We arrived in Chicago in the midst of a surprise Indian summer.
Where it should have been cool, breezy and most definitely autumn-y; it was gloriously sunny, bright and warm.
I flew out to meet Mr B who had been in the States with work for the week. I was lucky to be on one of the only planes to land into the airport that day due to some ruckus. I navigated the airport, monorail and jumped on a train straight to downtown Chicagee, hauled my suitcase around a bit, found my hotel with glee and set straight to utilising the room service for wine. Mr B arrived, did the same for beer and we spent the evening catching up after having spent almost two weeks apart.
But it’s the next day you’ll be interested in. We woke up bright and early - sometimes I just love jet lag - and hit the streets. We found a Corner Bakery Cafe and ordered huge plates of eggs and coffee.
Roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes for breakfast. YES PLEASE!
Then we set out to explore.
We headed into Millennium Park. A green sanctuary set against a backdrop of towering, sparkly buildings.
T-shirt from Topshop, old jeans (similar here), ballet pumps now in the sale here, belt from a jacket but similar here.
Before heading down onto the shore of the lake - a lake so big you have no chance of seeing the other side.
This city really does have everything.
We stopped for some freshly squeezed juice, and continued on our way.
The Buckingham Memorial Fountain in Grant Park is one of the largest in the world. Every hour there is a great display and the fountains shoot water high into the air and apparently they have musical displays in the evening which we sadly missed.
After stopping to say hi to some sculptures, we stumbled across the ‘bean’. The sculpture was designed by a British artist and is officially called Cloud Gate. It is a massive tourist attraction and photo opportunity and I gleefully embraced both.
We continued our exploration into the shopping district, where I spent a few dollars and we grabbed some lunch.
Exhausted, we collapsed into a park with a coffee to give our weary feet a break and to enjoy the evening sun.
Naturally, a bridal party led by a bag piper strolled through.
Unable to walk a step further, we hopped onto Chicago’s equivalent to the Borris bike and cycled back through the city to our hotel for a much needed nap.
