02.18 - 02.24 - QU-Yale

There is not much going on. This weekend is very relaxing. On Wednesday we had our regular Wednesday gym night. We were sipping Scotch and great handcrafted beers. Thanks Andris. On Friday I and Jing went to the Quinnipiac-Yale hockey game:

Quinnipiac-Yale 4-1

It was a great game. However, we were there 90 minutes before the game, we could not find any spot to sit!!! I became so nervous!!! I had several moments when I thought OK, this is the time when I have to go home and f*ck the game. I felt so stupid walking around with my ticket without being able to sit down. And I had to wait 90 minutes until the game...OMG! I hate waiting. I hate standing:) I calmed down and found a good spot at the Quinnipiac gate. And the waiting started...75 minutes, 65 minutes, 45 minutes, 32 minutes when they started entertaining the crowd. Then the game started at 7PM. I took several pictures and videos but those are still on my camera and it is not with me now so I do not post them:) Quinnipiac beat Yale 4-1. 

I liked most this sign on T-shirt: Yuck Fale! Any thought what it refers to?:) Good for you!

On Saturday with also Jing we went to Costco. It is a wholesaler. Awesome place to buy and a great business model they run. 

http://www.costco.com/

You got to be a member. In order to be this you have to pay $100 and you will get a card with your face on it. Fortunately our friend's husband is Chinese, he and Jing look alike. What is the consequence of this? They can share the card. So we went there and we bought a lot of food. They also have free food samples so we did not have breakfast and ate so many samples. If you are in Costco you got to be cheeky. I ate 10 samples at each place:) You buy bulk stuff around $7-9.99 per bag, package. This is good quality food and great price, but a lot of quantity. So when you live alone, and you buy stuff in bulk you have to think ahead. You make smaller portions from the bulk and put them into the freezer, so when you cook you can make self-size meals. I spent $ 115 bucks but got food for 2 months for sure. I am very satisfied with my shopping. Costco also has its own gas station where you can get gas for 20 cents cheaper on average per gallon. You must show your card when you buy gas. The whole station operates automated petrol pumps, you only can pay with card and Costco card. There is no cashier needed, thus there is no labor cost. Credit card accepting [petrol pumps are one of the the best things in the US. I predict that they will be available in Hungary soon. If I would run a petrol station at home, I will use these kinds of petrol vending machines. Convenient for the buyer, non-stop service, no labor cost, guaranteed contracted maintenance. 

I get to go back and study aquaculture engineering. 

Now this blog is up to date again.

:)

02.11 - 02.17 - Chicago

This week was all about the Chicago trip.

Nagyobb térképre váltás

Length: 2000 miles - 3200 km

Duration: 74 hours

We left Hamden at 6PM and headed to Cleveland. Around 2:40AM we reached our hotel and on Saturday we continued driving up to Chicago. We arrived there at 4PM. Let us see what we visited.

Christmas Story House in Cleveland

(Photo courtesy of Krisztina Salekovics)

http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/

It was closed but we took a photo of the famous leg lamp

(Photo courtesy of Krisztina Salekovics)

This is Chicago at the Wrigley Stadium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrigley_Field

This is our team: Marti, Kriszti, Andris, Bence

We asked a guy to take a photo at the stadium and of course he had no sense how to organize a good photo. Our feet and the top of the wrigley sign are cut off...

I think this is brilliant. Those seats are not part of the stadium, but somebody realized that from there you can watch the game, so somebody built a grandstand and charges people to watch the game. 

I do not know who he was, but i had to climb up and do this:)

Next to the stadium we ate at the Goose Island Bar & Restaurant. We paid 15 bucks to try five different beers. It was pretty cheap and handcrafted good quality beer. 

With the food

My meal

:)

OK, so we went to the Navy Pier that is the entertainment park in Chicago. So much fun at the same place. 

From outside the Navy Pier

Visitor Map of the Navy Pier. You can see how many things are going on there.

Chicago!!!!

This tiny black baby girl went to Marti and she immediately picked her up as she was her daughter.

Nice!

The largest McDonald's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_N_Roll_McDonald's

The view of the city

Chicago Stock Exchange

Willis Tower, known as the Sears tower

Like in the Batman

262x Michael Jordan

50 miles radius that you can see from the top. Unbelievable!

http://www.willistower.com/building-information/history-and-facts/

Everything seemed to be small from the top

We occupied this glass cubicle for the most time. After us a lady came and supervised how much time every person spent there:) Sorry guys! We got what we paid for:):) Maximized our utility:)

Sitting outside

Standing outside

Kriszti and Marti are standing outside

At the Route 66 starting point, we will do this trip from here. You will know about it, dont worry:) It is coming...

World famous Chicago style pizza

With the stuffed pizza. It was pretty awesome!

Subway doesn't go underground, it goes above streets. I like this structure. It has many advantages on the maintenance side. If it is snowing roads are not covered in the city center. 

Check this out if you are also interested in the Chicago Loop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Loop

On the architectural point of view Chicago is beautiful.

At Lake Michigan, the water is crystal clear, wild ducks enjoyed it a lot.

Chicago downtown, pretty cool!

I had to climb up. Abraham Lincoln

I thought that everybody stood like me, now looking at the photo i feel stupid:) Anyway, our team is at Lake Michigan 

Chicago is the trader's heaven

Chicago Broad of Trade

This is Detroit downtown from the Canadian side

(Just among us, i think this a freaking great photo)

Looking at Detroit from Canada after crossing the border without problem.

This is another great photo taken by somebody in the team. The point would have been to show that I am standing at the headquarter of RIM (Research in Motion, manufacturer of Blackberry) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.waterloo.ca/en/gettingactive/rimpark.asp

I did not like this headquarter or the whole park. I will not regret if they go bankrupt. I have already sold my blackberry. I wish the best for you guys.

This is just water evaporation I bet. There are many factories along the Big Lakes. 

On Monday we visited the Niagar Falls again for two reasons. Reason one was to show Marti, because she never saw it before, reason two was us (Andris and I) to be there for the third time.

Rainbow, Niagara River and winter. 

At the Niagara Falls

We were so lucky with the weather. There was no snow, no wind, no clouds. It was cold though. But hey Chicago is the windiest city in the US.

I shot this video while we were going up 103 stories in the elevator in 60 seconds. 

Watch and hope you also like Chicago.

Because we do a lot!

(Photo courtesy of Kriszti)

:)