Was a wet wet day in the Windy city.

We thought we would take a little river cruise, the Architect cruise. What’s a little rain? We love the Fro (Michelle G).

As the Scandinavians say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.

Our guide Jimmy or James or Barry or maybe Gaz, told us this tour was all about contextual beauty. The Architects of this city believed that beautiful buildings and cities have an inspiring and invigorating effect on people and have the power to lift the cities soul. I would agree with that.

He told us the lakefront is 28 miles of beautiful parks, boat docks and walkways.

He told us that the great fire of 1871 created an opportunity to build a second Chicago and may have been caused by Mrs Katherine O’Leary’s cow. The fire that destroyed 17,500 buildings and 73 miles of street. Ninety thousand people—one in three Chicago residents—were left homeless. While only 120 bodies were recovered, it is believed that 300 people died in the blaze.

Mrs. O’Leary, grandma of MoD’s neighbours back there in Fargo. So the Fargo O’Leary story goes.

He told us there are 250,000 glazed terracotta tiles on the Wrigley building. That’s the Wrigley building with the clock on top.

He told us a lot.

The Trump building is the second tallest in Chicago – much to Trumps horror. Each of its patio’s is at the height of an adjoining building – acknowledging its three neighbours heights – to flatter his building.

This building, built in 1890 was originally a meat house with no windows but now houses apartments.

The Sears Tower built in 1974 – Sears being the modern day equivalent to Amazon – was the tallest building in the world (442m) until the Burj Khalifa. The Sears top floor moves about 8 inches each way in heavy wind. Of course it isn’t named Sears anymore, some insurance company has the naming rights, but we old Chicago people still call it Sears.

He told us the Burj Khalifa was designed by Chicago Architect Adrian Smith and is close to twice the height of the Sears at 829m.

And that two men have scaled the Sears without permission and without any relevant safety equipment. Dan Goodwin wearing a Spider-Man suit and using suction cups in 1982 and in 1999, Alain Robert, with no equipment except a chalk bag and shoes. Total madness.

He told us the name Chicago means stinky onions.

That this building has real 24 carat gold foil.

So much information to take in.

After that heady and actually very interesting tour, and with the weather the way it was, we wandered the city, Brunt umbrella in hand. Stopped at Cloud Gate (the Bean) for a mandatory photo and then had lunch at a little Italian restaurant Pizano’s Pizza and Pasta, the son of Pizzeria Uno man, where we had the famous Italian meat sandwich. We didn’t rate it.

The evening was spent at the theatre.

To see MJ The Musical.

The story of a young man, ground breaking in his music, performance, theatre and dance.

A kind and gentle soul overshadowed by an aggressive, unkind, sometimes violent father who consistently pushed his children for nothing less than perfection.

A young man who cared about the world, well before it was trendy, who gave to the world and who cared about the people in it.

Who, if he had of been born 40 years later, may not have been judged so harshly.

Regardless of what you think about him, for me he was one of the most influential and significant artists of the twentieth century.

And tonight’s performance reinforced that.