Day 4 - Chicago

We sat on the bus for well over an hour last night, waiting until it filled up, then the traffic was horrendous on the way to the hotel, due to construction. This was at 11:00 P.M., and we were finally in line to check in at midnight. Talk about a long ordeal.

My room was on the top (5th floor), with the atrium and pool, garden court outside my door and over the railing. The air was like a sauna, as the ceiling in the hall was low enough for me to touch. It may have been scenic overlooking the pool five floors below, but it certainly wasn't comfortable. It was pretty, but I definitely got vertigo when I looked over the railing.

The room was hot, and even after turning the air conditioning all the way up, it hardly cooled off all night. I felt rather sick to my stomach in the morning when I got up, but I managed to eat the breakfast that was provided to Amtrak customers for $3.00

It was rather interesting staying in a hotel with so many people that I had become acquainted with on the train. You begin to feel as though you have known them for quite a while. The woman whose mother is in the nursing home on the corner from my home was one of the people who had to stay, along with her granddaughter. In fact, I watched her granddaughter for her in the train station while she went to find food. The little girl had become rather chummy with me over the period of a couple of days.

The bus arrived at 10:30 A.M., we loaded up and headed for the city. I think there was a second bus also, which would arrive at the hotel shortly after ours.

We arrived in the city, I checked my baggage in the VIP lounge, and prepared to spend a few hours sightseeing. I am getting to the point where I know my way around town fairly well, and I had already decided last September that this trip would be spent at the Art Institute again, trying to see more of what is offered. I was there a couple of years ago, and there is so much to see that I'll probably never see all of it.