Afternoon everyone back in Australia.
A huge day for the group today starting with the pick up of the boys from their home-stay visits at Malvern Prep in Philadelphia. Another cold morning and we drove off on time and made the drive to the airport for our flight to Chicago. We checked in, found the gate, got a coffee and boarded last as usual. The ladies at the desk were in awe of the size of our boys. It was a full flight and 2hrs later we hit Illinois airspace with a great view of the city shrouded in snow. We touched down and got off last as usual, collected our bags and found our bus and driver for the next three days. It is expected to snow over the next couple of days and the temperature suggests it will. It's so cold that dogs are freezing to trees before they can finish... Not able to check in yet, we found a great area for food, including a retro-looking McDonalds where 99% of the boys went to. No hang on, it was 100% of the boys at McDonalds. Fun facts: Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. The movie 'The Blues Brothers' was filmed here and the car chase scene at the end where 50 police cars all smash into each other was filmed not far from our hotel. And the latest Batman movie was also filmed here - and there was a great car crash scene in the same spot. The teachers and parents found a great diner that had a heap of choices including some famous hot dogs and Chicago's finest chocolate cake. I can vouch for that fact. It was fine. From there, we checked into the hotel, rugged up and back onto the bus for trip around the city to see some of the sights then out to the United Centre - home to the famous Chicago Bulls NBA team. The huge statue of Michael Jordan greets you as you walk in and his list of basketball achievements listed on the pedestal he is raised on leaves you no choice but to stand and genuflect at this legend of the game. Tonights game had a Star Wars theme attached to it, so lots of Storm Troopers running around posing for photos. The half time entertainment was this speed painter guy who painted this pretty cool portrait of Princess Leah - upside down. We found our seats and stood for the national anthem then tip off right on time. The atmosphere was still electric, even though not a sell out. The colour, the music, the noise was all awesome to be witness to. A couple of our party managed to get their hands on some free t-shirts thrown into the crowd - something we failed to do back in Dallas. There were early signs that we could be on the big screen when a Bulls guy and a cheerleader stood near us and asked us some questions about who we were etc. Maybe the boys scared them off. No big screen action tonight. We did have a secret up our sleeves though - months back our tour agent arranged for the group to get down onto the court at full time and have some photos. The boys were chuffed at that opportunity and didnt they love it. Lots of security down there and they ushered us off pretty quickly as they were getting the court taken out and preparing it for ice hockey tomorrow night. Still was a great experience. Tomorrow we have our 6th game v Providence Catholic High School. The boys will be spending some time with the students before the games commence after school. Tune in tomorrow for some pics of the games and results. Go Saints!
4 Comments
Chris
12/14/2017 01:09:15 am
And yet another great day/blog. Good luck tomorrow!
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Tracy Dowling
12/14/2017 03:01:15 am
Such special memories with great friends.
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Belinda
12/14/2017 04:25:14 am
Loving the very informative updates and images, really look forward to it. It's been fantastic to follow the trip. Thanks again James and found your dog joke very funny.
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