When I wake up I take the normal look out of the window to see how strong the rain is… there is no rain. It is cloudy/gray, but not raining at the moment. That opens for totally new opportunities.

Hopping over the poor breakfast. This is the first morning without rain. Still a grey sky, but this means I can take a little walk without getting soaking wet. Maybe find some geocaches on the way (I managed one a day until now). I start towards the east, making a little Skype call home. Nothing new about the pilot strike in Scandinavia. So I still have to wait, while me and my parents look at possibilities should it be needed. Always best to be prepared.

The Lincoln Zoo
The Lincoln Zoo

The Lincoln Zoo is not far from my hostel. So this is my first place to go. There is no admission fee. Just get inside and take a look around. I know why I don’t like zoos. This is a bad one. Depressing sight of animals in concrete areas. Not taking an admission fee doesn’t seem to help the animals. It will be a short stay. Just passing through (the walkways are getting an update… not the animal enclosures).

Lions
Lions

There is a small park connected to the zoo. Two geocaches and walking south towards the city. Definitely not planned for pedestrians. I have to go a big detour to get to the shore of Lake Michigan, crossing a 6 lane highway. They are preparing the beach for summer, which feels ages away as it is still cold. Nice walkway and bicycle lanes along the shore. More geocaches on the way. This lake is more like a small ocean. Waves hitting the beach. A nice view on downtown Chicago.

Downtown Chicago from the north
Downtown Chicago from the north

Now I started the tour, so just continue to Navy Pier. It is a longer walk. But walking along water is always nice. Unfortunately, there is not only the lake on the one side, but the highway on the other side with the resulting noise. Navy Pier is a great tourist trap. There is no real reason to go there (as pointed out by our guide yesterday). The best reason is to find a toilet (check) and get a bite to eat (check). What to do next?

Navy Pier - keep away!
Navy Pier – keep away!

TripAdvisor doesn’t show anything I would like to do. All the bus tours and boat trips I have done before and the price is just to high. The alternative is walking (again). As I got that far, I just can go downtown to the Loop. Why not. Geocaches are good stops on the way and make it feel shorter as it is. After some window shopping it is time for dinner. Easy choice – Vapiano. You know what you get and the prices are OK. Getting a Caprese for starters and some pasta for ten entree. The good lady at the counter forgot to put the pasta on my card… not my fault. I pay what is on the card on leaving, just paying 50 % of what I ate. Not my problem. Happy about saving some money.

2019-05-01 18.40.50
Dinner at Vapiano

 

I got an email from Amazon, that my hard drive has arrived. so the next stop must be the Amazon pick-up point I found. I fell my feet… Taking the brown line (closest stop) to my stop at Fullerton and walk the 300 meters to the shop. Entering the shop, taking my phone and the mail from Amazon, I get asked to accept location services. After doing so, I get a message which box my delivery is in and it opens automatically. Very nice. 4 TB will be a lot of space for my videos.

Walking a lot today
Walking a lot today

Now I don’t walk to the hostel. The Uber App gets me a car in 2 minutes and I am on my way home. The Taxi drivers in Norway will hate me, but get this is so easy and affordable… I like it. 🙂 Getting very tired to my room. My step counter on the phone shows a little bit over 15 km walking today. The only thing I manage is to watch some YouTube before I fall asleep.

 

 

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