In October, Daniel Fernandes was in town. He's an old friend from uni and he was once an arch enemy as one of the rather nasty Greville Road crew. I was one of the lads from the nicer Raleigh Road crew, and we once beat the Greville Road lads during a dramatic game of football 10 goals to 9. The sweet taste of success was that much better as drinks were on them. For the rematch, we lost the game terribly, and the beers didn't taste quite so good.
Luckily the rivalry was always good natured and they weren't really that nasty. Mostly, we could all be found watching football down the pub, out for a few drinks or playing football on the Park Street field in front of the Bristol Cathedral come rain, shine, or even darkness.
So Dan arrived in the Windy City armed with newspapers, Cadbury's chocolates, baked beans, and with the latest football news. We quickly opened a beer and sat at the window catching up with news whilst looking over downtown Chicago.
The rest of the week followed with a visit to Wicker Park for mashed potato pizza, a bit of an unusual classic! A visit to Zanies, a comedy venue, where the jokes were on us guys sitting in the front seats - never the best seats to take in a comedy venue.
Then, we went to see a few concerts, beginning at the Riveria to see TV On The Radio, before heading to Metro to see Spinto and a few other bands.
On Friday morning we headed off to sample a true American brunch - the equivalent of our own English breakfast. But it was a little much for Dan.
A couple of times we headed down the beach to... ahem, perfect our football skills. Although the sand was mildly cold on our bare feet, it was enjoyable nonetheless.
One evening, we headed to Buddy Legends - a famous blues venue for soul food and lots of good music.
We did also play a bit of pool and although Dan won the first 4 games, I managed to turn round my game to equal the score 4-4! But, my success was short lived and Dan picked up his game again, and I could only watch and learn.
Sadly, just before Dan left, he got hit hard by a freak gust of wind. In other words, the Chicago wind. It can be ferocious and I reckon Dan's got the scars to prove it.
Then just before he left, we got the classic visitor photo in!
Even from Chicago it's a four hour flight to get out to the northwest coast of the USA. And once I had arrived, the whole city seemed familiar from the airport to the famous Pike Market.
After spending a bit of time in the midwest it was also nice to sample some fresh seafood from the pacific. I think I ate pacific salmon two nights in a row, perhaps three.
I didn't actually see Obama. That was a bit tricky. But it was great just to be there and experience the drama once he had been elected! 
In October, Daniel Fernandes was in town. He's an old friend from uni and he was once an arch enemy as one of the rather nasty Greville Road crew. I was one of the lads from the nicer Raleigh Road crew, and we once beat the Greville Road lads during a dramatic game of football 10 goals to 9. The sweet taste of success was that much better as drinks were on them. For the rematch, we lost the game terribly, and the beers didn't taste quite so good.
The rest of the week followed with a visit to Wicker Park for mashed potato pizza, a bit of an unusual classic! A visit to Zanies, a comedy venue, where the jokes were on us guys sitting in the front seats - never the best seats to take in a comedy venue.
Then, we went to see a few concerts, beginning at the Riveria to see TV On The Radio, before heading to Metro to see Spinto and a few other bands.
On Friday morning we headed off to sample a true American brunch - the equivalent of our own English breakfast. But it was a little much for Dan.
A couple of times we headed down the beach to... ahem, perfect our football skills. Although the sand was mildly cold on our bare feet, it was enjoyable nonetheless.
One evening, we headed to Buddy Legends - a famous blues venue for soul food and lots of good music.
We did also play a bit of pool and although Dan won the first 4 games, I managed to turn round my game to equal the score 4-4! But, my success was short lived and Dan picked up his game again, and I could only watch and learn.
Sadly, just before Dan left, he got hit hard by a freak gust of wind. In other words, the Chicago wind. It can be ferocious and I reckon Dan's got the scars to prove it.
Then just before he left, we got the classic visitor photo in!
It was a nice little visit. We made sure we enjoyed the sights and tastes of Chicago. I even saw things that I had never seen before!
On the first night, we went out for some dinner and afterwards we walked along the lakefront pass lots of cyclists, joggers and rollerbladers - a bit of Miami here in Chicago and a bit of an eye opener for my Mum!
We even joined in a couple of times renting a bike and cycling down the lakefront which simply goes on for miles!
At one point I played up to the camera, much like I had seen other tourists do. It looked fun!
However, my Mum wasn't having any of it and thought she was helping, somewhat.
Sunrise in this place is pretty spectacular (Mum took this as I was asleep wasn't I!).
Even more spectacular was Circe Du Soleil who were in town and what we saw was simply extraordinary!
As a treat one night, we headed up to the top of the John Hancock to The Signature Lounge on the 95th floor for sunset.
We also managed to check out Sears Tower and the views from the 103rd floor.
Now, I am faced with reality, when I return from work there is no dinner waiting for me, nor no chocolate cake.
How will I cope!
It was a quick but productive trip!
The sky changed in a second. The black clouds had already arrived, passing the windows at some mph with such breathtaking force. The apartment was now dark. The building was creaking. We were now at sea again.
