Put the wind up me City!! (Sights & Attractions in Chicago)

Member Name: yabbadabbadoo

Product:	Sights & Attractions in Chicago
Date:	03/11/08 (217 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Spectacular day out, in one giant film set

Disadvantages: None

I recently flew over to Chicago for a training course. Now, because my company are so tight with expenses I flew out on a Saturday and returned on a Saturday so that meant the fare was £250 instead of £1000+.
Good news for me was that it gave me time for a cracking day out in the city on the Sunday and I have to say that in my opinion, Chicago is one amazing place.

Even the trains are impressive, travelling in from the suburbs, sitting on the top deck -not used to doing that! When it comes to buying my ticket, the ticket collector gets a bit confused with my english accent, as I asked for a return instead of a 'round trip'. Next thing I know this girl turns round and gives it the old "schucks are you from england? - I went to London last year" routine

Thing was just as a way of having something to say, after a few minutes of confusing anglo-american conversations, I say to her, "isn't that Jerry Springer show filmed round here?"
Turns out that her Dad actually works as one of the producers on Jerry Springer - I meet just one person in a city of 8 million and she knows Jerry Springer in the flesh - my kind of place!

Anyways after that 'excitement' I took a circular tour of the whole city with the Chicago trolley company which runs from outside Sears tower, with stopovers at all the main sites. Highly recommend taking one of these tours, the drivers do the commentaries on the way round and are really funny - put those Guide Friday tours in the shade!

Some highlights include the huge John G.Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier family centre looking out over Lake Michigan , Water tower (about the only thing that survived the Great Fire), magnificent mile of shopping, the fabled House of Blues, and at Union station, you can even find the very stair-case at the train station where Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia did their incredible baby balancing routine in the Untouchables!

Actually, even at the end of the tour there was a little 'Jerry Springer' style drama. I got off the tour trolley outside the Sky deck at Sears Tower, and I stopped to get my bearings and work out which direction the station was in.

Anyway, just as I've worked out I need to head across one of the multiple versions of 'Wacker drives' (you'll see what I mean if you ever get chance to go) and start heading towards the road junction and crossing, a guy comes up to me, hands me a leaflet and then starts talking about a homeless project he's involved in. Meantime, a few moments later, in mid-conversation the guy suddenly shouts out 'What the ****!' and behind me there's a loud smash.

I turn around, and there are two cars which have collided, one of which was sliding in our direction only stopping about 10 feet away right where I probably would have been walking - scary!!. Both drivers got out of their cars and were unhurt fortunately, and pretty soon the police had cordoned off the area and I believe from the news on TV later there were huge traffic jams as a result. According to the guy I was talking to (who naturally at this point I was more than happy to give a wad of dollars to!), the Porsche driver had jumped the red light and a cab turning right clipped right into the side of him

So after a day touring the home of movie sets Blues Brothers, The Untouchables, Backdraft, the Fugitive to name but a few, and weirdly enough a minute or two earlier opposite the Sears tower I'd just taken a picture of the setting for one of the scenes from John Travolta's film - 'Michael' where he plays an Angel there I was in the thick of it (thanking my lucky stars!)

Forgive me this small indulgence but perhaps I can put it in the form of a Jerry Springer 'Final Thought'!

"You know, often, we are all in such a hurry with our daily lives we never really stop to think about what really matters. It's strange that some of us can place more value on saving a few seconds speeding across a red light than on our own safety, let alone that of other people. For me, the experience of very occasionally coming face to face with our own mortality is made all the more real, when you consider that every day on the streets it is always a matter of life and death for the homeless. Take care of yourself and each other"

So there you go a great day out and an important life lesson - what a city!!

Summary: Worth a visit!