Well can you believe that I am writing this blog from my desk at the BBC having been back home for over a month now. So much has happened since I wrote my penultimate blog so here goes for the very last time..............
Our second day in Chicago was glorious, beautiful blue skies and crisp cool weather so we set out on foot and walked about 4 miles into the centre of Chicago. We visited LaSalle Street which is home to the ‘Wall St’ of Chicago and is also the home of the world’s first skyscraper. Chicago is a beautiful city, we were really surprised by how much we liked it given we were getting a bit uninspired by some of the cities we visited towards the end of our trip. We did a bit of shopping and also walked along the ‘Magnificent Mile’ of shops and did some shopping!
Thursday we chilled out at their apartment, watching TV and checking our emails… doing normal stuff for a change!
Friday, Andrea worked from home so we went back into the centre of Chicago and visited Navy Pier which has recently been renovated and now boasts a selection of fairground rides and restaurants similar to Brighton Pier…. No fish and chips though sadly! On Friday night we tasted Chicago’s famous deep dish pizza at Gino’s East which is one of THE places to go in Chicago. We had a great meal, shame about the service and rude security guard who was asked to ‘escort us out of the restaurant’ because it appears we overstayed our welcome even though it was only 2230 when the food came out, anyhoo we then went to a Hooters Bar just for the fun of it and had a drink! Certainly a ‘once only’ visit!
Saturday was ‘the big day’. Matt went to Michigan State University and Andrea went to the University of Michigan and they’re huge rivals so a football game between the two is a big (drinking) event. It took me back to watching the England vs. Wales Rugby games in Cardiff in terms of quantity drunk and amount of abuse hurled at TV screen! Carl and I started off well, pacing ourselves, making sure we chose only the biggest vat of beer that we could find, a 66oz plastic mug, and then we drank as quickly as we could and so by 1930 it was game over for us. So we all went back to Matt and Andrea’s flat and continued to eat, drink and be merry… all except Carl who, at 30 yrs old and over the hill, had to go have a nap.. all night……
Sunday was a bit of a blur but we visited the famous Wrigley’s Field Baseball Stadium and also had a very posh drink at the top of the John Hancock building. This is the 2nd highest building in Chicago, next to the Sears Tower, and rather than pay a lot of money to go to the top of Sears viewing gallery, you can visit the lounge bar at the top of John Hancock for free! Amazing views, well worth it!
Sunday evening we ordered in sushi and all had a lovely final night in Chicago with gorgeous Matt and Andrea. We packed and left their apartment at midday on Monday and made our way to O’Hare where our flight was due to depart at 1800. No delays so we rather excitedly got on the last flight of our trip and couldn’t wait to get to London Heathrow to see all the family. We collected our baggage and went through customs and then the arrival doors opened and there was my family waiting to greet us! Carl’s family arrived a few minutes later and it was lovely to see everyone and meet our other nephew, Carl’s sister’s son, for the first time. Our first day back was spent telling stories, showing photos, eating food we’d missed and drinking lots of great British Cups of Tea!
Now, we’re back in the flat, back in London, back at work and some days the trip seems like a very distant memory…………
Carl and I have had the year of our lives and even if we never travel further afield than Surrey for the rest of our lives, we’re so happy and proud of ourselves that we’ve achieved such a trip in our lifetime. To travel together as a married couple, and return still married (!), is an achievement in itself and Carl and I are stronger and happier than ever. To return to the UK in a time of recession is difficult but not a hard as having to deal with the plight of Cambodian people, cross borders between Argentina and Bolivia and speak Spanish to locals when you only know the words for ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘two beers’. We hope to always remember that even when times are hard for us they’re never as hard as for some of the people who we have met during this last year.
Carl and I want to thank everyone who has read these blogs over the past year, those of you who’ve followed our travels with us and those who are still asking questions even now when most of you are probably bored of us talking about our journey! We’ll always have the memories and photos to remind us… hopefully we’ll never lose sight of ourselves and always remember there are people out there who are so much more needing than we are.
Carl and Becs – signing off for the last time. Xxxxxxx
