Baseball and Rain

I'm exhausted and have been all day. Despite having one of the more comfortable dorm beds of this trip and only two roommates I woke at 4.30am and just couldn't get back to sleep. I ended up going online on my phone and planning my day down to tiny details like which subway line to take between different stations. I got up just before 7am, showered and went down for breakfast. This hostel puts in a good effort with various cereals, bagels and coffee all available.

When I headed out to start my day I wasn't feeling well at all and the heat and humidity had me sweating buckets. I went to the nearby supermarket, grabbed a drink and then went to the subway and got a 3 day pass so I can ride it as much as I like during my stay. I caught the subway to Millennium Park, went to see Cloud Gate aka The Bean and Crown Fountain then walked the short distance to the visitors centre. By then I'd started to feel a bit better (at least less like I was going to throw up). I went on one of their free hour long InstaGreeter tours which gave me some information on the history of the city and some of the buildings down by the river.

I jumped back on the subway and made my way to Wrigley Field to watch Chicago Cubs play Pittsburgh Pirates in an early afternoon game. I got a ticket with a great view for a very good price and collected another free bobblehead on my way into the stadium and of course a drink in a souvenir cup. It's celebrating 100 years and is such a quaint stadium but lacking many of the modern facilities you get used to. The game itself seemed to progress very slowly. There were runs from the first innings then just after the halfway point a very dark cloud approached and just before it started to rain the players were off and the covers on. The delay only lasted 30 minutes. Unfortunately two innings later there was a sudden almighty downpour. Again the covers were on but the rain was much heavier and came down for much longer. When it stopped there was no sign of any action and quite a few of the crowd had already gone home. I stuck around because by that time in the day there was little time to really do anything else but we weren't getting any information on a restart and the delay was over an hour. At 5.45pm the umpires came out, took a walk around the outfield and called off the game at 3-3. It'll be finished tomorrow before the two sides play each other again but I won't be able to go back to see the final outcome.

I didn't want to head straight back to the hostel so when into the city centre and walked down what's known as The Magnificent Mile. It did rain a little but I marched on though it and down to Millennium Park. I recognised a fair few buildings from my previous visit and it was useful to get my bearings. I got the subway back one stop passed my hostel in order to walk around the local area a little more and after wandering last night I now am much more familiar with my surroundings. 

I popped into the supermarket to get something to cook and have eaten. I've carried out some running repairs on my shorts sewing a button back on (good thing I packed a needle and thread). I won't be going anywhere tonight as I want to rest up and hope to feel fully right by tomorrow for a proper day out being a tourist.

Cloud Gate aka The Bean, Millennium Park

Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates

First rain delay, Wrigley Field