Windy Cities, Big Apples

Thursday – SFO to Chicago
It was my privilege to drag my sorry, sick ass out of bed at 0430 to get a ride to the BART station (thanks Aunty). Man was I starting to feel like crap.

I didn’t get a chance to hit up the chemist, so I was stuck on the flight sans medication, wanting to die. A nice english bloke sitting next to me donated some pills, so at least I stopped coughing and sniffing for a while.

Al Auda, a buddy from GE, was kind enough to pick me up from the airport, and we headed to the South Loop to wait for his brother-in-law Mac and have a few brews.

Several beers (and a parking ticket) later, we met up with Mac, who is an all-round great guy, and one of Chicago’s finest firemen. There were more beers, and some steak, until I had to bail due to rising sickness.

The night was rough, Mac (who had kindly offered to let me stay at his place) had to deal with me coughing and spluttering my way through the rest of the evening….

Friday – Chicago, Baseball, Drinking
Mac and I woke up pretty late, and met his new girlfriend for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent just hanging around, as I was feeling a little under the weather.

Al attended an exclusive work baseball function, but neglected to get us an invite… however he arrived after a few beers and suggested we go see a ball game.

We got pretty good seats, quite cheaply from a scalper, and proceeded to drink our way through my first game of baseball – the Chicago White Sox vs. the Boston Red Sox. Hey it was pretty good, but I get the feeling it was more the company than the game itself…

Al headed off, and Mac and I roamed around a bit more. I got a tour of the firehouse, and my very own souvenir shirt.. You will be seeing me model it when I return to Melbourne.

Alas it was time for me to head off to the airport. I cannot thank Al and Mac (who only met me the day I arrived) for an awesome time…. I hope to be able to repay the hospitality some day!

Saturday – Chicago to NYC
Somehow between checking into my hotel, and arriving at the airport, I managed to lose my bloody Wizard card. Awesome. I was in a fine state on awakening as well…. Double Awesome.

Anyway. I arrived in NYC, and caught a cab to my friends place. I haven’t seen James and Luvina for … ooh… about 12 years when they moved to Sydney. Not really sure why, but hey.

We cruised around mid-town, had some dinner, and then wandered around. It was strange to see things like Times Square and the Empire State Building in the flesh.

Took a few photos. Ironically this first one is outside the International Center for Photography. Good thing they didn’t notice me taking it…

You can see the Empire State Building in the top-right of the frame (it’s the building that’s all lit up).

Next stop was Grand Central Station, which was very cool…

…both inside and out.

It was about time for bed after that… man was I tired.

Sunday – NYC
Today we cruised around the city a bit more. I got to see Wall Street, ate some food in Chinatown, sampled the various doughnuts and such that are to be had, and also checked out the Statue of Liberty. Woo!!

Not much to say really, but I got a really good cross section of the city (well as much as you can do in one day I suppose) and it was a lot of fun.

Well… it’s been a great 4 days. I’ve been shown fantastic hospitality and am really looking forward to Toronto!

Bye Bye!