From Buckingham Palace to Bucktown and back again: Part Four

The rest of our trip to Chicago was filled with parties and sightseeing, restaurants and too much wine. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.



A little slice of Bucktown life the day after Christmas. Perhaps even the night of. I once was stuck at Charles de Gaulle airport for 7 hours with a bunch of other people trying to get to Chicago. We bonded over the delay and over a comped meal we discussed where we were from. When I told them my mother was living in Bucktown a lady close to my mother's age said " Wow. Your mom must be really hip". Yeah. She is. Hipper than me, but I live in an obscure part of England so we're even.

But I digress...



Lake Michigan Ladies and Gentlemen




Ice formations underneath the pier.



The striking shores of Lake Michigan. The waters don't start to warm up until mid-July, but us hardcore, blue lipped Chicagoans jump in around the end of May. My little sister and I would sneak out of the house on sweltering summer nights, run to the beach and skinny dip by the moonlight to cool down. Ok, we only did that once, but doesn't it sound wild and free and so Tom Sawyer of us?



My Boy calling up to me from my stance on the pier.



Rooftop views from S's mom's grill deck. It is up on roofs like this that you feel why Chicago bares the name "Windy City".




Driving into the city from Lake Shore Drive. If this shot doesn't make you want to pack your bags and get a one way ticket to O'Hare airport right now, then you have a heart of coal, my friend, coal. Or you're just not much of a city person and are more of a country mouse, which, you know... fair enough.



The imposing John Hancock Tower. Which has fabulous views of the city, not that we would know anything about that because I decided not to go up the day this picture was taken, no, I had to go at night when it was cloudy de chez cloudy. So poor Stephane saw, well, white. And white only.



View from Michigan Avenue just over the Chicago River.




A little bit of salvation in the middle of a steel corporate playground.



The crummy view from the Hancock.



Tommy the Tiger had one too many when we went out for drinks. Hey, it happens to the best of us.



The Boy showing his unbridled enthusiasm for his Chicago trip. I have succeeded in converting another to the charms of the Windy City. (This photo also happens to be the first picture taken with my new camera - Canon Powershot S2 1S. I love it. But I also noticed that it takes a billion times longer to upload to my site. Must be all those fabulous extra pixels)

And so on to the final leg of our vacation: France. I'll make that post short and sweet. Not because it wasn't interesting, but because less photos were shot, and because even I'm getting bored of seeing my vacation snap shots, so I can't imagine how bored you all must be. Almost over. No! Don't turn the lights back on, I just have one more box of slides to show you...