Chicago - our last two days in the States

After the amazing time we had in the first two days, we spent another wonderful day and a half in Chicago. On Thursday, we began at 9.30 in the morning by touring the Museum of Science and Industry, where we first saw a very interesting movie on engineering in the 'Giant Dome Theatre'. This is basically like a normal cinema, although the canvas is shaped in a concave waoy, this lets you see the movie with your whole field of view - it's a truly exciting experience. After about half an hour of free time, we headed to the coal mine, where we got an idea of how coal was won back in the day. This left us with a good hour to grab lunch from the restaurant and have a small look around this huge building, before we left for the amazing and strongly recommended Chicago Crime Tour. The bus took us along Streeterville on the trail of the likes of George Streeter, John Dillinger, the Chicago Black Sox or the infamous Al 'Scarface' Capone.
After 3.45 pm we were headed for Michigan Avenue to go for the last really large shopping round. We were all (still impressed with the Mall of America in Minneapolis) evermore impressed to see such a thriving line of stores and restaurants, all lined with the vibrance of a mega city. Packed with bags from the shops, we went to a pub next to our hotel, where we had a very nice evening, that set a fitting end to our trip, though it left us all with a sense of melancholy at leaving this beautiful city and the feeling that we had only scratched it's surface.
On Friday, we got up early and then left our hotel for good and got on the bus. Our last big event was the Chicago Lake & River Tour. We boarded the ship near the base of the monumental Wrigley Building. Leaving the Chicago harbor towards Lake Michigan, we went along Chicagos fabulous Navy Pier and right through the Chicago Harbour Lock. It regulates the amount of water coming out of the lake and flowing down Chicago River since 1938, the five minutes we spent in its chamber were a nice opportunity to have a look at the cities glorious skyline. Thanks to our guide, we got a lot of information on Chicagos most prominent buildings such as the Willis Tower or the Lake Point Tower. We also used the opportunity to get some snapshots of the whole group in front of Chicago.

After the end of the tour we went to Navy Pier one last time, enjoyed a beautiful view of Chicago and said farewell to this wonderful city. This left us with a long and also kind of depressive bus ride to Chicagos O'Hare international airport, where we boarded our plane home. 

United for the last time at Bremen international airport, tired, exhausted and also a bit sad that a brilliant four weeks had to come to an end so soon, we quickly engaged in a group hug at the baggage claim and gave a last cheer:

                                                        'Here's to GAPP 2k17!'