We arrived in cold, wintry Chicago all bundled up in warm clothes for the first time in over a year. Derek and Kelly picked us up from the airport and we drove out to Derek's parent's house in the burbs for a late family Christmas and present exchange for them. We felt a bit awkward crashing this family event, but we needn't have worried as they were all so friendly and welcoming so we felt right at home, especially with a drink in our hand within the first 5 minutes. It was one of those times when you have to pinch yourself - a few hours ago we were in hot, sunny Mexico City, and now we were in the snow covered Christmas winter wonderland of suburban America, which is something I've only ever seen in movies or on TV. Talk about surreal. It was a great way to start the holiday, and after a few hours of drinking, eating and talking (Derek and Kelly also sneakily spoiled us with unexpected presents, the cheeky fuckers) we stopped in at their friends' place for more drinks. It's always good to finally meet people you've heard about - we just hope they all felt the same about meeting us!
Derek and Kelly love Chicago, so we were really looking forward to seeing what their city had to offer. And there's nothing better than having locals show you around and recommend places to go and things to see/do. Chicago really is a beautiful city, and despite being freezing cold, we still managed to get out and about and see a lot of it. One of the most surprising things we noticed while walking around was how clean it is, especially for such a large city. We've gotten so used to seeing rubbish and shit everywhere we go in Latin America, so to see such a well cared for and pristine city was a nice surprise.
There's some beautiful buildings around and the skyline is one of the most impressive we've seen. The four of us went up to the top of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) which is the second tallest building in the US at 442m. Not surprisingly, the observation deck on the 103rd floor has an unsurpassed view out over the city and beyond, with spectacular 360 degree views. We went up at sunset to catch the fading daylight, then had the stunning view of the city all lit up at night. And of course we lined up to take our turn standing in one of the all-glass boxes which extend out from the side of the building, giving a stomach churning view of the street 412m below.
New Years Eve was soon upon us and Derek and Kelly were having a few friends over to their apartment, so we went out and stocked up on supplies for the night. I was excited to be able to drink cider again after so long, and Kurt even found some Coopers for the occasion. We threw in a few more bottles of goodness and then it was back to chill them outside on the balcony. One of the added benefits of freezing winter temperatures. Kelly had very kindly given me a voucher for a mani/pedi (my first ever believe it or not), so we went off for an hour or so of girly pampering which was absolute bliss. Then it was time to finish getting ready and start the celebrations. We had a great night drinking and talking shit, and I have no idea what time we fell into bed but I was suitably hungover the next day.
Derek and Kelly had bought tickets for us all to go to an improv comedy night at The Second City, which is where a lot of now famous comedians (Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Steve Carell) got started. It was a hilarious night, although there were a few tense moments when we'd all try and hide behind each other/people in front to avoid getting singled out by the performers. It was one of those nights when you think, why don't we do this more often?
The rest of the time we had in Chicago was spent buying replacement stuff for everything that was stolen, walking around the city or being driven around by Derek and Kelly when they weren't working, seeing the major sights and buildings, and of course, eating. We had a rather extensive list of things we wanted to eat, either things we hadn't had for a long time like Chinese, or new things we'd only heard of like Twinkies and Chicago deep dish pizza. Unfortunately for us Twinkies were no longer in existence, but Derek determinedly drove around trying to find us one, to no avail. Thanks anyway Derek! But we still managed to eat ourselves silly with some awesome food. Even walking around the supermarket was exciting for us, checking out all sorts of new things. We were particularly entranced by the variety of Ben and Jerry's flavours, and given enough time we would have worked our way through them all. Thankfully for our stomachs we were only there for 10 days!
All too soon our time was up and we had to say goodbye to Derek and Kelly and return to Mexico. We weren't sorry to be leaving the frigid winter of Chicago, but we'd had an amazing time catching up with great friends and seeing a new part of the world. Massive thanks to Derek and Kelly for being the perfect hosts and letting us crash their New Years! Until next time America.
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