Chicago

Before i even start to write the Chicago blog we would like to welcome Helen and family to the site!!!!

Ok so we arrived in Chicago on a wet monday evening thankfully only delayed by 3 hours in Pittsburgh we made it home to Ann's for beers and pizza, and immediately it felt like home, it was great. We planned to stay with Ger's cousins for a week and it was like luxury after backpacking for so long..

Our first morning we got up very relaxed and chilled out for the day and Tom and Mary took us out to Pot Belly's for lunch and then in to see Ann at work - oh and meet all of her colleagues and see the new fish tank!!!
We all headed out for dinner that night then to a place called Flattops - kind of like mongolian bar -b -q where you chose what you want to eat and then they cook it for you and you can return as many times as you like! However myself, Ann, Mary and Helen decided to start our meal with Horny monkey cocktails so we were already set for a good night!

After dinner Mary arranged for us to go to a club with her and her friends called Joes where the Randy
Rodgers Band were playing and who we had seen on tele that morning... the $2 pitchers were another reason but after 3 of these Randy and the boys sounded great!

We managed to get up the next morning with bad hangovers but decided to go into the city to walk it off. The city was fab, and it was all very chilled, and we took our time and Ger got to be my tour guide for the day as he has been here so many times. The city is class not too crowded and everyone is very friendly, especially when we went shopping... the magnigficent mile - avenue for shopping, had to be visited but i did well only getting a chicago cubs hoody whereas Ger left town with a new phone/ internet gadget by Nokia!!

My favourite was the bean which was shaped as such and was like a huge round mirror!

When we got home that night we just chilled out with Ann and the family, her back garden is great just to sit out on the deck and with a couple of beers in hand this is pretty much how we spent most of the week..!

It was great just to be able to chill out in a home from home and Ann and all the family made us feel so welcome, we got tyo catch up with mails and more importantly washing!
The weather was great and bar b q's were a must from Ann back garden to her neighbours everyone was so friendly and we were introduced to everyone including Bob and Tina - bod who works for Charcrust a steak seasoning company was kind enough to give us some samples and some " rub my meat" t-shirts!!..... i even managed to squeeze in a visit to the beauty salon with Ann and Mary to get pedicures! and Ger got to listen to the Dublin match that morning!

One of Ann's neighbours Sue invited us up to her house at Lake Geneva then that weekend so off we went on the sat morning - it was only a 2 hour drive and the weather was great so we all had picnics with sues kids and even managed a dip in the water off the end of the pier into the lake!
The houses up there were gorgeous all with yachts moored outside their private piers and some with slides etc

When we got back from Lake Geneva - you guessed it more bar b q's and beers in Dan's brother Robert's house and we also got introduced to their new arrival Sophie only a few months old!

Sunday morning and our last day in Chicago so Helen and Dan treated us all to a sunday lunch in her back garden..myself and Mary had been lying out on the deck that morning but when a skunk decided to join us under the deck we were ready to go!
It was a great spread and myself and Ger were definitely leaving a little heavier... we spent the whole afternoon drinking cocktails and beers and all staggered home.
For us this had been 5 star and more in our ratings and we didnt want to leave but as we told the folks they will see a lot more of us in future!