I wish I had satellite radio in the car in England. Over here - Channel 8 - XM - "80's on 8" plays all my favourite songs and today it was the best of 1985. I did not want to leave the vehicle ..

The weather has been AWESOME! No clouds ... no rain ... not too chilly ... just warm Fall sunshine ... yum!

Anyway - after breakfast - we headed out to The Pooch Hotel. We met up with Maggie Fulghum - the GM - and her two babies, Bear and Rocco. The hotel has an indoor swimming pool (30 feet), spa, kitchen, treadmill ... exercise areas - one for big pups and one for small ones - and suites of course. We toured the hotel and I even got to stay in the Presidential Suite with Bear sleeping on the bed ... awesome! It's a fabulous property and was quite full with happy, smiley and non-aggressive pups!

Next up we headed to the Chicago Yacht Club - a private club at the Belmont Station. Lake Michigan in 331 miles and is one of the five "Great Lakes" ... 307 miles long & 118 miles wide - the 2nd largest lake in the world.

I am NOT a sailor! I am not a fan of water ... of any kind! I met up with the sailing school director, the lovely Maggie Lumkes who took me out for a lesson on the lake in a "420" ... we tacked ... and possibly jibed ... and had fun on the water without getting wet! The views of the Chicago skyline are superb!! I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon!

I am staying in Chicago until Wednesday but the boys head home tomorrow. We have one feature to film in the morning ... and a sunrise& sunset to do .... tonight ... curry!

Songs of the Day:
C'est La Vie - Robbie Neville
If You Stay - OMD
Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
Alive And Kicking - Simple Minds
One Night Love Affair - Bryan Adams
Hooverville - The Christians
Song of the Day:
Cry - Godley & Creme
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdKJBxWZdoI

Weather: Purrrrfect!

fin .. still on my mind
fin's hotel

bear on a treadmill

with rocco

in bear's presidential suite ...

maggie fulghum - the gm - my best report card EVER

chicago skyline

maggie lumkes

out on a 420 - from the chicago yacht club

whooooah! tack ... jibe ... what? what?

steady....

phew .....!

It was Diwali today. I missed my family like crazy but all the lovely messages from family & friends kept me from feeling sad or lonely. Thank You ...

Awoke with a hop in my step because the sun was shining and the sky was blue.

Derek picked us up from the Peninsula and drove us to Charlie Trotter's Restaurant. For those who don't know, Charlie is one of America's greatest chefs. He is a Chicagoan born & bred and has had his restaurant for 22 years. We spent three of the most amazing culinary hours I have ever had cooking two dishes - scallops and rabbit - paired with a 1988 vintage rose Dom Perignon and 1975 vintage Dom Perignon respectively. One of the greatest culinary experiences of my life ... oh yes! And it shows on screen, I promise ....! Huge thanks to Kimberly Burt from Moet Hennessy for providing the champagne ... yum!

From there it was off to the Aroma Workshop and owner Tedd Neenan. Do you know that 98% of ALL perfume and after-shave is made by just three companies? Well the other 2% is made by people like Tedd. He has racks of oils that you can mix until you create the perfect scent! This was metrosexual heaven! I had 2 hours of fun creating "Gemima" - the perfect scent for me ... can't you smell it on here?

Dinner out ... no food - just a couple of glasses of Malbec and wonderful company ... "Darling Jen" was over from LA for one night only so I got to see her and her lovely friends & family ... a perfect way to end the day ...

Song of the Day: We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off - Jermaine Stewart
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_N7rv-iN8

Weather - Getting Better!

finn still on my mind!
jimmy samples a champagne older than he is!
a 1975 vintage dom perignon
my mate kimberly
chef charlie trotter
lunch :)
row of honour

darling jen and emily (prrrrrrrrr)
my perfect scent - eau de gemima
tedd neenan

A loooooong day ...

0700 - breakfast at Pierrot Gourmet
0830 - drive up to the Peninsula
0900 - first PTC (piece to camera) - 339 rooms & suites ... on floors 8 - 18 ...
1000 - second PTC - gym - 18 types of cardio machines
1100 - third PTC - pool - 25 metres in length
1200 - fourth PTC - spa - massage ... hmmmmm
1230 - lunch ... YUM
1300 - fifth & sixth PTCs - room review with pooches ... I have a "grande deluxe suite" - 81 square metres ... fabulous views
1430 - seventh PTC - bar - sip 1 of 36 whiskys (malts)
1530 - eighth PTC - Shanghai Terrace - dim sum - yum
1600 - ninth PTC - Avenues - Chef Duffy awesome Alaskan Crab ...
1700 - tenth PTC - Pierrot Gourmet - starters
1800 - eleventh PTC - Lobby Bar - chocolate heaven!
1930 - cab for dinner
2355 - home & bed

LONG DAY!

Song of the Day: Feels Like Heaven - Fiction Factory
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJzo_l_u-p8

Weather: Mixed
my ride!
the lion & me support breast cancer awareness
gym
pool
puppy love
ruff
finnigan - the real deal!
choco-yummy
tarte flambeeeee
avenues
the bar

It's a miserable evening here in Chicago ... dark, cold & wet. It's been raining cold hell all day ...

I am now at The Peninsula and have views down Michigan Avenue ... and I can see the Lake clearly...

So - up early and off to The Art Institute. This must be one of best (if not THE best) art galleries I have ever visited. I came here a few years ago and first saw Edward Hopper's Nighthawks (1942) and Grant Wood's American Gothic (1930). Revisiting these two iconic paintings are one main reason I come back to Chicago ...

The Institute - on May 16th - opened the Modern Wing ... 250,000 square feet of post-1960 contemporary art. We are talking Koons, Picasso, Matisse and oodles of Pop Art ... oh and a mad video of a laughing clown. This is a MUST see on any visit to the City ... if it was good enough for Ferris Bueller then it's good enough for you!

I interviewed the Institute's Erin Hogan - a most entertaining & knowledgeable lady indeed.

Then back to The Elysian for a lovely lunch and a VERY, VERY sad farewell to Kevin, Bridget, Jason, Atilla, Emily, Mercedes, Charles, Maria, Peter, Sophia et al. They have treated us so well ... and we genuinely feel that we were leaving our new Chicago family ...

Anyway - onwards - and now we are now at The Peninsula.

Hotel filming tomorrow ... so early night!

Song of the Day: Unforgettable - Nat King Cole
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8tRTZIx298

Weather: 'orrible

erin hogan .. and a "woman in tub" - koons - 1988

wierd huh?
nighthawks ... a classic

everybody do the dinoaur
BRIDGET!

surely not?

Hmmm ... OK ... I can't surf, I can't dance ... and now I know I can't sing!

We have just come back from "live band" karaoke ... instead of a backing track, you get a live band! Oh dear .... I ruined "King of the Road" for a crowd of people....

Martini Park was the venue ... and dear friend Kimberley from Moet-Hennessy was there along with Amanda from the PR that looks after the venue & Laura & Liza & Seng & Kristin ... we did have fun though! AND it topped off a rather wonderful day ...

Another good night sleep ... and an early breakfast again.

Our driver/tourist board assistant Derek turned up and drove us to The Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue. This is one of my favourite buildings in the world. Chicago is THE skyscraper capital of the world with over 1000 high-rise buildings ... and back in the 1920's, The Tribune was built as the new HQ for the newspaper. The USP for this building apart from the Belgian gothic buttresses is that there are fragments of rock from some of the most amazing buildings on Earth ... there's a piece of the Taj Mahal, Edinburgh Castle, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Pyramids in Giza, Arc de Triomph, the Colosseum, House of Commons, Pearl Harbour, The Twin Towers ... and even a piece of Moon Rock ... at least 100 pieces cemented into the sides of the building ... it's a journey ... just brilliant! My guide around this building was Michelle Mondro who knows EVERYTHING about architecture here in Chicago ...

From there we ventured down to South State Street and Malnati's ... the home of pizza here in Chicago. Created back in 1972 by Joe - there are now 30 restauarnts in Chicago ... serving more than 15,000 diners EVERY night! I met up with the current co-owner Marc (Joe's son) who taught me to make proper deep pizza! Malnati's uses 1 million TON each of cheese, flour and tomatoes a year! PHEW! Each pizza has 1/2 a kg of cheese in it! I am currently suffering from heart palpatations!

Then onto Martini Park for the singing!Preparatin was scant ... a lovely new Italian shirt from Burdi ... a gargle with a wee tot of whisky ... and off I went!

Kim had very kindly provided some bottles of Moet with Inside Luxury Travel and Varun decorated in Swarovski crystals ... so ALL was good!

I am EXHAUSTED but happy with today ... sadly my last night at The Elysian ...

Song of the Day: King of the Road - Roger Miller
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOe27SJ3Yc

Weather: Cold - brrrrrrrrrrrr

vschicago.com ... is NOT varunsharma-in-chicago.com ... here's wishing!
victoria's secrets wings! very elton!
american gothic in 3d
excess baggage anyone?

a brick from london

from hawaii

pyramids of giza - egypt

moon rock!

john wood - dj - wgn live!

michelle
pagoda the pomeranian

BIG scruff

marc malnati - mr pizza

even i did it!
home of live band karaoke

my own label champagne

jimmy & derek - NOT The everly brothers!

king of the road? i think not ....

a kiss from minnie mouse - the songstress!