Millennium Park where we saw "the bean" and overheard an orchestra practicing for a concert in the outdoor amphitheater.
We mossied into the Chicago Cultural Center for a 20-min gander around the impressive architecture and art exhibitions. Next was the trek up Michigan Ave. where we sat outside with our classic Starbucks drinks and people-watched the busy street. After some discussion we decided it would be culturally appropriate to take the "el" down to Chinatown for a look into our near future. We decided we really like the signs which include English translations under the Chinese characters... umm, we don't that will be custom when abroad. We also decided to save our appetite as we passed on preserved egg danishes and sea eel entrees (can't wait for local delicacies).
Chinatown!
Chris isn't so sure about the eel...
Then we hopped back on the "el" and stopped near Museum of Contemporary Photography which was closed for repair until July (thank you hotel tour map). So to begin our impromptu walking tour we headed to the nearby Buckingham Fountain for some photo opps and great views at the city. 
Jenn and Chris in front of Buckingham Fountain.
Then we took the walking path along Lake Shore Drive (with great views of Lake Michigan) up to Navy Pier where we cut back into the city to make a must-needed stop for internet at the Apple store and explored the Garmin store on the Magnificent Mile of Michigan Avenue. Our handy hotel map recommended the Ghirardelli cafe and Hershey's store where we again sat outside for some people-watching beside the Historic Water Tower. We wandered into the Borders next door and happened upon the Asian Travel Book section. After both (separately) being told that it was a fire hazard to sit on the floor and read books (oops), we relaxed for an hour in the Borders cafe reading up on our future travel plans. Jennifer successfully researched all train tickets along our Malaysia and Thailand path, while Chris checked updates on the US Open scores on his Blackberry.
After looking for two separate piano bars and realizing our tourist attire was probably not appropriate, we wandered into the Embassy Suites and low and behold their door to the internet/computer room was open! So here we are sketchily hanging out in this hotel...
Free Internet!!
Tonight we gain a new face to our Chicago reunion and tomorrow morning even one more! We cannot wait for Sandra and Char to join!!
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1 comment:
Wow! Sounds like you two are off to a fun start to your adventure. Keep up the postings. Dad and I are excited to hear all the details.
Mom
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