6 hours in Chicago

On our way home from Minneapolis we had an unexpected layover in Chicago. This was due to our flight from Minneapolis to Chicago being cancelled. Which in turn meant we would miss our connection to London and so had to have our whole journey rearranged. (A big thank you to the lovely American Airlines ladies who dealt calmly and quickly to rebook an entire flight and managed to keep our group together) The new flights meant a lay over in Chicago of 6 hours, but fortunately we were allowed to leave the airport. The cast scattered to the wind when we were given that news. 6 of us headed down to the subway - the L - and into town.

Where are we again?

Ah yes, now I remember

We walked from the L station the couple of blocks to the Sears Tower - now renamed Willis Tower - which has an observation deck. 

The L - the elevated transit system

We had hoped to participate in one of our favourite pastimes - drinking cocktails in a tall building, but sadly it wasn't to be. The view was still amazing.

103 floors up and some crazy people stood in these clear boxes that were sticking out from the side of the building!

After the Willis Tower we took a cab to Millennium Park, it was only 6 blocks but we were very tired and carrying all our hand luggage, including several instruments. As the weather was nice we bought sandwiches and sat in the sunshine for a picnic.

The Bean in Millennium Park

The Chicago Six 

The Bean was great fun, seeing ourselves and the surrounding city reflected and distorted.

This was underneath The Bean. The distortion was really pronounced here.

After that it was time for the return journey and to check in for a flight home. Our six hours in Chicago were great fun, hopefully we will get the chance to visit again for a little longer.

Minneapolis

The view from the ninth floor at the Guthrie. 

We've been in Minneapolis for almost three weeks now. Our first week was spent in and around the theatre as we teched and opened our two shows.

The view from the Endless Bridge at the Guthrie

The theatre is an amazing building with lots of clever windows that let light in to the public spaces and give great views over the city and the river. 

The girls headed out for a walk across the stone arch bridge and a different view of the theatre and the mill district that we are staying in.

The Guthrie. The section of the building that comes out over the road toward the river is the Endless Bridge.

Another view of the Guthrie. The yellow box is the ninth floor lobby of the studio theatre.

You can see how much snow there has been!

Downtown Minneapolis. We walked through this area on our day off before catching a bus to uptown.

The covered bridge over the road here is part of the Skyway system. This links shops, offices and parking lots across downtown allowing people to walk up to 5 miles without going outside. Perfect for the Minneapolis winter.

Our favourite hangout. The coffee shop by the hotel.

Mary Tyler Moore

Uptown, we had a wander around some vintage clothing stores, had lunch in a microbrewery and indulged in one of our favourite pastimes - taking pictures of comedy signs!

On our first day off we had a big storm. It snowed for a day and a half varying from fine snow almost like frozen drizzle to heavy big fat flakes. We saw lots of different people out fighting to keep the roads and pavements clear. Once the snow stopped it was soon clear for traffic and pedestrians, except at street junctions where we had to clamber over snow banks between the road and pavement!

We've been told there will be a bit more snow before we leave but that warmer temperatures mean it won't hang about. In fact over 6 inches have been forecast for this weekend.