Our Trip to Chicago

This weekend Cely and I went to Chicago to visit the Girls and to meet Adrienne's friend Zavier. Zavier is from Paris. Adrienne met him on her first trip to Paris with United. He didn't speak much English but he definitely did better in English than we could do in French. We arrived in the early morning, as usual, although this time we flew in through LAX because I thought the flights through there were less crowded than the one from Portland to O'Hare. I don't know if it worked out any better since we didn't get to sit together from LA to Chicago. This time Cely got to be in 1st class and I was in economy. We were able to get into our hotel room early in the morning and meet up with the girls. Zavier was a very friendly guy and we enjoyed meeting him. Besides he brought chocolates. With Adrienne as translator and his ability to say a few things in English we actually had some conversations.

Right away we drove downtown to go to breakfast. We decided to go eat breakfast at Lou Mitchell's on 565 W. Jackson. The food was just what you would want from a crowded morning spot in the loop. The girls and Zavier wanted to ice skate at Millenium Park so we went over there after eating. Cely had never seen the Cloud so we walked around while the others skated then we went across the street to the Cafe Baci to watch them from inside. It was freezing! Later we went to the Shedd Aquarium and had to stand outside for 1/2 an hour to get tickets. Did I say it was freezing?

We finished off the day by going to Rosebud on Taylor for an Italian dinner at one of the great Chicago restaurants. Then it was up early the next morning so that we could catch the 8:15 flight back to Oregon. The best thing was that right after Cely and I got through security we ran into her brother John. He was flying to a conference in San Diego. I always wonder if we will bump into him in one of these airports since he is always flying somewhere. This time he saw us and surprised us.