Places visited: Chicago
Date: 28/4/2017 to 30/4/2017
Purpose: Picnic
Persons: Harshal, Juilee.
28/4/2017:
It was a long long long awaited trip to USA and I wanted to show Juilee and Radhika the real USA. Although, I love Quad Cities more than Chicago, but it was worth to go there once to see the sky scrapers.
We booked the greyhound bus much in advance so got the tickets really cheap with the new joiners discount. (around $40 return ticket per person). I had also booked the apartment in Chicago downtown through AirBnB. .The host was so friendly and helpful that she also took care of our pick up from the Chicago bus station.
Jasbir dropped us to Davenport Burlington bus station. The bus station was posh and clean, neat and tidy. It looked like an airport. An executive helped us to get the boarding passes and then we waited there on benches for 20 minutes. The bus arrived at 7:30 PM. We found that most of the passengers were from lower middle class or middle class, which is similar situation like in India. I guess most of the professional or business people use car/plane instead of bus for inter city travels in USA.
The bus ride was smooth. It also had a free WiFi. The bus had a toilet facility on board. The bus did not took any halts in between. We straight away reached to Chicago at 10:30 PM.
Our wonderful host, Kelly, had already booked a Uber cab, which was waiting for us at the Exit. We boarded the cab and Kelly also ensured that the cab driver is taking good care of us. It took around 15 minutes to reach to Kelly's home somewhere at marine drive.
As soon as the cab entered downtown, Juilee had a jaw-dropping view of all the towers. Radhika was not in the mood of enjoying any towers. She was almost sleepy and dizzy. Juilee's eyes were glittering by seeing the high rises. This was my second visit to Chicago and I almost had forgotten all the previous memories, so I was enjoying it afresh.
Kelly came downstairs to receive us. She took us to the 7th floor of her high-rise apartment and we were welcomed by a cute dog - Tara. For next 2 days, Tara and us - became good friends. Kelly showed us her apartment and kitchen and a refrigerator full of all the food and drinks. She was as friendly as any Indian host. Juilee also went on terrace with Kelly to enjoy magnificent views of Chicago. She then prepared Maggi (an Indian's favorite life saver food). We were so tired that we slept immediately after the Maggi dinner. Kelly's living room was our bedroom. We also gifted Kelly "Chitale Bandhu Maka Chiwda" - cornflakes snacks on American English, which she liked.
This was my first experience to use apartment of a private owner rather than a hotel. I was unsure about how Americans treat their guests, as I have never experienced it. This experience turned out to be wonderful and we all loved it. Usually when I come to America, I stay in hotel due to my company's policy, but this time during vacation, I chose AirBnB just to get different experience and it came out successful. The best part of the stay was drinking water. Kelly ensured that we get filtered drinking water (as well as mineral water bottles), which we never experienced in any hotel's stay.
Kelly also gave us good suggestions about sight seeing for next two days. She was THE perfect host and created very good impression about America on our minds.
29/4/2017:
We woke up in the morning and had breakfast from Kelly's fully loaded kitchen. At 9:30 AM, we were all set to start our journey to Willi's Tower. We took an Uber and on the way clicked beautiful photos of all the towers. It was a cloudy morning and most of the towers were piercing into the clouds.
Uber dropped us at the Willies Tower and we could watch the breath taking height of it from the bottom. The Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1,450-foot (442.1 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. For tourists, it is known as The Sky Deck.
We then went inside and bought tickets by going to the basement floor. After good security checking, the guides showed us the way to the elevators. The elevator took us to the 103rd floor within few seconds. They usually play an animation inside the elevator to distract us from the speed sickness. Some visitors (and my kid) experienced ear pain as it took considerable speed.
We then came out of the elevator and the next 1 hour was a memorable one. There were clean glass windows and we enjoyed beautiful views of Michigan Lake, other towers like Trump Tower, Millennium Park, The Bean, Zoo, etc.
Although Sears sold the Tower in 1994 and had completely vacated it by 1995, the company retained the naming rights to the building through 2003. The new owners were rebuffed in renaming deals with CDW Corp in 2005 and the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2008. London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd. leased more than 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) of space on three floors in 2009. A Willis spokesman said the naming rights were obtained as part of the negotiations at no cost to Willis, and the building was renamed Willis Tower on July 16, 2009. Willis Group Holdings plc is a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company.
The naming rights are valid for 15 years, so it is possible that the building's name could change again in 2024 or later. I will certainly negotiate with them to give my name "Harshal's Towers".
It was 12 PM, when we saw that a gang of black clouds was approaching fast from the north towards Chicago. We took some photos and then we went on to the Ledge. This is a complete glass box protruding outside of the tower on 103rd floor. When you stand on it, you feel that you are on top of the world. It is a worth experience.
We then took elevators to come down and as soon as we came out of the tower, it was already raining. The rain was huge with winds. We took the taxi and went to Navy Peer.
At Navy Peer cruises were closed due to rains. So we had to enjoy inside the building. It has many good food joints and some shopping area. We enjoyed Pizza and Sandwiches. Juilee did an adventure of going out of the door near the lake to inquire for the cruises and came inside within two minutes with chilled and wet hands. Radhika also went with her and came inside shivering.
We spent couple of hours at Navy Pier for lunch and then called taxi and went straight to the Museum District. We got a Mexican Taxi Driver in the cab, who was taking very funny about Trump. We enjoyed his talk. He also commented about me that i love and take care of my family, so he admires me. I got little tears in my eyes when I heard him.
It was heavily raining when we got down from this taxi and the door of the Shed Aquarium is like 400 meters walk from the taxi stand. We 2 were shivering due to rains and winds. There Juilee understood why Chicago is called as windy city. My office team mates already warned me not to go to Chicago that weekend. But ignored them because you only live once, so don't be afraid,......hahahaha. Actually I had only few weekends in USA, so I wanted to enjoy and not just seat at home watch TV.
After waiting for 15 minutes in the queue, we were able to go inside. (For VIP pass, you don't have to wait). The inside area is huge. I did not expect such a huge aquarium. It has a lot and lot of fish varieties. It also displays an Anaconda. We also went on the first floor, to visit some really beautiful fishes like Seal, Shark, etc. As we went late, the feeding experience and 4D movie was sold out. The aquarium has created special different natural habitats for each species. At 5:00 PM, security guards started shouting about the closing time and asked everyone to vacate. Radhika was anyway tired to so we went near the Exit door and the bad time started. It took almost 15 minutes to book the Uber. It was pouring outside with chilly winds. Taxi stand was 400 meters away. So we packed ourselves in sweaters + rain coats. I lifted Radhika up. We opened the door and started running towards the taxi stand. At taxi stand we waited nearly for 10 minutes. But our taxi did not came. When we called the driver, Juilee was not able to understand what he was talking due to heavy rain's noise. So then we cancelled that taxi and took the taxi which was vacant there. This was also a unforgettable experience.
As per the plan, we went to Hancock Tower. It is called 360 Chicago. The taxi driver dropped us at the wrong gate. The entrance was all the way round the corner. I again went running there. Juilee lifted Radhika up and ran till the gate. It was like 400 meters marathon in rain and winds and then we were inside the tower. We all were completely shivering. It took almost 5 minutes for us to become normal again. Then we went to basement floor at the ticket counter where the board "We are closed due to zero visibility" welcomed us at 7 PM. So we missed this experience. So we decided to try out the Cheese Cake Factory, which was crowded and had a waiting list. So we then decided to go to Starbucks, which did not have any vegetarian customized food on the menu. And hence we decided to go back to Kelly's sweet home and use her kitchen to cook maggi, which is a life saver. We came back to ground floor and took help from some American girls over there to book the Uber, as my App was not showing correct location. But again, that Uber never arrived, so we took the taxi standing outside and came home.
At home, Kelly's sweet dog Tara welcomed us. She was like the first owner of the house. We ate our dinner and also enjoyed some strawberries which were kept in the fridge. Then we saw that Tara was on the sofa-bed. So we waited for some time but she never came down. Then Juilee offered her some food and Tara then came down and went into her bedroom. I feel bit nervous when animals are around, but Juilee and Radhika were very happy to play with Tara. And the funny part was, when we slept on the sofa-bed, Tara again came and tried to sweep into the bed in between Juilee and Radhika. Me and Radhika jumped off the bed. Then we waited for Kelly to come home and take Tara off the bed. This was funny incident. I learn that American treat their pet animals as a family member which we seldom do in India. I also learned that dogs are mostly well behaved and they actually love humans if we treat them properly. For Tara, it was very usual and loving behavior when she came in our bed for sleeping. It was her love for us. Whereas, me being nervous, I jumped of the bed. But I started loving Tara. I hope, she will remember me and wag her tail when I will go to Kelly's home again. Radhika certainly fell in love for Tara.
29/4/2017:
We woke up in the morning and took Kelly's advice to visit Museum of Science and Industry which also had Lego store inside. We had less time on this day. The weather was good and we went there by taxi. The museum is awesome. I admire the discipline, thoughts and implementation they do at every place in America.
The museum has lot of small science experiments which help kids understand about different things like gravity, earth, tornadoes, solar system. The cafeteria is also huge serving nice food.
We saw few experiments and went straight to "Brick by Brick" section. As we were early, we were able to buy these tickets, otherwise it gets sold out easily. This Lego playing experience was most enjoyed by Radhika. They have millions of Lego blocks and space where kids can just keep building whatever they want for hours. Me and Juilee also enjoyed it and we also bought a Lego game for Radhika (which is mostly played by me now) We also had to catch the bus back to Davenport at 3:30 PM and before that had to take lunch, so unfortunately we had to wind up this experience early. We could just see 30% of the museum. I am sure next time, I will spend entire one day here with Radhika and Juilee. We had lunch in the cafe and took taxi back to home. We had already packed most of our bags, just took little effort to repack everything and Kelly presented us with a nice Lavender Chocolate, which I tasted for the first time and it was wonderful. We took Uber to go the Chicago Bus Station, and took the bus back to Davenport. This bus stops in between for 20 minutes for snacks. But we just drank coffee and Radhika ate some french fries and muffin leftovers from the museum lunch. Radhika fell in love of french fries in America.
We reached to Davenport at around 7:30 PM and while we were coming out from the bus station, Radhika heard a big thunder noise and started crying a lot. The taxi driver was also not understanding my English accents. Surprisingly he was not able to understand Juilee's English accent as well. Juilee speaks English a lot better than me :)
We showed him in writing and then he understood. While driving, once he was about to hit the footpath as it was dark, raining but controlled his car somehow. We managed to reach home safely. And then while preparing the lunch, Juilee did that one thing, which every Indian does in his/her first trip to America.... ringing the fire alarm. She was cooking the rice-daal khichadi and we forgot to switch on the ventilator fan, and there were all warm vapours coming out of the pan, and we suddenly heard some sound like "Chiiiiiv Chiiiiv" and then I did not understand what is sounding - thought of some bird, but withing seconds me and Juilee found out that it was a fire alarm. Then Radhika started crying again and also she was sleepy and hungry. I called the front desk and they told me how to switch it off by turning it anti-clockwise. After this very eventful day we all were tired and surrendered to the bed within 5 minutes.
This was a very amazing journey with Juilee and Radhika. But this was just a start, we yet had to explorer more America than this.
Details:
airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15398954?eal_exp=1494269471&eal_sig=dbcd159b2672f7bd22a1e1a67b4b9be9c6249a23beaf838497a719c7bb260100&eal_uid=81606737&eluid=1&euid=4b479939-f095-19b8-d3f3-9b20492c6581&%243p=e_eml&%24deeplink_path=airbnb%3A%2F%2Fd%2Flisting%3Fid%3D15398954&%24original_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.com%2Frooms%2F15398954%3Feal_exp%3D1494269471%26eal_sig%3Ddbcd159b2672f7bd22a1e1a67b4b9be9c6249a23beaf838497a719c7bb260100%26eal_uid%3D81606737%26eluid%3D1%26euid%3D4b479939-f095-19b8-d3f3-9b20492c6581&campaign=rookery&_branch_match_id=657600900241016553&guests=1&adults=1&sl_alternate_dates_exclusion=true&source_impression_id=p3_1558022503_gkirGU4zNjMF8WfW
address: 720 W Gordon Terrace 7F, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
Expenses:
The Sky Deck:
Adults = $23 * 2 = $ 46
Youth = $15
Shed Aquarium
Adults = $39.95 * 2 = $79.90
Youth = $30.95
Museum of Science and Industry
Adult = $16 * 2 = $32
Youth = $9
Brick by Brick
Adult = $12 * 2 = $24
Youth = $9
Taxi:
Approx. $150
Food:
Approx. $100
Date: 28/4/2017 to 30/4/2017
Purpose: Picnic
Persons: Harshal, Juilee.
28/4/2017:
It was a long long long awaited trip to USA and I wanted to show Juilee and Radhika the real USA. Although, I love Quad Cities more than Chicago, but it was worth to go there once to see the sky scrapers.
We booked the greyhound bus much in advance so got the tickets really cheap with the new joiners discount. (around $40 return ticket per person). I had also booked the apartment in Chicago downtown through AirBnB. .The host was so friendly and helpful that she also took care of our pick up from the Chicago bus station.
The bus ride was smooth. It also had a free WiFi. The bus had a toilet facility on board. The bus did not took any halts in between. We straight away reached to Chicago at 10:30 PM.
Our wonderful host, Kelly, had already booked a Uber cab, which was waiting for us at the Exit. We boarded the cab and Kelly also ensured that the cab driver is taking good care of us. It took around 15 minutes to reach to Kelly's home somewhere at marine drive.As soon as the cab entered downtown, Juilee had a jaw-dropping view of all the towers. Radhika was not in the mood of enjoying any towers. She was almost sleepy and dizzy. Juilee's eyes were glittering by seeing the high rises. This was my second visit to Chicago and I almost had forgotten all the previous memories, so I was enjoying it afresh.
Kelly came downstairs to receive us. She took us to the 7th floor of her high-rise apartment and we were welcomed by a cute dog - Tara. For next 2 days, Tara and us - became good friends. Kelly showed us her apartment and kitchen and a refrigerator full of all the food and drinks. She was as friendly as any Indian host. Juilee also went on terrace with Kelly to enjoy magnificent views of Chicago. She then prepared Maggi (an Indian's favorite life saver food). We were so tired that we slept immediately after the Maggi dinner. Kelly's living room was our bedroom. We also gifted Kelly "Chitale Bandhu Maka Chiwda" - cornflakes snacks on American English, which she liked.
This was my first experience to use apartment of a private owner rather than a hotel. I was unsure about how Americans treat their guests, as I have never experienced it. This experience turned out to be wonderful and we all loved it. Usually when I come to America, I stay in hotel due to my company's policy, but this time during vacation, I chose AirBnB just to get different experience and it came out successful. The best part of the stay was drinking water. Kelly ensured that we get filtered drinking water (as well as mineral water bottles), which we never experienced in any hotel's stay.
Kelly also gave us good suggestions about sight seeing for next two days. She was THE perfect host and created very good impression about America on our minds.
29/4/2017:
We woke up in the morning and had breakfast from Kelly's fully loaded kitchen. At 9:30 AM, we were all set to start our journey to Willi's Tower. We took an Uber and on the way clicked beautiful photos of all the towers. It was a cloudy morning and most of the towers were piercing into the clouds.
Uber dropped us at the Willies Tower and we could watch the breath taking height of it from the bottom. The Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1,450-foot (442.1 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. For tourists, it is known as The Sky Deck.
We then went inside and bought tickets by going to the basement floor. After good security checking, the guides showed us the way to the elevators. The elevator took us to the 103rd floor within few seconds. They usually play an animation inside the elevator to distract us from the speed sickness. Some visitors (and my kid) experienced ear pain as it took considerable speed.
We then came out of the elevator and the next 1 hour was a memorable one. There were clean glass windows and we enjoyed beautiful views of Michigan Lake, other towers like Trump Tower, Millennium Park, The Bean, Zoo, etc.
Although Sears sold the Tower in 1994 and had completely vacated it by 1995, the company retained the naming rights to the building through 2003. The new owners were rebuffed in renaming deals with CDW Corp in 2005 and the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2008. London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd. leased more than 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) of space on three floors in 2009. A Willis spokesman said the naming rights were obtained as part of the negotiations at no cost to Willis, and the building was renamed Willis Tower on July 16, 2009. Willis Group Holdings plc is a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company.The naming rights are valid for 15 years, so it is possible that the building's name could change again in 2024 or later. I will certainly negotiate with them to give my name "Harshal's Towers".
It was 12 PM, when we saw that a gang of black clouds was approaching fast from the north towards Chicago. We took some photos and then we went on to the Ledge. This is a complete glass box protruding outside of the tower on 103rd floor. When you stand on it, you feel that you are on top of the world. It is a worth experience.We then took elevators to come down and as soon as we came out of the tower, it was already raining. The rain was huge with winds. We took the taxi and went to Navy Peer.
At Navy Peer cruises were closed due to rains. So we had to enjoy inside the building. It has many good food joints and some shopping area. We enjoyed Pizza and Sandwiches. Juilee did an adventure of going out of the door near the lake to inquire for the cruises and came inside within two minutes with chilled and wet hands. Radhika also went with her and came inside shivering.We spent couple of hours at Navy Pier for lunch and then called taxi and went straight to the Museum District. We got a Mexican Taxi Driver in the cab, who was taking very funny about Trump. We enjoyed his talk. He also commented about me that i love and take care of my family, so he admires me. I got little tears in my eyes when I heard him.
It was heavily raining when we got down from this taxi and the door of the Shed Aquarium is like 400 meters walk from the taxi stand. We 2 were shivering due to rains and winds. There Juilee understood why Chicago is called as windy city. My office team mates already warned me not to go to Chicago that weekend. But ignored them because you only live once, so don't be afraid,......hahahaha. Actually I had only few weekends in USA, so I wanted to enjoy and not just seat at home watch TV.
After waiting for 15 minutes in the queue, we were able to go inside. (For VIP pass, you don't have to wait). The inside area is huge. I did not expect such a huge aquarium. It has a lot and lot of fish varieties. It also displays an Anaconda. We also went on the first floor, to visit some really beautiful fishes like Seal, Shark, etc. As we went late, the feeding experience and 4D movie was sold out. The aquarium has created special different natural habitats for each species. At 5:00 PM, security guards started shouting about the closing time and asked everyone to vacate. Radhika was anyway tired to so we went near the Exit door and the bad time started. It took almost 15 minutes to book the Uber. It was pouring outside with chilly winds. Taxi stand was 400 meters away. So we packed ourselves in sweaters + rain coats. I lifted Radhika up. We opened the door and started running towards the taxi stand. At taxi stand we waited nearly for 10 minutes. But our taxi did not came. When we called the driver, Juilee was not able to understand what he was talking due to heavy rain's noise. So then we cancelled that taxi and took the taxi which was vacant there. This was also a unforgettable experience.
As per the plan, we went to Hancock Tower. It is called 360 Chicago. The taxi driver dropped us at the wrong gate. The entrance was all the way round the corner. I again went running there. Juilee lifted Radhika up and ran till the gate. It was like 400 meters marathon in rain and winds and then we were inside the tower. We all were completely shivering. It took almost 5 minutes for us to become normal again. Then we went to basement floor at the ticket counter where the board "We are closed due to zero visibility" welcomed us at 7 PM. So we missed this experience. So we decided to try out the Cheese Cake Factory, which was crowded and had a waiting list. So we then decided to go to Starbucks, which did not have any vegetarian customized food on the menu. And hence we decided to go back to Kelly's sweet home and use her kitchen to cook maggi, which is a life saver. We came back to ground floor and took help from some American girls over there to book the Uber, as my App was not showing correct location. But again, that Uber never arrived, so we took the taxi standing outside and came home.
At home, Kelly's sweet dog Tara welcomed us. She was like the first owner of the house. We ate our dinner and also enjoyed some strawberries which were kept in the fridge. Then we saw that Tara was on the sofa-bed. So we waited for some time but she never came down. Then Juilee offered her some food and Tara then came down and went into her bedroom. I feel bit nervous when animals are around, but Juilee and Radhika were very happy to play with Tara. And the funny part was, when we slept on the sofa-bed, Tara again came and tried to sweep into the bed in between Juilee and Radhika. Me and Radhika jumped off the bed. Then we waited for Kelly to come home and take Tara off the bed. This was funny incident. I learn that American treat their pet animals as a family member which we seldom do in India. I also learned that dogs are mostly well behaved and they actually love humans if we treat them properly. For Tara, it was very usual and loving behavior when she came in our bed for sleeping. It was her love for us. Whereas, me being nervous, I jumped of the bed. But I started loving Tara. I hope, she will remember me and wag her tail when I will go to Kelly's home again. Radhika certainly fell in love for Tara.29/4/2017:
We woke up in the morning and took Kelly's advice to visit Museum of Science and Industry which also had Lego store inside. We had less time on this day. The weather was good and we went there by taxi. The museum is awesome. I admire the discipline, thoughts and implementation they do at every place in America.
The museum has lot of small science experiments which help kids understand about different things like gravity, earth, tornadoes, solar system. The cafeteria is also huge serving nice food.
We saw few experiments and went straight to "Brick by Brick" section. As we were early, we were able to buy these tickets, otherwise it gets sold out easily. This Lego playing experience was most enjoyed by Radhika. They have millions of Lego blocks and space where kids can just keep building whatever they want for hours. Me and Juilee also enjoyed it and we also bought a Lego game for Radhika (which is mostly played by me now) We also had to catch the bus back to Davenport at 3:30 PM and before that had to take lunch, so unfortunately we had to wind up this experience early. We could just see 30% of the museum. I am sure next time, I will spend entire one day here with Radhika and Juilee. We had lunch in the cafe and took taxi back to home. We had already packed most of our bags, just took little effort to repack everything and Kelly presented us with a nice Lavender Chocolate, which I tasted for the first time and it was wonderful. We took Uber to go the Chicago Bus Station, and took the bus back to Davenport. This bus stops in between for 20 minutes for snacks. But we just drank coffee and Radhika ate some french fries and muffin leftovers from the museum lunch. Radhika fell in love of french fries in America.We reached to Davenport at around 7:30 PM and while we were coming out from the bus station, Radhika heard a big thunder noise and started crying a lot. The taxi driver was also not understanding my English accents. Surprisingly he was not able to understand Juilee's English accent as well. Juilee speaks English a lot better than me :)
We showed him in writing and then he understood. While driving, once he was about to hit the footpath as it was dark, raining but controlled his car somehow. We managed to reach home safely. And then while preparing the lunch, Juilee did that one thing, which every Indian does in his/her first trip to America.... ringing the fire alarm. She was cooking the rice-daal khichadi and we forgot to switch on the ventilator fan, and there were all warm vapours coming out of the pan, and we suddenly heard some sound like "Chiiiiiv Chiiiiv" and then I did not understand what is sounding - thought of some bird, but withing seconds me and Juilee found out that it was a fire alarm. Then Radhika started crying again and also she was sleepy and hungry. I called the front desk and they told me how to switch it off by turning it anti-clockwise. After this very eventful day we all were tired and surrendered to the bed within 5 minutes.
This was a very amazing journey with Juilee and Radhika. But this was just a start, we yet had to explorer more America than this.
Details:
airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15398954?eal_exp=1494269471&eal_sig=dbcd159b2672f7bd22a1e1a67b4b9be9c6249a23beaf838497a719c7bb260100&eal_uid=81606737&eluid=1&euid=4b479939-f095-19b8-d3f3-9b20492c6581&%243p=e_eml&%24deeplink_path=airbnb%3A%2F%2Fd%2Flisting%3Fid%3D15398954&%24original_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.com%2Frooms%2F15398954%3Feal_exp%3D1494269471%26eal_sig%3Ddbcd159b2672f7bd22a1e1a67b4b9be9c6249a23beaf838497a719c7bb260100%26eal_uid%3D81606737%26eluid%3D1%26euid%3D4b479939-f095-19b8-d3f3-9b20492c6581&campaign=rookery&_branch_match_id=657600900241016553&guests=1&adults=1&sl_alternate_dates_exclusion=true&source_impression_id=p3_1558022503_gkirGU4zNjMF8WfW
address: 720 W Gordon Terrace 7F, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
Expenses:
The Sky Deck:
Adults = $23 * 2 = $ 46
Youth = $15
Shed Aquarium
Adults = $39.95 * 2 = $79.90
Youth = $30.95
Museum of Science and Industry
Adult = $16 * 2 = $32
Youth = $9
Brick by Brick
Adult = $12 * 2 = $24
Youth = $9
Approx. $150
Food:
Approx. $100
शीर्षक काही देऊ नये असा पहिलाच प्रयत्न
ReplyDelete20 एप्रिलच्या दुपारी प्रवासाला निघालो तसतसं मनात एकाच वेळी हुरहुर, उत्कंठा, उत्सुकता आणि परदेश प्रवासाला निघाल्याचा आनंद या सगळ्यांचं एक मस्त मिश्रण झालं होतं. दिल्लीपर्यंतचा पहिला टप्पा सहज पार पडला. मग दिल्ली विमानतळापासून मात्र वेगळेपणाची जाणीव व्हायला लागली. इमिग्रेशनच्या रांगेत वेगवेगळ्या देशांचे प्रवासी दिसायला लागले. विशिष्ट फॉर्म भरताना छोटीशी चूक झालेली पण लोकांना सहन होत नाही असं वाटलं. लगेच कोण हे बावळट लोक आहेत असा भाव चेहऱ्यावर दिसला तेव्हा आपण खरोखरीच बावळट आहोत असं एक सेकंद जरूर वाटलं. रात्रीच्या अडनीड्या वेळी शिकागोचं विमान असल्याने राधिकाच्या झोपेची हेळसांड होण्याची भीती होती. पण राधिका थोड्या वेळात आणि थोड्याच जागेत इतकी शांत झोपली की एरवी झोपायला त्रास देणारी राधिका हीच का असा प्रश्न पडला. विमानाची वेळ झाल्यावर मोठ्ठं अंतर राधिकाला कडेवर घेऊन जाताना बऱ्यापैकी दमछाक झाली. जसे विमानात बसलो, लागलीच डोळे मिटायला लागले. विमानाने टेकऑफ घेतला आणि निश्चिन्त पणे झोपून गेलो. १४ तासांच्या प्रवासात एकदाही न रडता रमलेली राधिका बघून आनंद आणि अचंबा वाटला आणि आपली लेक travel-friendly झाली याची जवळपास खात्री पटली.
शिकागोला उतरल्यावर
लोक ज्या अमेरिकेचा उदो उदो करतात, आयुष्यात एकदा तरी जायला मिळावं, जमलंच तर राहायला मिळावं म्हणून जीवाचा आटापिटा करतात त्या अमेरिकेत आपण प्रवेश केला याचा खूप खूप आनंद झाला. स्वातंत्र्यदेवतेची भूमी आहे तरी कशी याचा अनुभव जणू सगळ्या इंद्रियांनी घ्यायला सुरुवात केली. युनिफॉर्मधारी गोरे/काळे लोक दिसले तरी संख्या अगदी कमी. जास्तीतजास्त गोष्टी ऑटोमेटेड. माणसे भरपूर असली तरी कुठलाही आवाज, कोलाहल नाही. सर्वजण शिस्तीत रांगेत आपला नंबर येण्याची वाट पाहत उभे. अत्यंत स्वच्छता. सीमाविषयक नियमांची कडक अंमलबजावणी करणारे आणि नियम न पाळणाऱ्यांना फैलावर घेणारे ऑफिसर्स. बघून आपल्या देशात सर्व बाबतीत किती ढिलाई असते याची तीव्र जाणीव झाली. सगळे सोपस्कार पूर्ण करून टॅक्सिची वाट पहायला लागलो. ड्रायव्हर भारतीय बघून मनातल्या मनात बरं वाटलं. गाडीनी जसा वेग घेतला तसं मनसोक्त अमेरिकादर्शन घेणं चालू झालं. रुंद गुळगुळीत रस्त्यांवरून वाऱ्याशी स्पर्धा करत धावणाऱ्या फक्त चारचाकी आलिशान गाड्या बघून डोळ्याचं पारणं फिटत होतं. जिकडेतिकडे हिरवाई बघून मन सुखावलं. तीन, साडेतीन तासांत हॉटेलला पोचलो तेव्हा आपण जवळजवळ ३०० किमी अंतर पार करून आलोय हे खरंच वाटेना. नजरेत भरणारी स्वच्छता, सुबकपणा. शब्दशः टाचणी पडली तरी ऐकू येईल इतकी शांतता. कसे काय इथले लोक इतक्या शांततेत राहतात!! हसतमुखाने आमचे स्वागत केल्यावर सामान नेण्यासाठी माणूस न पाठवता एक मोठी ट्रॉली आमच्याकडे देऊन रिसेप्शनिस्ट निघून गेला. आपलं सामान आपण खोलीत नेऊन ठेवायचं! छोटेखानी पण देखण्या खोलीत शिरल्यावर प्रवासाचा मानसिक शीण कमी होऊ लागला. खोलीमध्ये मायक्रोवेव्ह, डिश वॉशर, हॉट प्लेट, फ्रिज, हेअर ड्रायर आणि रोजच्या ब्रेकफास्टची खाली हॉटेलमध्ये व्यवस्था हा हॉटेल मध्ये रहिवास करणाऱ्या लोकांसाठी अगदी सुटसुटीत आणि आवश्यक गोष्टींचा मिलाफ वाटला. धुळीचा लवलेश कुठे दिसू नये याचं प्रथमपासून शेवटपर्यंत आश्चर्य वाटत राहिलं. आजूबाजूच्या परिसरात जागोजागी असणारी गवताची लॉन्स, सिमेंटचे रस्ते अँड इमारतींमध्ये सर्वत्र असणारे गालिचे यांनी धूळ शोषून घेण्याचं काम चोख केलं आहे.