Last day in States

Sweet laziness in Delaware was so nice that it was hard to leave. We finally left Townsend on July 7. On our way we stopped in Ohio for our first ever couchsurfing experience which we wrote about earlier and we reached Chicago late on July 8. Thus we had just one day left for Chicago. Not much, but we've seen it before, even though it was a long time ago. Ola remembers Chicago from late 90s, and last time Pawel was here was in 2002.

After a lazy breakfast, around noon, we took a train and went downtown. We took Aneta as a guide. As usually we were just walking around, enjoying the spirit of the city instead of running to museums and galleries.

Maciek and aunt Aneta

We probably should have gone to Museum of Natural History, we also didn't go to Skydeck to see the city through glass floor (although we're curious whether Maciek would like it), we skipped Shed Aquarium and Art Institute of Chicago too. Knowing Maciek's interest in art (in Dali Museum in Sankt Petersburg, FL we managed to keep him interested for about an hour and it was not easy) the latter was not an option at all.

We've seen some Aquariums before and Skydeck - well, this would probably be cool to go there but we'd have to pay almost 50 USD, which, considering it's the end of 6th month of not a very cheap journey, would be a bit painful.

So we walked and enjoyed the city. We have a soft spot for Chicago. Ola started her American adventure here many years ago, large part of Pawel's family lived here over the years, some of them still do. There is just one thing about Chicago...it's not NYC. And after seeing New York City none of the other cities can compete.

We walked the riverside to Tribune Tower. Built in 1925 it was intended to be the most beautiful office building in the world. Modeled on the Cathedral of Ruen is now also known as the "Cathedral of Commerce". It has a few elements that can easily dazzle with "overcapitalizing", such as the U.S. map in the lobby made of processed money. It is difficult to cross the cultural difference that money is not something one should feel ashamed with ...

Tribune Tower on the right

Tribune Tower is also known for its facade in which 120 parts of famous buildings and other constructions from around the world are placed. Our contribution is a rock from Wawel Castle, but by chance the first fragment that we saw was a piece of Leptis Magna in Libya. There are pieces of many places we visited (such as Craters of the Moon in Idaho or the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City) and even more that we would like to visit someday (temples of Angkor, parts of the Great Wall, the rock from the Moon).

A little bit of Libya in Chicago

We also went up the John Hancock Center, there is a restaurant up there (Signature Room/Signature Lounge) with a beautiful view. We were ready to sit and have an overpriced coffee but there was a pushy waiter who on the entrance told us that this was a coffee place and we have to purchase something for everyone kids including if we want to stay. Well, we didn't and we do not recommend  the place, but instead you can go to the toilet and not bothered by anyone take a few pics from there. One floor up there is an observatory but it scared us off with the prices, same as those of Skydeck. 50 USD for a few minutes of nice view is too much for us.

View from the toilet

We sat down for coffee and lunch in another, not cheap either, but very climatic Grand Lux Cafe, serving, among other things, New Orlean Beignes, famous New Orleans donuts. You have to order them right away as they are made ​​to order and it takes a while before they are ready. But it is worth to wait, they are delicious, nice and warm and topped with a thick layer of icing sugar, a sure reminder of Louisiana.

Then we went for a walk on a little deserted late in the afternoon Navy Pier. Unlike the one in Seattle, Chicago pier does not look so trashy. Big amusement park with wheel looked tempting but because of the late hour and our tight budget we skipped it. Later on internet we found out it was not that expensive (6 USD). 

Skyline seen from Navy Pier

Just before dark we got to the Millenium Park. It was opened in 2004, so neither of us have seen it before. On more than 24 acres there are dozens of sculptures and art installations, of which the best known is probably the Cloud Gate, known simply as "Bean", created by Anish Kapoor and Crown Fountain created by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa.

Bean

Bean quickly became one of the symbols of Chicago. It is really remarkable. The curved mirror made ​​of metal plates so smooth that you can't see any joints. The perfect and yet distorting mirror that plays with people's and city reflections. We had a lot of fun with Maciek seeing us in different shapes, looking for ourselves in new forms. The experience can only be spoiled by an Internet search for answers to the question "what the artist actually had in mind." The Bean represents masculinity and femininity in one being, at the same time symbolizes the vagina and testicles. We prefer the vision of a curved mirror as a drop of liquid metal...

Maciek got a huge bump on his head here

It was long after dark when we got to the Crown Fountain. It's actually two fountains with a shallow pool in between. Large water screens display faces, on which different grimaces are painted, then they finally open their mouths and spit with a strong stream of water. Plensa sits very much in the subject of relationship between man and water. This time he created an installation in which a man does not absorb water but gives it back.

Kids have a lot of fun there running from one cube to another. Maciek wanted to do this too but it ended up too quickly when he slipped on wet surface and fell back. He got a huge bump on the back of his head. This not very pleasant adventure and the fact that it was really late made us go back home.

We spent our last day in USA packing, early in the afternoon we said goodbye to Aneta and Milosz and we went to say another goodbye to Pawel's family. From there we headed to the airport.

Familly goodbye photo

Even though the overall weight limit was not exceeded but some of our suitcases were over 23 kilos. We thought they wouldn't mind but they did. We had to repack, so the heaviest things ended up in our hand luggage.

Repacking at the airport

When we were already standing in the line to the plane, lady from Lufthansa, named Helga (which was suiting her perfectly) plucked us out of the queue and with a peremptory voice said that our case appears to be far too heavy and too large. She pointed to the desk and told us to send it as normal luggage, luckily free of charge. We like Lufthansa, but Helga was not a good example of a nice service. Besides, it was a suitcase we used many times as a hand luggage in Lufthansa Group in business class (Pawel had the pleasure a few times), and now in economy class suddenly gets too big... Maybe it swells with sweat of the working class?

Surprise:)

Flight was fine, Maciek slept all night, Kalina maybe half, we didn't sleep at all... And at Warsaw Okecie Airport our family was waiting with...a banner! Ok, we missed our family and Poland but even though we still didn't feel like going back home yet...