A Week in the Windy City

So I realize it's been over a month since my vacay, but here I finally am with the recap! Chicago is a city I've wanted to visit for ages and it certainly did not disappoint. Admittedly, we did pick an odd time visit the Midwest (hello, dead of winter) but we were lucky in that it was super warm our first few days before it started snowing. That's why you'll see a wide range of weather in these photos even though I was only there over the span of a week.

Our hotel was located on the Magnificent Mile, in close walking distance to lots of main tourist attractions. This included Millennium Park, which is home to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the BP Bridge.

Plus, of course, Cloud Gate a.k.a. "the Bean" which we somehow ended up passing day after day. We saw it at dawn, at night, with crowds, with no crowds, with snow... yeah, we were kind of obsessed.

The view of Millenium Park was particularly spectacular from Cindy's Rooftop, located at the newly restored Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. The hotel was a super cool place to hang out... they even had indoor bocce (apparently a thing in Chi-Town).

We also got a great view of the city while sipping cocktails at the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Centre. It's a great alternative to the Skydeck in the Willis Tower and allowed us to admire all of the lovely architecture downtown.

In addition to many beautiful and historic buildings, the city is brimming with tons of arts and culture to discover. The Chicago Cultural Center was originally the central library and now houses free public art. We were lucky enough to catch an exhibition on Theo Jansen's Strandbeest which are basically the coolest things ever.

We also checked out the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago before venturing over to the South Side to visit the Stony Island Arts Bank. How amazing is that book wall?

On one particularly "hipster day", we even made our way out to Logan Square and partook in a brewery tour at Revolution Brewing.

A vacation for me is never complete without stuffing myself with food & drinks, many of which I made sure to document in real time on my Instagram. Apart from all the deliciousness, what visit to Chicago would be complete without trying a deep dish pizza at Giordano's? Honestly, I would never eat this again but I'm glad I tried it!