hiii! Yup I'm not exactly in Chicago, but in Naperville, which is about 45 minutes away by the Metro. Archu's got a lovely house and she and her family are WONDERFUL people!
Actually she's an e-friend. I know. It's scary to trust someone you've only spoken to online. But she and her mom were awesomely nice and invited us to stay at their place when I said we were coming to Chicago! Despite never having met me before! I did speak to them from Waterloo on the phone, and send lots of emails. Took a risk there. But Indians - that too Brahmins - from Chennai, so just took the chance. It paid off. They're great people :)
Anyway, after reaching Chicago and picking up Janny, we just roamed around for a while. First impression was that it looked exactly like Raffles Place in Singapore! Tall buildings, office people running around. Lots of busy streets. Very much like Raffles Place. The weather was pretty decent. Not too hot or cold. But we were carrying two huge backpacks so it wasn't too easy to really enjoy the sights with all that weight on our backs.
Suan Tin and I with our front and backpacks in downtown Chicago
The main (and famous) roads here are Michigan Avenue, State Street, Grand Avenue, etc. Anyway we were just walking around, and we found a HUGE Macy's Store which conveniently had a Visitors Centre. So we went in to gather some information about what all we could see in 3-4 days, most interesting spots in downtown Chicago, eating places, and stuff. And the woman there was really nice and let us keep our bags there in their cloak room! For free! That felt so good. Giving up our heavy loads. Then, we left for the Field Museum which she said had free entry today.
But it wasn't free. Wasn't too expensive either. We got the student discount, making it $7 rather than $12. That's when I realised I didn't have my student passes with me! Neither Waterloo's nor NUS. God. I really hope I manage without it for the rest of the trip. It's usually half-priced and will really save some cash. But anyway. The Museum was nice - our first one. So we looked around with lots of enthusiasm. Nice exhibits.
Janny and I navigating our way through the Rock Exhibit.
We had to rush coz the museum was closing. We only had about 2 hours, but we managed to finish most of it. Oh! The really surprising thing was, we bumped into Artemis there! Again! Well actually Suan Tin did. So when I ran into them, they were in some serious conversation, and Suan Tin said that basically she'd split from her travelling pal so she invited her to join us. I guess I'm ok with it, as long as everyone cooperates. So now we have a group of 4 for the rest of the US trip.
Anyway, after the Field Museum, we decided to just walk around that area to take in the greenery of Grant Park and surrounding area. Lovely greenery. Seriously. I've never seen grass this green before. And now the weather was getting surprisingly cold! Had to borrow Janny's spare sweater as I'd left mine at Macy's. That's when I found out why Chicago's known as the Windy City.
With Chicago's skyline in the background, the tallest of the lot being Sears Tower.
Soon it became a little too cold for us, considering we weren't exactly prepared for it. So around 7-ish and after a bit more exploring (the department stores mainly) and collecting our stuff from Macy's, we went to Union Station to take the Metro to Naperville. I was pretty excited to meet Archu. Gave her a call and told her we were on the way there.
Grinning baekkishly in the train. Oh and that's the size of my backpack, and it was lighter than the others'!
Once we reached Naperville, we got off and met Archu and her mom at the station. We drove back and here I am, in their house. And they've got two dogs. Incredibly cute but SO SCARILY TOOTHY. Toby and Fluffy! Their house is awesome. Big and roomy. Lots of space for us 4! I'm really grateful :) Tomorrow, Archu's gonna come with us to Navy Pier, and other places downtown. I should probably go sleep now. So will write again tomorrow! Goodnight :)
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