Day 37 - REST DAY Chicago

Sue kindly cooked us breakfast of french toast, eggs and lashings of syrup before driving us to the train station in the morning. We caught the commuter train into Chicago Union Station, the same train that features in the film Source Code.

We spent the morning walking around Chicago, looking at the lakefront and Navy Pier. Chicago has the most sailing vessels of any city in the US and that was apparent as we passed scores of vessels of all shapes and sizes berthed along the shore. Cycle lanes ran along the lakefront, and tourists on "Boris bikes" shared the lanes with racers training. We caught sighting of the Chicago skyline which was spectacular.

Back into the city streets, we explored the river front shops and buildings before venturing to Millennium Park, where we found a few statues and art works including the large mirror arch bubble which we recognised from the end of Source Code. We also stumbled upon an orchestra practising in a large amphitheatre; A woman sang excellently at the front, her voice carrying across the park. Later we discovered there was a free to watch performance of Elgar's The Kingdom taking place in the evening.

Owen's family met us at Buckingham fountain, which erupts a 150ft geyser every hour for 20 minutes. We stopped for lunch at a nearby cafe, occasionally getting spattered with water blown over from the fountain. With Owen's family we decided to have a go at a Segway tour, courtesy of Ceri, Owen's dad. For a couple of hours we became those people that everybody thinks "No, I will not look that stupid" and did our best shameless tourist impression. It was a very interesting tour, and the Segways added an element of novelty. One more tick off the bucket list!

For dinner we picked up some sandwiches to go, and a few beers, and found ourselves a corner of the amphitheatre ready for the performance by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. We stayed for the first three parts which were excellent, albeit heavy to follow. The park was full of people enjoying the performance, locals and tourists from all backgrounds mixed together; Some people in the audience were still in their work clothes. The sense of culture is prescient in Chicago.

We look forward to exploring the Science and Industry Museum tomorrow.