Changing the scenery somewhat, our next (and final) stops were designed to gradually reintegrate us into city life in preparation of our homecoming...
Lost Weekend... and our Chicago host, John, certainly made sure our reintegration was complete. Arriving at O'Hare around 2pm, we were whisked straight off to Arlington Park for an afternoon at the races where we proceeded to lose all our money (not a single winner between 5 of us!). The losses seemed to matter less and less, and got bigger and bigger, as the afternoon wore on and the alcohol flowed but fortunately, just before Steve lost the shirt from his back on another sure-fire winner, we headed back to John's (a fabulous downtown apartment with great views) for a pit-stop before an enormous steak dinner at a posh restaurant and lots more to drink in the bar! It's good to see drunken nights end the same all over the world - finding ourselves at a karaoke bar for after-hours drinks ... old habits die-hard!
Needless to say, the next morning's sightseeing plans went on the backburner whilst we slept off our hangovers, emerging just in time for a very late brunch! We did manage to see a little bit of the city though, with John very kindly taking us on a guided tour of Astor Street (where the rich and famous live), Lincoln Park (at 1,200 acres who'd have thought there was so much greenery in a city?), the waterfront and beach (wish it were sunny!), and the Old Town (cool shops and even cooler bars) before heading back for a power nap! Fully refreshed, we headed over to a local street festival for a couple of drinks, a listen to the live band and our first Corn Dog (Hot Dog in a cake!) before ending the afternoon in the bar where the St Valentine's Day Massacre occurred (see, we did do some cultural stuff!!!). Another evening, and another great night out in Chicago, this time at a friend of John's BBQ which we 'popped' into for a quick drink and ended up staying until 4am!
Once again, our sightseeing plans were scuppered somewhat by a late start and a feed the hangover brunch! We did, of course, manage a visit to Michigan Avenue (Chicago's answer to Sloane Street) which perked Ali up no end and spurred us on to visit both the Millennium Park and the Navy Pier - both great areas with fairground rides, live music, bars, restaurants and shops. Our immersion was complete with a Chicago style pizza and improv night at Second City (where John Belushi and Bill Murray made their names) and suddenly it was time to leave - where did the weekend go?!
Thanks John for your excellent hospitality, and to your friends for keeping us highly entertained - especially Tom, Anthony (from Waxford) and Tim. Chicago is a fantastic city with great people and we very much look forward to coming back someday.
Recovery...Arriving in Toronto a little worse for wear, we were forced to take it easy and wander aimlessly around the city before getting an early night - oh dear, how old are we?! Almost refreshed, the next day we set off to do some serious sight-seeing ... getting as far as the CN Tower (the world's tallest free-standing structure) and the Harborfront before giving up and catching the ferry over to Toronto Island for a lazy afternoon on the beach! An idea that was short-lived once we discovered it was a 'clothes optional' beach - not that we're prudes but the thought of looking at fat, old, wrinkly, naked people was enough to put us off our picnic! Apart from that, the Island was lovely and we had a great day picnic-ing by the water's edge, walking in the various parks, admiring the city skyline from afar and generally chilling out - a well earned rest!
Barrels of fun...Feeling guilty for being so lazy, we though we'd better get our act together and at least visit the country's top tourist attraction - Niagara Falls. Encouraged by the stats (9 out of 14 have made it since 1901), but put-off by the $10,000 fine, we thought better of trying our luck in a barrel and made do with a 'behind the falls' tunnel visit (a bit pointless unless you need a cold shower) and a tour of all of the best view points, which are especially amazing at night when the falls are illuminated by various coloured lights, before taking a walk around 'tacky town' - a whole town dedicated to theme-park style attractions, casinos and themed bars/restaurants, all of which had surprisingly little to do with water!
Whilst in the area, we also got to visit the very pretty Niagara-on-the-Lake, a picture perfect town where all the buildings were either built in the early 19th Century or have been made to look like they were and home to a unique bakery - cookies, cakes and bread ... for dogs. We finished up our whirlwind trip to Canada with a visit to a winery (no, we didn't know they produced wine here either, but they do and it's very good, especially the 'Ice-Wine' made from grapes hand-picked at freezing temperatures and fetching up to $300 per bottle!) where we somehow managed to try all 10 wines on the bar, despite having only half an hour and there being a 4 wines per person limit!
Anyone for tea?
Our next and penultimate weekend was spent in the charming and historic Boston, where we arrived just in time to celebrate our hostess, Lauren's, birthday. A lovely, but alcohol filled evening ensued, with stops at a posh city bar and a laid back beach bar before sitting on the porch drinking and chatting until the early hours - this city life re-integration is fun!
The next day heralded a break in Ali's 'no shopping until New York' rule. With the lure of Newbury Street, Massachusetts no sales tax on clothes status and the Banana Republic sale proving too much of a temptation for even the hardest of resolves! Two pairs of shoes, several items of clothing and a serious dent in our budget later, Steve managed to drag Ali out of the shop and back to the sightseeing before catching the scenic ferry (now there's a commute we wouldn't mind) back to Lauren and Sandrine's gorgeous beach house in Hull for a continuation of the birthday celebrations - tonight with a great moonlit BBQ and some sneaky views of the nearby pre-4th of July firework display.
Another Sunday, another hangover and another half-hearted attempt at sightseeing - this time in nearby Harvard Square. In fairness, it was really quiet as school was out, and the bar we retired to is something of an institution in the area!
Our 'Boston' trip was complete with a day on the beach near Lauren and Sandrine's, a trip to the Hingham Mall for some more shopping and a fantastic dinner at the local curry house. Another great weekend in another great city - we loved Boston, although we do have to admit to not seeing much of the city itself!
A very big thank you to Lauren, Sandrine, Rob & Eliza for opening up your house to us and looking after us so well - Lauren, your cooking is fabulous and we can't wait to sample some more! Have a great summer, good luck with the musicals (Rob & Eliza that is) and make sure you visit us soon.
Start spreading the news...
We're pretty sure Frank had slightly better transportation than the 'Fung Wah' bus! Still, as we had our budget heads firmly screwed on (especially after Ali's shopping spree) and this was (hopefully) our last bus journey for a long time, we couldn't not take the Chinatown to Chinatown bus. Unfortunately(!), there is now a terminal in Boston's bus station so we weren't able to experience the waiting outside a Chinese take-out and running down the street to jump on the bus before the police moved it on, but other than that it lived up to it's reputation with old Jackie Chan movies blaring from the screens and a mad bus driver speeding down the freeway. Luckily the white knuckle ride did little to ruin those first views of the 'my building is bigger than yours' skyline as we crossed the Hudson into Manhattan before being unceremoniously dumped on a Chinatown sidewalk!
Staying with Jean, Eamon and baby Sophie (we've been so spoilt over the last few weeks), we celebrated the final stop of our world tour on the sun-soaked patio with New York Steak washed down with Champagne - this is the life!
Our next few days seemed to go by faster than the last 362 put together, with a rain-soaked 4th of July (nice to see Bank Holiday weather is reliable everywhere!) at a riverside BBQ with Jean's family; a trip to Woodbury Common (designer outlets - bet you can almost picture Ali's smiley face); sightseeing around Manhattan and generally relaxing in the Big Apple before, whoosh, it was time to come home - where's the last year gone?!
Thanks Jean & Eamon for your fabulous hospitality, and to baby Sophie for being so cute, you really helped make our final few days special.
We're leaving today...A big thank you to British Airways as well, for making our flight home as memorable as the rest of our trip - when they heard it was the last leg of our RTW ticket, they promptly upgraded us and plied us with free champagne!
