Day 3: Day Hard with a Vengeance

Today I got up very promptly after a cool early night being soothed to sleep by the sound of the air con (a complete God send) with the intention of getting to Itasca Metra station by 10:52 in time for the train. However, I got distracted by a book and by the time I'd got out of the shower and was dressed it was already past 10:52, so I decided I'd stay in a bit longer and suss some info out. Last night as I was browsing the net trying to plan today I found a potentially nearer Metra Station on Medinha Road so I figured I'd find the route on Google Maps, take a photo of it to refer to, and set off to try and catch the next train which was at 11:52. Along the way I saw this fella:



Anyway, the distance between Medinha and Union Station is pretty much the same distance between Newcastle and Sunderland so I was used to this sort of train ride. Nothing to note really other than you pay for your ticket once you're on the carriage (but if there was a ticket agent at the station you have to pay an additional $2) and there's loads of leg room. The seats were leather and were pretty comfy. Also, the train had two floors! Awesome!

So, I made it to Chicago's Union Station unscathed (other than bumping my head as I stood up to leave). I figured seeing as I didn't know where I was going that I would head right and see what I stumbled across. Incidently what I did stumble across was alot of very tall buildings and a lot of restaurants. After about 20 minutes of ambling, I find a Staples and head in as I needed a notebook and pen so I could jot down directions so I wouldn't get lost again... Notebook - check. Pen - Hang on? Where're the pens? Unless you're after chunky permanent markers or multi-packs of mechanical pencils then Staple's is not the right place for you! I headed into the next 7-11 I found and bought some orange juice as the heat was making me crazy with thirst. After a bit more walking I find the Chicago Institute of Art and the stroll alongside it took me right next to a rather nice looking park. A further investigation revealed that I was right next to Buckingham Fountain so I thought I'd pop by and see what was what:





It took me a pretty long time to get back to Union Station but after asking a couple of the locals made my way back okay - my internal sat-nav instinctively taking me in the right direction but requiring confirmation along the way. So, I hop back on the Metra to Medinha after some 4 hours of ad-hoc exploration in Chicago. I've been doing a lot of walking recently and I can't see me stopping any time soon. I'll be fit as a fiddle in no time! Anyway, that's all for now - my feet are killing me so I'm going for a lie down and a read.

Jambo out.