So we've been in Chicago for almost three days now and we both love it; the city just has a good vibe and everyone is really friendly. The hostel is good too with decent sized rooms, free wifi, free printing, free breakfast etc.

When we arrived on Sunday we chilled out and had a nice meal and a drink before calling it a night. We both slept for about 13 hours so the overnight train journey from Buffalo must have tired us out more than we realised!

The next day we headed straight to Millenium Park and 'Cloud Gate' (aka the big silver bean), which is actually rather impressive. Then, rather than paying to go up the Sears Tower, we had an overpriced cocktail ($13.50) and beer ($8) at the Signature Lounge, which is on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building and free to get to. The views were amazing with floor to ceiling windows - even in the ladies! -and it was pretty empty, perhaps because most people don't go out drinking at midday on a Monday... In the afternoon we strolled along Navy Pier, which is jam-packed with amusements and things for tourists to do.

That night we went to a Blues bar ('Kingston Mines') with a few people from our hostel. At one point the lead singer played the guitar with his frigging teeth!! At another he was soldering a new string onto his guitar after it snapped whilst his bandmates carried on jamming without missing a beat. Good times. It was obvious that a lot of people in there were regulars as everyone seemed to have their own bar stool and know the 70 year old man shaking his stuff on the dance floor all night long. I hope I have that much energy when I'm that age!

Yesterday we went to North Avenue Beach on the edge of Lake Michigan in the day and to a game of baseball in the evening. The Chicago Cubs were playing the San Francisco Giants and lost miserably. I am led to believe that this is not unusual for the Cubs...

Today we went to Lincoln Park Zoo. I thought it might be second rate as it's free but it's excellent and definitely worth a visit :-) Planning on heading into the centre of town tonight to see what it's like after dark.