Near West Side

It was time to explore a new city. What better way than on a river boat tour.

The tour was specifically about the architecture of Chicago and as the guide explained 'our skyscrapers are our mountains'. The weather was overcast and we were told that this was actually perfect weather for the tour as it was neither too hot or too cold, it wasn't raining, and it wasn't sunny. The direct sunlight would just bounce off all the skyscrapers making it difficult to actually see anything. That was lucky! My knowledge of skyscrapers was less than limited and it was illuminating to hear about the city's history as told through the buildings that make it distinct as we made our way up the Chicago River. Ninety minutes later we were back to where we started, although hungrier. It was lunchtime.

We had planned to have deep dish pizza whilst in Chicago and there was no time like the present. We ordered the classic and were informed that it would take up to fifty minutes to make. That's the best way of saying to a customer 'so, about that appetizer...' and we therefore went with bruschetta whilst waiting. When the deep dish did arrive it was mighty. It's basically a huge pie and it was as tasty as imagined. However, I would still go with a standard pizza over the deep dish if I was to choose a favourite. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Definitely worth a try though.

We then strolled through Millennium Park where you can take numerous photos of yourself via a large metallic bean sculpture. A bit further down from the bean there are two large walls with people's faces projected (from the inside) and every hour or so a fountain of water spurts out their mouths. Another interesting addition to the park. Alice and I didn't hang around waiting for the fountains and instead decided on a long walk to the United Centre. On the way, we made various detours to see streets and buildings that were used in various movies, including The Dark Knight and Road to Perdition.

We got to the United Centre an hour later and it was time for the day's main event. The Chicago Bulls were playing the Milwaukee Bucks. We got to our seats and being a preseason game it was not a sell out but the atmosphere was still impressive. A large inflatable Benny the Bull was floating around the court as DJ Flipside did his best to get the crowd going by mixing a song every 10 seconds whilst dancing and smiling at the camera that was on him. Just before the game started the lights dipped and each player ran onto the court with the spotlight on him as he high-fived his team mates and the announcer continued to rouse the crowd. The national anthem followed and then it was time to begin. The Bulls stormed into an early lead and it looked like this was going to be a walk in the park. At the end of the first quarter somehow the Bucks were in front and they comfortably held on to that lead right through to the last quarter. In that time, the end of each quarter was a chance for various acts to perform, including dancing seniors, tumblers and drummers. Also each timeout called, led to a group of people running out on to the court, shooting free t-shirts into the crowd. Everyone went crazy! And this wasn't the peak. That was the parachute drop, whereby cannisters containing even more t-shirts were this time dropped from above with mini parachutes attached for the lucky recipient to catch. There was much excitement and having seen the prices of official merchandise (one t-shirt was $300!) I can see why. Back to the game and it wasn't until the final quarter that the Bulls pulled it back and with about three minutes to go it was level. Alice and I were really into the game by the last quarter and it was with the last two shots that the winner would be decided. The Bulls ended up missing their first penalty shot blowing their chance of winning. The crowd were gutted and started fleeing home. For a preseason game it looked like both sides really wanted to win. A great spectator sport and it would be nice to watch another game before we leave the States. On our way back we stopped off at a bar rounding off an eventful day.

Song of the Day:
Quad City DJs - Space Jam ThemeRead more