sand currently sits in every crevice i own, and ones i didn't know i owned until now. im warm from head to toe, and am energised in a way that can only be as a result of a good dose of vitamin d. oh yes, it must be a day of sun and sand. and a little history.
our beautiful street.
quickly becoming acquainted with the new apartment. my favorite part in undeniably the elevator that looks like it has been plucked right out of inception- with the concertina metal door, and wooden interior. it's strange i can feel like such a badass in such an effectively lame and outdated piece of technology. loving it nevertheless!
we left the apartment at around one- mum has a low level bug, and needed the rest. we headed for downtown, and the twisted sister bakery for lunch. it was lovely food- if not just a little too hot inside. this was quickly fixed though with a visit to pinkberry- the frozen yogurt and toppings store. after this we headed for the chicago history museum for some educatin'.
hot dog dani.
our postcard creation (we put the o in chicago).
the museum was really great- with a number of interactive things i was able to get right into- as every good tourist should! i was made into a hot dog, rode a penny farthing, and watched a magic show. the room about protests and different minority groups was interesting- and it was all very well set out. we got to the museum about an our and a half before it closed- so found ourselves rushing a bit to get through it all. all in all- a great museum!
the sun shining, and the warm breeze of the windy city in full force, we headed to north avenue beach through lincoln park.i quickly realised that i was seeing furry tailed creatures flitting about in the corner of my eyesight. squirrels. i was surrounded by squirrels. yeh day, go on, try and get better from here. because squirrels are probably not going to be topped!!!
the beach was lovely- if not a bit bizarre. people from all ethnicities and walks of life joined together. small spanish children covered themselves in sand, burly men hurled the football through the air (no, not AFL footballs), and the african american gang members trawled the beac for the ladies with just the right 'amount o' ass'. over here it is fathers day, so there was a large number of people out enjoying the sunshine. it's odd to feel so out of place in a such a multicultural crowd. as it began to get a little colder (not until 6:30 and even then the sunshine was still out and fighting!) we decided to head back to the apartment and search out dinner.
even walking home is never a normal experience in a foreign city. approaching a ritzy hotel footpath, we were met by a rabbit looking up at us with a look of terror. yeh buddy, im pretty sure you took a wrong turn as well... continuing down the path, a woman came towards us walking a pram. seems legit. as the pram pulled closer, however, we realized that there was no baby inside, but rather a dog. curiouser and curiouser...
dinner was at lou malnati's pizzeria- experiencing a real taste of chicago with a deep dish pizza. as the meal was going to take 30+ minutes to make, we ordered buffalo wings as a starter. after burning my face off on those, we got our pizza. it was delicious, and not really what i was expecting. we made a friend john, who started talking to us, shook hands and helped us pick what to eat. perhaps we were too quick to judge the people of chicago.
after dinner we quickly stopped into a walgreens to get some bits and pieces on a midnight shop. this soon turned into lots of pieces, as i realised that the drug store make up went for two aisles and it is all wildly cheaper than at home. a good make up shopping fix to finish off a lovely day. returning home near midnight, the streets were still abuzz with people- the warm summers air hanging over us.
