Saturday 17th:
Another early rise, as myself, Chris, Narisha and Arath (The Mexican global coach) prepared to leave for Chicago. We left Indianapolis at 7.30am and Sandy Seward kindly offered to drive us to Chicago -- as she used to live there, this was an added plus -- so we had our own tour guide of the "Windy City".
We arrived at around 11.30am, greeted with glorious sunshine. The weather was fantastic, temperatures reaching 22°C, not a cloud in the sky. This made the trip even more memorable. Soon after 11.30am, we checked into our hotel, the fantastic Embassy Suites overlooking Navy Pier. Our rooms had an amazing view of Lake Michigan. Having checked in, we didn't waste any time before exploring this incredible city. Before going downtown, we decided to have some lunch on Navy Pier, enjoyed a quick few "Kodak moments," and then it was off downtown to the Magnificent Mile a.k.a. Michigan Avenue (a endless row of big name shops).
We arranged to meet back at the hotel for 4pm in order to get ready for dinner reservations at 5.30pm. Dom Loduca, a team leader here in the RCI office, had arranged for us to have dinner at his nephew’s restaurant, The Adobo Grill (). This was the highlight of the trip, a fantastic gourmet Mexican restaurant. The restaurant was located next to The Second City, a well-known comedy club that launched the careers of such comic greats as Mike Myers, Bill Murray, and John Candy. The meal itself here was outstanding. For starters, we ordered the guacamole, which, to our surprise, was freshly prepared at our table!
After the meal, Sandy and Narisha left to see the Lion King production, so myself Chris and Arath were free to explore the city of Chicago. We first of all decided to go to an Irish pub called Corcoran's located across the street from the restaurant. As it was such a nice evening, we had our drinks out in the beer garden. After a few drinks here, we decided to head down to the highly recommended Rush Street where we found a strip of crowded but lively bars. We all had a really enjoyable night.
Sunday 18th:
On Sunday morning, we arranged to meet for breakfast. The breakfast at the Embassy was incredible and all you can eat! I finally got a chance to sample pancakes and maple syrup, which I've wanted to have since I arrived -- very tasty!
Right after breakfast, we left for a boat trip around Lake Michigan. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Chris and I ended up getting a little sunburned, which is very unusual for Chicago in the middle of October. The boat trip was fantastic and it gave us several photo opportunities of the beautiful Chicago skyline.
On Sunday evening, we headed to Sears Tower, the tallest building in North America, standing at 110 stories high. By the time we got to the top, it started to get dark outside, but this made the view of the city streets even more beautiful.
We left for Indianapolis at around 8pm on Sunday evening. On our way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel, an authentic old-style midwestern restaurant. After a quick bite to eat, it was back on our road trip to Indianapolis.
Monday 19th:
Again, I was up at 7.15am and wrecked tired after the 2 days in Chicago. I started work at 8.30am. I'm fortunate to be doing the same job that I do in Cork, dealing with inbound U.S. members. Things are pretty much the same except for a couple of things. First, I've noticed a lot of Canadian calls coming through to Indy. That was a bit difficult at first, but after a couple a days, I got used to all the different fees. The other difference here is the technology -- the call centre phone system is computerized. The phone is a software application and it's a really good system. We don't even have to introduce ourselves on the call. When I first came here, I recorded my greeting and every time a call comes through they hear it. Hopefully in the near future, we'll have this excellent feature introduced in the Cork office.
Tuesday 19th:
Kay Sexton, a team leader here, invited Chris, Myself, Narisha, and Angela to her house for dinner. We had a lovely meal with lovely chocolate chip cookies for desert.
Wednesday 20th:
Angela Holton, Richard Ruff’s assistant, kindly took us out to dinner and we went to Maggiano’s, an Italian restaurant in the Keystone area of Indianapolis. This was a really nice restaurant with great food and a relaxing ambience.
Thursday 21st:
Yet again, another dinner offer tonight, this time Celiste English kindly invited us to her place for a dinner party and a group of 10 people are going to her place for the evening.
Tonight, I've got to do some more packing for my Cancun trip tomorrow. Myself and Narisha are going to be there for 5 days -- 2 nights all-inclusive at the Moon Palace and 2 nights at the Spa Palace. I’m really looking forward to this, so stay tuned for next week’s journal and I'll tell you all about my experience in Cancun.
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