Monday 27th November
The temperature was -4C when we rose this morning but apparently it felt like -11C (according to the Weather Channel). Snow flurries were predicted throughout the day and the maximum temperature was expected to peak at -3C. Fortunately we had packed expecting these conditions and all the warmer clothing was put to good use today.
Our assigned chore was executed to perfection this morning – although Rambo was standing in the doorway waiting for someone to feed her when we arrived. We guessed that her usual breakfast time was not in sync with our current holiday breakfast time. Once she had been fed we set off for a walk along Michigan Avenue to see if any of the retail stores had enticing Black Friday discounts still on offer. It was definitely the coldest day we have experienced this trip and we were grateful for our down jackets, gloves and beanies.
Michigan Avenue was quieter than it had been over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We did note that the streetscape had changed, with Christmas decorations now adorning the sidewalk garden beds. The shops had also discarded their Thanksgiving bunting for what was clearly their Christmas / Hanukkah bunting. Highly decorated Christmas trees adorned most shops and shopping plazas, with an apparent competition to see who had the largest tree for 2023. A store specialising in Mexican-made items caught our attention with its bright display of handicrafts. We spent quite some time exploring the items on offer, many of which tested our knowledge of Spanish as we tried to understand their intended purpose / use.
The outside temperature was always a shock to the system when exiting stores and returning to the sidewalk beside Michigan Avenue. There was little change from the time we left our apartment to the time we returned; if anything, it got colder. The daytime maximum of -6 was reached fleetingly at around 1:00pm and began to drop away from that time onwards. The ‘feels like’ temperature dropped to -14C while we walked back to our apartment. Exposed areas of skin start to hurt at that temperature and our faces lets us know that things were getting uncomfortable as they turned numb.
We stopped off at Eataly and picked up some fresh pasta and basil pesto for dinner. Chris suggested buying some gelato, as it wouldn’t melt during the walk back to our apartment. Whilst we acknowledged this was true, we left without purchasing any gelato.
On returning to our apartment we slowly thawed out over a warming cup of tea and lunch. Our final venture outside was later in the afternoon when we had to check on (and feed) Rambo again. It’s only about a 30-metre dash between buildings, but it is more than long enough for the cold conditions to penetrate our layers of warm clothing. The sky cleared as the day slipped back into darkness at around 4:30pm when the sun set. Visibility improved after a day of minor snow flurries that had snow flakes falling throughout the day, with the occasional one scoring a direct stinging hit on our eyes. The clear skies signalled that it would most likely be a cold start to the day tomorrow.
Tuesday 28th November
As expected, it was a very cold start to the day under clear, sunny skies. The snow that fell on Sunday was still sitting on the rooftops we look overlook from our vantage point of the 31st floor of our apartment block. The temperature hasn’t ventured above 0C at any time since the snow fell.
There were a number of chores to perform today before beginning the flight home tomorrow. First we had to pay Rambo a visit and make sure her food and water supplies were topped up. Next, Wendy and Chris headed north to Whole Foods to find something for our evening meal. A brief detour was taken to buy a Christmas card for Sarah, Max and the girls so it could be left for them to receive on their return from Salt Lake City next weekend. At least this way we could be sure the card was received, as international mail has been unreliable between the USA and AUS in recent years.
The shelves at Whole Foods were extensively browsed for a suitable dinner option. A quiche was eventually selected and we were again on our way, braving the cold conditions. Chris suggested a stop at a chocolate shop that specialises in coffees and hot chocolates, all single origin. We opted for a Brazil single origin dark hot chocolate. It was robust in flavour, rich and silky smooth. It was filling and warming all at the same time.
The walk back to our apartment took a detour as we approached Merchandise Mart and decided to browse the many home decorating shops located on the ground floor. In particular we headed for the Miele store, where they have a great cross-section of Miele appliances on display. The polite salesperson was up for a chat; she started by asking if we were from ‘out of town’. Being from Australia was about as ‘out of town’ as you could get. We mentioned that we were really just comparing the similarities and differences between the appliances sold locally and back in AUS. She commented that the EU always received the latest products before they made their way to the USA; we noted that the ovens in the USA are much deeper than we see in AUS. Conversely, the fridges sold locally are generally wider but much shallower than those sold back home. It was noted that there is a shift to induction cooking, but many American home cooks continue to remain loyal to their gas cooktops.
We braved the cold one more time, stopping in at a local pharmacy. It was then once again out into the cold for the final 2 blocks before finally making it back to our apartment where it has taken about 30 minutes to thaw out.