So having been delivered safely to the airport in Lima by our tour guide Fernando, and this I was very grateful of, I will be honest i did not relish the thought of having to get a cab on my own at 3:30am in one of the more unsafe cities in South America, so thank you very much Fernando, my feeling of uneasiness was picked up on, which was why i was delivered all the way to the check in. Very nice thought and I was very very grateful.

So the first flight was to Miami, and again it was on a crappy old plane, from a very well known, generic American airline company. Never again. It was also on this flight i was soaked in boiling water by the air stewardess, but my main concern was that it went all over my mac! The good news for you lot (depending on how you look at it) the mac survived, bloody good job as well. I had had no sleep and if my pride and joy stopped working lets just say the Essex side really would have made an appearance.

We arrive in Miami, and i get sent through the 'you look like your bag needs searching' line. They were concerned about my hiking shoes, after giving them the look of 'my shoes are at the bottom of my rucksack and you really dont want me to have to unpack everything, this could takes days and there better be a REALLY good reason you want to look at them' I think the fact that I could barely carry the thing made them sympathetic and they just said, yeah go through. Thank god. I was then greated by the shuttle team, very friendly and helpful, made a lovely change to the usual crappy service from the 'other' firm i have used previously. I was delivered to the hostel, helped with my rucksack, met the lovely chicago HI team who then presented me with my long lost skates - that had been there since Oct. AND, they were in one piece. One happy Lou! And with that it was off to bed, back to bunk beds now…….again.

My first impressions of Chicago, Christmas and bloody freezing!!!! the airport had all its decs up, it was lovely, i then got outside in my non-existent coat and converse where your feet turn blue within 10 secs. So, i get up, consult the map for suitable shopping destinations and i am off. It was quite overwhelming the number of shops to choose from, and i was only after 2 things, a coat and boots. 6 hours later, having been into every shop and walked out of a lot, where i hadn't realised i was in a really expensive shop, i asked the price, my jaw dropped and i left whilst making jokes about being a skint backpacker and that it was a touch out of my budget, some shop assistants found this funny and laughed and others just looked at me weirdly. Then i found Zara and Top Shop, the rest was history. Shopping complete, and a damn sight warmer than i had been a i made my way up State Street, past Maceys and all the christmas decorations, there was even Christmas music belting out on the side streets, very cool. Then I hit the magnificent mile, basically a shed load of swanky shops, luckily for me earlier (not for my credit card) I found Zara which supplied me with a big furry coat, (not all furry, and definitely not real fur) and Top Shop for more jeans and tops. Good job i have just shipped home half the contents of my rucksack!

Having walked around for what felt like hours, i made my way back to get food - i have fallen in love with the soups from Panera Bread…….this was to become my staple diet (along with the free hostel breakfast) for the rest of the trip - cheap and a little bit healthy hopefully.

Full of soup and bread i bundled up in my new purchases and made my way to the Museum of Contemporary Art where they had the David Bowie exhibition. I was being a right old cheapskate and went for the cheap $7 ticket that included everything except said David Bowie exhibit. After an hour and a half of looking at the artsy stuff which was pretty cool, and weird in some parts I kept hearing blasts of David Bowie from the 5th floor, at that point i thought sod it and paid the extra. It was excellent, I hadn't really appreciated how much of an effect this singer had had in terms of individualism, the costumes were crazy! There were over 300 bits to look at including song lyrics, and all sorts, even the crystal ball from the Labyrinth! That bought back memories, will have to watch that when i get home, although i think we only have it on VHS. Having bopped my way round the exhibit with Bowie blaring into my ears i left and made my way back along the magnificent mile and saw all the christmas lights and trees, it was fab.

On the way back i then came across a friendly looking pub, The Elephant and Castle and treated myself to an enormous glass of red wine to warm up. A lovely day, i felt quite at home today, now whether that was owing to my clothes shopping or just that fact that i love Chicago, it has a great feeling to it, and the people are just lovely. Within 5mins of being in Maceys i was told my accent was adorable! me and adorable rarel make it into the same sentence.

Day 2, my room mates are not backpackers, they are here for a conference, and have absolutely no idea about dorm room etiquette. Lights on at 6am, what the hell, oh how i have missed dorm wars!!!! Payback time tomorrow, when my alarm goes off loudly at 5:30am! ha!

So having taken advantage of my early awakeness i seek out breakfast and stock up, its free after all. I then get budded up…..again, its even colder today, I was even considering a little skate, but its way way toooooo cold for even that. I made my way to the fountain, which appearenty goes off each hour, i arrived at 9:15, and did not relish the thought of sitting for 45mins and freezing my backside off in the process, so I started to make my way to the Navy Pier along the waterfront. This was just lovely, sun shining, very quiet, and the Lumineers in my ears for company. I had a lovely walk, nice just to be able to chill and not be attached to a set schedule with timings and stuff, i was back on Lou time. I reached the pier, now it was lovely at the end, it provided great views of skyline behind the water with the suns reflection, unfortunately there was a huge amount of construction work going on so the walk to the end was not as nice as it could have been, it will be lovely once it is finished though.

From here it was off to the Millennium park, back along the lake, this time with the wind against me, my poor face was very red by the time i hit the park. The park was pretty cool, all sorts of sculptures and stuff and massive silver mirrored jelly bean shaped thing. You'll see from the pictures. Again another lovely day of just wandering around at my own place exploring, these are the days i really love when in a new city. Very much looking forward to Boston and New York. I made my way back via the blister plaster shop - bloody typical! and found more Panera Bread Soup.

Next stop was the Sky Deck and Ledge, 103 floors up. Having got a bit lost, but i did find my red wine bar for after because i went slightly off Piste, I arrive at the entrance, no queue whatsoever which was a massive result. The views from the top were really great, skyscrapers dripping in lights and the roads being lit up like a grid, fantastic. It was slightly disconcerting walking onto a piece of glass 103 floors up and seeing the ground. A great finish off to Chicago and then I got a nice glass of Malbec to conclude the day. Chicago, I love you and don't want to leave :(

And, I am feeling very christmassy.

Ps. Mum, have i got a cadburys advent calendar waiting for me ;)

Laters……….and your be pleased to know you only have 3 more of these……..

xxx