Fish, food, and freebies

Happy goldfish at The Shedd
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of last-minute tourist activity here in Chicago. Mum & Jems head home tomorrow (Thursday) and given the fact that we just vegged out during the day on Saturday, we're playing catch-up now.

The other day, we went to The Shedd Aquarium and spent nearly 4 hours wandering around the exhibits and enjoying the dolphin show in the spectacular Oceanarium. I took this photo too - can you believe it? Pretty artistic I reckon, even if it does make you a little cross-eyed.

After the Shedd, we walked along Michigan Avenue to State Street, and past the historical Harold Washington Library, to admire the gargoyles that adorn the facade. Pretty timely for the approach of Halloween really.

Later that night as the rain fell, we grabbed a cab to "Starapolska", a quaint Polish restaurant in a very dodgy part of town, way west of where I live. Bork had told us not to walk the streets late at night in that area, but my fave waiter at the Park Hyatt had recommended the restaurant as authentic, so we had to go. And indeed, "Starapolska" (and the adjoining delicatessen) is a treasure trove of authentic, and often home-cooked, Polish delights. I had a home-made Polish sausage with sauerkraut and potato and I was good not to eat it all, because I had forgotten how rich Polish food can be - and my poor belly was not feeling too hot by the end of the meal. But the dishes were great and I will definitely go back - but next time, I'm going to scoff a plateful of potato pancakes; they were delicious!

Yesterday was not great weather, but at least it wasn't raining, so we seized the moment and walked around the Lincoln Park Zoo. It doesn't cost anything to get in, so it's a great day out. The only complaint I have is that Lincoln Park (the parklands, not the suburb), seem to be a haven for squirrels - it was like a squirrel plague in the zoo yesterday! One of them launched itself out of a rubbish bin and scared the hell out of Jems, which made me happy hehe.

So today we're just going to stick around this area so Mum can come back here and do laundry before she and Jems pack in readiness for their flight home tomorrow. Tonight we might even go out for an Italian meal, which I think will be a nice last hurrah for all of us before the rush of tomorrow comes.