Day 5 - Chicago

What a wonderful day! Late morning / lunch / early afternoon at the Chicago Botanic Gardens (which are actually an hour's drive north of Chicago), in glorious sunshine. Millions of photo-opps: see pictures here. Then down to Soldier Field to try to meet Neil Versel before he went into the stadium, to buy his extra tickets from him - for the U2 360 concert. Huge crowds of people, all very good-tempered and happy in the sun, lining up to get into the stadium (some had been there since 2 a.m. to ensure getting a good spot in the arena). Finally managed to hook up with Neil, after walking halfway around the stadium, and acquire the tickets. As there were 2 hours to go before the concert started, we went up to Millennium Park to have margaritas at the Park Grill lounge (and a big platter of guacamole and corn chips to sustain us).

Back at Soldier Field, we were confronted by an amazing circular stage with what can only be described as a spaceship (pictures coming soon)! Snow Patrol opened the show, and they did a great job - the crowd loved them! But everyone was waiting for U2, and the roar that greeted them was phenomenal. We had a guy in front of us who danced non-stop through the entire set (unfortunately his sense of rhythm was a little off, but he was having fun); he knew every word of every song - a true believer! Also surprise (video) appearances of Desmond Tutu and Aung San Suu Kyi, and shameless plugs for the One organisation.

Jet lag? No time for that!