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 was a day of firsts for us in Chicago. We came out on ABC 7 live news for the first time, we also saw it snowing - or something close - for the first time in our trip, we got to see our first museums of Chicago, and we got to see Lake Michigan for the first time. Yes, we’ve been in Chicago for a few days with a view of Lake Michigan from our window but we’ve never gotten around to going down to see it till today.

Grace at the ABC7 studio

To check out the ABC article click here.

One good thing about the jetlag we still have, is that we sleep early and get up early almost every day now. This makes it easy for us to for example be at the ABC studio at 8am, or take a morning stroll down the loop on a Sunday morning. The loop is the business district in central Chicago, but I wouldn’t recommend taking an early stroll on the weekend. It is nearly deserted, and at times can be a bit creepy with shady characters walking around.

We had one such encounter with a shady character today, we were having a warm drink at a McDonald (the only thing we could find open) in the loop when someone came in asking everyone for money. After we got out to leave he followed us, and started shouting all kinds of obscenities in our direction. So we did what anyone sensible would, we avoided him completely and walked quickly in the opposite direction, ducking into the first shop that was open. It was a bit scary as here in the US you never know who might be carrying a gun, and if he was high - he seemed so by the way he was shouting - he might have used it for no good reason.

After that, we decided to leave the loop and head to the more crowded areas. We decided to see a few museums on the way, with most of them having free entrance at this time of year.

The “crowded” areas of Chicago on a Sunday morning

It then started snowing lightly - what they call “flurries” here - and we decided to walk through Millennium Park down to the lake. There we met the local population of gray squirrels that were busy prancing around looking for food. They seemed very used to humans as when we would put out our hands they would come close looking for food.

Watch the video above for more.

We haven’t yet stayed at Furnished Quarters (Jersey City) so we can’t give a review of their unit yet. What we can say is that, so far, trying to book a unit has been an absolute nightmare. Our first problem was the back and forth of emails trying to check for availability, in each email there was a different set of availability and it was hard to find all that was available where we wanted.

When we finally found one that we wanted to stay in the booking problems began. First they wanted a deposit of $1000 USD which would only be returned 45-60 days after check out. Next they wanted more information about us than what we’d need if we were getting a loan to buy the place. It made us wonder if this wasn’t some ploy at identity theft. Once we provided all the information they needed they wanted information like bank statements which we were most definitely not willing to provide! We just wanted to stay there, not transfer all our assets to their firm!!

That was worked out after hours on the phone with them and we finally went ahead with the booking. Only to find that they charged us one more day than we would have been charged in a hotel!! When we contacted them they said they charged in days not nights and that even though we could only check in after 4pm on the first day and we have to check out before 12am on the last day they would still charge them as full days. I’ve been quite involved in the travel industry and developing computer systems for them for years and I’ve never seen something so ludicrous! In many countries this would be considered false advertising and be illegal!

All we want is to stay at the unit at the price we were quoted for the number of nights we want to stay. Now they’ve already charged our card for the full stay plus the deposit and the extra night that they say is the normal way they charge and they say they can’t do anything about it.

Yes! Definitely different from a hotel, at least in a hotel they don’t charge you for time you don’t stay there!

The unit had better be absolutely amazing to make up for all this nonsense or we wouldn’t even recommend them to our worst enemy. So if you’re thinking of staying with them, be prepared for more red tape than a Soviet Bureaucrat and more tricks to get your money than a second-hand car dealer would use!

Update: The reason we wrote about this in the first place was because they said they would return our calls and didn’t. We had hoped to let people know about the problems we faced so that they could be forewarned. We also expected that Furnished Quarters would maybe call or email us to sort this out, or even leave a comment explaining their policy and what they would do to help us. What we weren’t prepared for is for Furnished Quarters to leave 4 fake comments pretending to be customers who had stayed with them

In one of those comments, they even seemed to insult us, their customers, who have paid a not small amount to stay in their units and haven’t even stayed there yet! I sure hope this isn’t their corporate policy as it would show a total lack of customer service!

How do we know it came from Furnished Quarters? All of them came from IP address: 63.116.172.66 which belongs to Furnished Quarters. (If you’re a tech person look it up with whois.)

Latest Update: Gary Brown, president of Furnished Quarters contacted us and has agreed to all the things we thought were reasonable for staying at the unit such as charging by nights, etc. He also offered to give us a full refund if we didn’t stay there, or to refund us without penalty if we were unhappy with the unit when we arrived. In addition he said he was investigating the fake comments from an “overzealous” employee. We think this is a good example of how corporate management should handle a situation like this, and we will give him a chance to show us what Furnished Quarters is like by giving their accommodation a try.

Chicago, USA - Arriving 10th January 2008

Known as the windy city, and at this time of year a very snowy city, this will be our first stop in our round-the-world trip and we will be arriving here on the 10th of January 2008. Chicago is also home to some of the major US exchanges including the CME, CBOT, and CBOE.

New York, USA - Arriving 18th January 2008

One of the major financial capitals of the world, New York is also known for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, art & theater scene, and as home to the world famous Statue of Liberty. We’ll be staying in this magnificent city for a month so we can truly experience New York Living!

Miami, USA - Arriving 18th February 2008

A semi-tropical paradise which is a favorite holiday destination of the rich and famous, Miami also boasts a large Hispanic community, complete with traditional food and music! There are also some major wildlife attractions nearby such as the Everglades which we hope to visit while here!

Mexico City, Mexico - Arriving 26th February 2008

One of the biggest cities in the world, and also one of the highest at an altitude of 7,349ft. It was originally built on an island on Lake Texoco and eventually the lake was drained to make space for the expanding city. We hope to get to see as much of this amazing city in the 2 weeks we are there!

Cuernavaca, Mexico

Known as the city of eternal spring, Cuernavaca has beautiful weather all year round, and if that’s not enough, it sits among some of the most beautiful and culturally rich areas of Mexico. We plan to meet up with friends and relatives here and explore some places together.

Santiago, Chile - March 2008

Surrounded by the Andes mountains, with some of the nearby peaks reaching a height of 21,555ft, Santiago itself sports a Mediterranean climate and one of the most modern infrastructures in South America. This is a city to chill out, try some of the famous Chilean wines, and enjoy life.

Easter Island - April 2008

Grace: Ever since I was young, I’ve wanted to visit Easter Island. I’ve always been fascinated that the inhabitants were able to build and move such enormous stone statues without metallic tools.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sometimes referred to as the “Paris of South America”, Buenos Aires has strong European cultural influences, art and theater. Learning the Tango is something many people who visit Buenos Aires do, and if we have the time, we might give it a try.

Quito, Ecuador

At an altitude of 9,350ft, Quito is the second highest capital city in the world. And while we hope to enjoy the town, we’d also like to use this as a base to explore the Amazon Rainforest!

Madrid, Spain

Both of us have had wonderful memories of this place which we have visited many times before. From the renaissance masters displayed in Prado to the beautiful gardens of El Retiro, this is a city to be explored at leisure.

Rome, Italy

We came here a few years ago and we just couldn’t get enough of this beautiful city.The streets are literally littered with ancient Roman ruins. You can have dinner outside the nearly 2000-year-old Pantheon, or have an evening stroll by the Forro Romano and wonder about the people who walked where you are are now walking 2000 years ago.

Cairo, Egypt

Traveling in Cairo is like traveling back in time. You see things built by the ancient Egyptians more than 3000 years ago, crusader fortresses, ancient muslim citadels, and churches and mosques built over the last thousand years.

Giza, Egypt

The only ancient wonder of the world to still be around, the pyramids of Giza are something we have both wanted to see for quite a while. In fact, we almost booked a trip to Egypt in 2007, but we had to postpone it for work reasons. Finally we will get to see the handiwork of ancient Egypt!

Amman, Jordan

Now the capital of Jordan, Amman has a long history dating back to 6500BC. It was once the capital of the biblical kingdom of Ammon, and is rich in Roman and Byzantine ruins. We both love exploring historical places and this presents a treasure trove of things to see.

Petra, Jordan

Pedro: When I was a kid, I used to imagine living in the ancient city of Petra, carved out of solid stone, fending off invaders from the cliff-top windows. And very soon I will be able to see this wonder of the world!

Bratislava, Slovakia

Pedro: I last visited when I was about 12 years old, and what I remember most was the drive down from Poland. We drove through mountains so steep that many of the old vehicles on the roads had their brakes fail and we could see smoke coming out of their wheels.The next most poignant memory was stopping at the Bratislava Castle at night and admiring its architecture which was exquisitely lit.It’s been a long time, it’s time for some new memories

Krakow, Poland

Pedro: As a child I lived a few years in Warsaw, and occasionally I would come down to Krakow with my dad. On one of these trips I read about some ancient parchments that had been found hidden in the roof of one of the very old churches. After that, I always imagined I would find some antique treasure under some stone in the city.

Livingstone, Zambia

Named after the famed explorer Dr. Livingstone, the city of Livingstone sits next to the famed Victoria Falls. The Zambezi river to the south contains some beautiful wildlife including Hippos and Crocs, and we look forward to taking a nature cruise down this river.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

If Zimbabwe is politically stable enough at the time we get to Livingstone, we will try to cross over by road and see the falls from the Zimbabwe side. If things look ok, we might even stay longer and explore a bit more of Zimbabwe

Johannesburg, South Africa

Pedro: One of my childhood friends has been doing charity work here for the past few years. We’d like to meet up with him and see if we can lend a hand.We also want to see some of the famous sites which were so important in the struggle against apartheid.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

One of the highlights of our trip will be visiting a massive wildlife sanctuary in a malaria-free zone near Port Elizabeth. We hope to spend a good few days of solid nature safaris and get to see some of the beautiful and endangered animals that are protected here.