Chicago roundup

So I've been ill the last couple of days and feeling generally ugh. Sitting in bed with the laptop and tv remote controls nearby, the blinds open, and faithful hubby making frequent food runs. It would be fun, except for the fever and phlegm.

Anyway, here are some highlights from the last couple of days.





Though we're not huge fans of the zoo, Sunday was a Sunday and also, Easter Sunday so most things were closed. So we went down to Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo (which is free) for a look around. It was pretty cool, as cool as zoos can be. The poor giraffe looked really really lonely. But at least the polar bear had a friend and a pool to swim in, the lions had their own little pride, and the gorillas had a whole family with both indoor and outdoor enclosures and the use of vertical space too.

Papa lion came into the indoor enclosure to roar at everybody and that was quite an experience given that we were standing two feet away. But the leopard was all alone and kept pacing and pacing and glaring at us with his beautiful green eyes. We felt kind of sad for him.

The gorillas were quite cool. We watched them play around, the smaller ones playing with the snow and tasting it. One of the younger ones ticked of Kwan, the big daddy, and he put on a bit of a display, growling and dragging branches around and generally intimidating the little ones. You probably know this zoo, the gorilla enclosures and Kwan from the movie Return to Me, with David Duchovny and Minnie Driver.

That was Sunday. On Monday we went down to Wicker Park (seen the movie Wicker Park?) for a look around. Well we got a bit lost when Sameer decided we should check out the local GameStop (video game trade store) and ended up in a fairly dodgy area. You know you're off the beaten track when you can't find any Starbucks anywhere. So we quickly scuttled back to the trendy part of town. It was a bit too trendy for us I think. I think people who like vintage clothes and designer clothes would really like it but we didn't go into those stores much.

One clothing store we did like was called The T-Shirt Deli. We didn't buy anything because they were a bit pricey but we just got such a kick out of being in the store. It was set up like a butchery or delicatessen with fridges and coolers and things but instead of meats or cheeses in the trays, there were t-shirts! The theme was carried through to every last detail. The t-shirts were garnished with parsley, the prices were written up on big chalkboards, and there was additional deli machinery all round. It was awesome!

There was a huge second hand bookstore with first hand book prices, called Myopic Books but it was so run down and cool that I know I'll go back some time. It reminded me of the old main library at UCT. (Check out the website for some good pics.) It spread over three floors and all the sci-fi and fantasy was in the basement. There was a grey and black striped cat purring and slithering around down there. He was cool but did't want to talk to me, only Sameer. They sell large cups of coffee for a dollar in the store and people come in, buy a cup and just mousey for ages. The weirdest thing about it was the huge papermache figure of a cop being pecked to death by a flock of pigeons, which was in the window.

The other cool shop we went into was a book store called Quimby's. Again, it just had the most awesome retro vibe. They sold comic books, philosophy books, photography books, magazines, and loads of independently published stuff. I told Sameer, Quimby's is what Wizard's should be like. But I must say there was an inordinate amount of comic book porn and fetish mags in there. Every time you turned around it was naughty, naked nurses and dildos. Sameer bought a Batman comic and we skedaddled.

The next day (Tuesday) we stayed in coz I was really feeling under the weather but we went out on Wednesday coz Sameer was going stir crazy indoors. We went to the Chicago Field Museum, which is the Museum of Natural History. It was huge and airy and bright and had the coolest exhibits. Their most famous exhibit is Sue, the T-Rex. It's the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever unearthed and I gotto say, she is scary as hell. The Ancient Americans exhibit and the Slavery exhibit were also pretty hectic. They also had some great photo exhibits. One details a science expedition to the North Pole and there was another all about women's rituals from around the world. Tres cool.

On the way home we finally spotted the Sears Tower, the third tallest building in the world. As I suspected, we can never see it because we're too close to it and all the other towers block it out. It's just a few blocks away from us.

And then we discovered our new favourite supermarket - Whole Foods Market. Everything in there looks so wholesome and fresh and yummy. I have to go back. They get extra special brownie points for stocking Nando's garlic peri peri sauce. Needless to say, we stocked up.

Oh, before I forget again. Another new thing we discovered in Chicago. We were walking down the street downtown and I thought it was starting to snow again. But then we realized that snow was blowing off the tops and sides of buildings and falling to the ground, sometimes in huge chunks. And that's when we also noticed the huge signs and placards up that said "Caution, falling ice." I never knew that could/would happen. Weird but kind of pretty.