On the 21st December we explored Bedford on our way to collect Rachael for Christmas. We parked down by the river and visited the museum that is based in the old brewery and full of a wide assortment of artefacts from the history of Bedford.
We walked back along the river and watched the rowing teams and individuals.

On the Saturday we visited Whipsnade Tree Cathedral which is cared for by The National Trust.

It was planted by Mr E.K. Blyth in the 1930's as a memorial to his friends killed in the First World War.

This is the nave.

The Chancel, made up of Silver Birch in front of a Yew hedge.

Today, as the sun was shining, we decided to visit Thorp Perrow Arboretum and Birds of Prey Centre in Bedale near Ripon. The Autumn colours were beautiful and the leaves were crisp and dry on the ground.
www.thorpperrow.com

In the afternoon there was a Birds of Prey display where we saw a hawk, an owl and a kestrel in free flight. Alan volunteered to hold the owl which weighed about the same as two bags of sugar.

We have decided to continue our blog to include some of the more interesting things we are getting up to now that we have finished work.

As part of Glenys's leaving present from Pool School, she was given a voucher for a two-day course in wood turning at the craft workshop of Philip Greenwood in Hutton-le-Hole. I joined her for the course and we had a super time and the two days flew by with expert tuition from Philip.
www.Greenwoodcrafts.co.uk


We learned about centring, roughing, spindle turning, cutting different shaped grooves, turning beads and coves, turning bowls, parting and finishing.
This photo shows one of the egg cups just about completed.


At the end of the course we had each completed a carrier bag handle, an egg cup, a bowl and a trinket box with matching lid.

We are both now back in Wetherby UK - ready to face the rigours of cooking for ourselves and not having the bed made and room tidied by a hotel maid!

We thought we would take just one last photo of Chicago - now our favourite city in the US.


We took a cab to O'Hare airport and set off after an hour's delay, but made up the time on the flight. The plane was half empty so we had space to stretch out a bit.


It was later on in the evening when we eventually set off but it gave a wonderful view of the city at night.

Thank you to everyone who made comments on the blog - we appreciate the time you took to give a response.

Alan & Glenys - 10th October 2007

This is our fourth, and final, full day in Chicago and will probably be our last posting for this trip.

This morning we took a walk down State Street again and went to see the building that now houses Macy's. It was built in the early 20th Century in the Art Deco style and is huge, covering one full block and rising 9 floors. It was originally the Marshall Fields store and it was he who commissioned this beautiful glass mosaic ceiling by Tiffany.


We walked from here back to Grant Park and suprisingly all traces of yesterday's marathon had disappeared and the park was back to normal. We came upon fountain which has been created as a play area and a piece of public art work. The faces are of Chicago citizens and the image changes every few minutes. During each cycle a spout of water comes out of the image of the mouth. The idea comes from Gargoyles on European buildings.



From here we walked to the Shedd Aquarium. We saw a dolphin show that was both entertaining and informative.
www.sheddaquarium.org

There were many fish and reptiles from all around the world, including this exotic sea horse.

We left in the late afternoon and walked back, via Millennium Park, to our hotel which is in the centre distance of this view along Lake Michigan from the aquarium.

We are beginning to feel that we know our way around at least part of this city and are still enjoying it and finding new things to explore.

This is our third full day in Chicago and we got up early to watch the Chicago Marathon across the road opposite the hotel. At this point the athletes had completed approximately one mile. The first wheelchair athletes appeared just after 8 o'clock and it took 50 minutes for the whole field to pass us. Our hands were sore through applauding the participants and Alan gave a 'High-5' to one of the passing runners. Many supporters were ringing small bells and holding up placards.

After lunch we took the 90 minute 'Architectural Tour' with a commentary by a member of the Chicago Arctitecture Foundation.

http://www.architecture.org/

This is one of the many views of impressive skyscrapers that we saw from the boat.

This is the Sears Tower, the highest building in the US. There are plans to build one twice as tall.

Later in the afternoon we took a stroll along the Riverfront Walk and Randolph Street to Daley Centre Plaza where some children were making good use of this Picasso sculpture.

As we were returning to the hotel we saw the Loop Train, known as the El, which has an elevated track over some of the roads in the centre.

Today was dominated by the Chicago Marathon and we were amazed by the sheer number of participants. We saw many of them around the city wearing their medals once the race was over. We were impressed by the architecture of the buildings, early 20th Century to the present day, which were only fully visible from the river.

This is the end of the second full day in Chicago and we have just returned from a performance of 'Wicked' which was superb. On our walk back we passed a live 'abc' news broadcast.

This morning we walked up Michigan Avenue - The Magnificent Mile - to the Museum of Contemporary Art where we saw a thought provoking show; Sympathy for the Devil : Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967. We were only allowed to photograph in the lobby and came away with a piece of contemporary artwork given by the English artist, Jeremy Deller.


Further on, past some very smart shops, we went up the Hancock Tower to the observatory on the 97th floor.


We enjoyed a 360 degree view of Chicago.

All along Michigan Avenue, in the sidewalk gardens were these fashion creations ready for the week long Fashion Focus Exhibition that starts next week.

http://www.fashionfocuschicago.com/

As it was Saturday Michigan Avenue was extremely busy with shoppers, tourists, honking taxis, cars and even a wedding spilling onto the sidewalk. We found this small garden attached to the church, a haven of peace and tranquility in all the noise and bustle.

We have enjoyed walking along some of the main streets of Chicago and visited some varied interesting places on the way.

Today is our first full day in Chicago.

This morning we walked to Grant Park and saw this Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry for the Millenium but not completed until 2004.


Adjacent to the outdoor pavillion is this sculpture by the British Artist Anish Kapoor. It attracted lots of attention with everyone looking at their distorted reflections in the mirrored surfaces.

Surrounding the Millennium Park, which is part of Grant Park, are some of Chicago's tallest buildings.

In the centre of Grant Park is Buckingham Fountain. This marks the traditional start of Route 66.

There was lots of activity here as the Chicago Marathon starts and finishes here on Sunday 7th October.

Returning to Millennium Park we walked through The Lurie Garden which is two and a half acres of mainly flowering grasses with lovely scents from surrounding plants.

Leading from the garden and crossing Columbus Drive is the first bridge that Frank Gehry has designed. We saw some lovely views of the city as we strolled across.

In the afternoon we walked by the river to The Navy Pier where there is a sculpture garden, fairground, shops, restaurants, a theatre and The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows.

In one section of the museum were examples of window glass from the 20th Century to the present day. This is an example of art deco glass from the early part of the 20th Century. All the glass was made in Chicago.

Another part of the display showed examples of Tiffany stained glass.

We caught a trolley back from the pier to Michigan Avenue and passed some magnificent buildings from the 1920's with intricate stone detail. This is part of the Tribune Building.

This is another 20's building across the street.

In a plaza nearby we found a range of modern sculptures, including this stainless steel moose.

This view north from the plaza shows the impressive range of buildings down Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Building in the foreground.

This is the view of the Chicago River and Wacker Drive at night from our window .

We have found Chicago spacious, clean, bright, lively and very walkable despite the unusually hot and humid weather.