Bean in the Windy City
- Kristy Lowe
- Mar 26, 2018
- 4 min read
Chicago. Well aren’t you fabulous.
After a 15h journey to get here from Dubai I was really looking forward to see what we could see during our stay. After a bit of sucky jetlag and getting up at 6am, I pottered about in my hotel room then rounded up some crew and we ventured off into the city at about 10am. To get into the city is so easy. There's basically a line from each district that goes directly into the city and they're all colour coded, plus it's only $3. Amazing. We stay near the airport, and by near I mean we're so close I can literally hear the planes coming into land straight outside my window/possibly on the roof. It took us about 45 minutes on the train and led us directly into downtown Chicago.
Our first stop was to go to the famous Sky Deck and Willis Tower. This is the highest skyscraper in Chicago and one of the biggest in the world. It has areas that are totally made of glass, including the floor. If you fancy a great view and getting your palms a bit sweaty you should definitely visit here. The view from 103 floors up is great, but the view down isn't for the faint hearted. The only thing that Is a little annoying is that there are only 4 glass observation decks and they can get busy. We arrived at about 1pm on a Wednesday and found ourselves queuing (just like the good British girl I am) for about half an hour. My tip is to go to one of the decks on the corner so you don't get the other decks that stick out in your pictures, and also go early on to try and miss the queues!
After making our stomachs turn a little it seemed like a great idea to go and get food. If you don't know you need to know about the Chicago Deep Pan Pizza. We went to a place called Giordano’s across the road from the Willis Tower and oh my goodness, we had the best pizza I've ever tasted. It's a little odd. The cheese is on the bottom, then the toppings which aren't actually toppings because they’re in the middle. Then on top is a tomato base...top? I don't know I'm confused. I'll stick with tomato sauce. It's about an inch thick and I swear every little bite is a taste of a cheesy tomatoey heavenly goodness sent from the pizza angels. A little dramatic maybe but if you know you know. It's really good. All washed down with a local Chicago pint. We left looking 5 months pregnant but our tastebuds perfectly content. You need to try the famous Chicago deep pan pizza. Just wow.
We headed for a stroll around the city. I fed a little squirrel friend a biscuit in a park we strolled in to, then found a puppy playground so my day was already made. Pizza, puppies and feeding wild pets. Next we headed to the Millennium Park. One great advantage here is that it's really easy to find your way around the city. We never used a map, we'd never been before and we still somehow found everything we needed to. Eventually we ended up in the Millennium Park, one of Chicago's hot spots. Although while we were there there really wasn't anything hot about it with the bitter cold and snow.
In the Millennium Park is the famous Chicago Bean. It's a big metal bean shaped sculpture. It's actually really cool and a popular tourist spot. It’s so popular that you'll struggle to get a pic for your gram on your own as every Tom, Dick and Harry will be in the background. But it's still really cool to see. We then had a walk around the rest of the city. I found a Zara (fabulous) and was in my element for a while then we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before the evening.
In the evening we had a cool night planned. One of the girls had heard about a classic jazz bar so we decided to give it a whirl. They don't serve food so next door is a cute little authentic Mexican restaurant called Fiesta Mexicana. It's great for a light bite before going to the bar. After filling the small hole (somehow after the pizza from earlier) in our stomachs we went into the famous Chicago Green Mill. This is where the famous mobster Al Capone used to hang out back in the day. Word is, he used to sit in the middle booth of the bar with an eye on each door as the doors led to a series of underground tunnels. You know, just in case he needed a casual quick getaway.
The bar is totally old school. Barely anything has been touched and if it needed replacing it had been done as close to the original as possible. People go to appreciate the music, drink wine and sit listening to the live jazz. It’s a rarity and a special thing to see in this day and age as it was almost wiped out. Even if you’re not into jazz, appreciate the bar, it’s uniqueness, the musicians, have a glass of wine and enjoy an old school Chicago night just like they would have in the twenties. Where better to see a Chicago jazz band than Chicago ey?
The Deets
Willis Tower - $24
Chicago Bean/ Millennium Park - free
The Art Institute of Chicago - $25
The Field Museum - $29
Girodano's -approx. $25 for pizza and a pint per person
Fiesta Mexicana - Approx. $20 for drink and main per person
The Chicago Green Mill - Approx. $7 entry fee with a live band on or free without
Comments