Day 292, 22 April 2013, Chicago, Illinois. We conquered "The Magnificent Mile" today. This is Chicago's premier retail district and we took the chance to visit all those "American" institutions we've only heard of - Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom's to name a few. Despite it actually measuring around a mile, the stretch of Michigan Avenue from the river to the Drake Hotel actually feels like 2-3 miles each way. Suspect that might have had something to do with all the shops we browsed in. Based on the stock alone, it seems Chicago is desperate for summer to arrive - and it seems well on its way. Only 32 F degrees this morning at breakfast (that's 0 C degrees!) - but the day warmed up incredibly. For the history buffs, check out the concept behind the Mag Mile - so named in the 1940s - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Mile
Off to the Art Institute of Chicago tomorrow - according to Tripadvisor it's the number 1 attraction in Chicago - and we've been looking forward to its world class collection of Monet, the current Picasso retrospective and, believe it or not, the 800 strong collection of antique paperweights. All the rage in Venice 300 years ago.....