Museums

Thursday 22 July

I was in desperate need of a haircut so I found a branch of Supercuts along Michigan Avenue. The guy who did the deed turned out to be really interesting - he had travelled extensively in Europe and Australia when he served in the army. I then bought a few postcards and went to a Starbucks to write them. The post office was in the middle of a building site so I went all the way around the block to find the entrance!

Field Museum, Chicago

The forecast was for possible thunderstorms so my plan was to visit a couple of the museums included in my Citypass. The first one was the Field Museum of Natural History which is really magnificent. They have Sue, the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever discovered. She is displayed in the huge central hall of the museum, off which there are brilliant displays of animals from throughout the world, an Egyptian tomb which originally came from Saqqara (just south of Cairo), a great collection of Native American artifacts and lots more.

I then went next door to the Shedd Aquarium which was equally impressive. They had tanks with all kinds of fresh water and marine creatures including a vast tank with dolphins and baluga whales.

After a chance to recuperate at the hotel I went to Quattro's Restaurant to sample something that Chicago is famous for - its pizza! It did not disappoint and this being the USA it was the size of a cartwheel...