We’ve just arrived at our apartment in New York, well close enough, we’re actually in Jersey City right across the river from New York with a view of the great Manhattan skyline from our window! It’s been a long day of waiting - waiting in the airport, waiting on the plane for clear-off (1 hour delay due to air space saturation at JFK airport), waiting to retrieve our luggage, waiting for cab outside New York JFK airport, and then, sitting inside the cab for almost 2 hours (yes, insanely long!)!

View from the airport window

The African cab driver didn’t know exactly how to get to our destination and he doesn’t speak any English! He was quiet when we kept asking if he knew how to get there. He took a long detour, going around in circles, but it wasn’t an attempt to chalk up the fares - he told us at the start he was charging us US$100 for the journey, including a US$4.50 toll fee.

Must be our most expensive cab fare ever.

Today is our last day here in Chicago and tomorrow we’ll be flying to New York. Before booking our hotel here we did a lot of research to try to get the best value for money and get a hotel as close to the center as possible. In the end, we chose the Radisson Hotel which had a great offer and was sitting right on the famed Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile of Chicago is the central shopping district - they claim it’s on par with Beverly Hills or New York’s Fifth Avenue - and just a short walk from everywhere.

Just steps from the hotel lies the Magnificent Mile

When we made our booking, we requested an early check-in and asked if they could upgrade us to a suite free of charge. Now, requesting a free upgrade is all well and good, but it’s not something that you usually get. So we were very pleasantly surprised when we checked in and were given a suite on the 35th floor. The bed faces a window with views of the skyline and the living room has great views of Lake Michigan.

The desk in our suite at the Radisson Chicago

In March 2008, the Radisson will reopen as the Avenue Hotel Chicago. And the photos we have seen of the remodeled rooms look cool. They all have an iMac on the desks, and in any case, the location of the hotel is perfect for a visit to Chicago.

Chicago is a beautiful city with a magnificent skyline and we will definitely miss it. There is so much to do and see, and in the week we’ve been here, we’ve only had time to see and do a handful of things!

It’s a very weird feeling opening up a newspaper and seeing yourself in it. And when it’s a newspaper in a city like Chicago it feels even more unbelievable. Today though, we experienced just that. Just yesterday we were interviewed by the Chicago Sun Times, and today when we picked up a copy we saw ourselves inside!

And after the very pleasant surprise we were off to explore the Lincoln Park Zoo, the last free zoo in the US. On the way there is a lagoon that was frozen over and a group of migrating geese were looking for food on the ice.

Not much food on the ice

From the outside the zoo looks a bit deserted as it’s winter and most of the outdoor cafe’s are closed, but once inside the selection of animals is really amazing.

A magnificent leopard at the zoo

But of course, after a day out we had to come back and get work done.

Today we were interviewed by the Chicago Sun Times, one of the major newspapers in Chicago. The topic of the interview was how we are going around the world without missing a day of work, and broadcasting it on Worldiki.com. After the interview we went down to the Bean - again - but this time it was to have our photo taken for the Chicago Sun Times.

While we were waiting for the photographer we saw at least 6 different fire engines with their sirens blaring coming from 3 different directions. It was the most “active” fire engines I’ve ever seen, and the first thing that came to my mind was how influenced Chicago has been by fire. In particular the great fire of 1871, although it decimated most of the city, it also led to a total rebuild with new forms of fireproof architecture which revolutionized the world and drove Chicago to be one of the world’s greatest cities.

One of the recent additions to the Chicago landscape is the Millennium Park where The Bean is located. And while we had seen it before, Rich, the photographer from the Chicago Sun Times, took us around and explained things that gave the whole place a new perspective. He had watched them build the park and was one of the few people who had been inside The Bean when it was being built.

Frank Gehry - designed open air pavilion

Another new addition to the Chicago skyline which is also found at the Millennium Park is the Frank Gehry - designed open air pavilion which hosts free open-air concerts during the summer. The design is very different from some of the other buildings we’ve seen so far in Chicago.