So here’s the thing about Chicago: Despite the fact that it is just a city, it is one of the most diverse cities in the US. We spent whole week in Chicago and there were still things to do and spots to see.
For me visiting a city usually means staying there around 2-5 days (depends), and at the end of my visit I feel like I’ve seen the majority of it’s attributes (of course you never see EVERYTHING, but I think you get the point). But we spent there 8 days straight and I swear – it still wasn’t enough (at least for me haha).
My favourite part of Chicago was the downtown, situated by the river. It’s not the most tipical downtown, it’s a bit more European – which I liked a lot. Our hotel had a great location, so everything was within a walking distance. We usually took a walk to downtown in the morning or in the evening, grabbed a coffee and enjoyed the view. Our favourite coffee spot was by the river, just under the famous Marina Towers ( also known as The Corn Cob buildings).
I am not a huge fan of churches, museums ( aviation museums excluded haha ) and libraries, but when mom’s friend Judy took us to the oldest library in Chicago – well, it fascinated me. It is huge and really beautiful and if you ever visit Chicago, you should go to the library and have a look for yourself.
Just a few steps away (literally) from the Library, there is the Millenium Park. The most famous part of the park is The Bean, of course – just standing there, proudly, and waiting for new tourists every day.
We took a walk thorugh the park much further, crossed the bridge, all the way to the tennis courts. I was apparently so fascinated by the architecture of the park, that I forgot to take photos. So here’s a photo (not mine) just so you get the impression of how big and how majestic the Millenium Park is.
The only time when we had to use the subway was when we visited The Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a park and ZOO at the same time and you don’t have to pay for the entrance. They had quite a lot of animals. We spent there a few hours and then went to the Northern beach, which was just a few minutes away.
One day we took a boat ride on the Lake Michigan. The best thing about it was the fact that you could see the Chicago skyline from a different perspective. We rode all the way up to The Navy Pier. The Navy Pier is like a small amusement park. There is a Canntenian Wheel that’s similar to the London Eye (just a bit smaller) , different types of carousels, pools and botanical gardens.
When we took off from the airport and flew right over Chicago, I looked down and said goodbye to this amazing city, said goodbye to USA. I felt lost, I was sad, overwhelmed from all the feelings, but at the same time still thrilled to go home. Then suddenly I felt nothing but happiness. I realized how lucky I was. I spent whole month travelling across the USA with my family and my boyfriend. We had such an amazing time, saw so many beautiful places and met so many amazing people. And I realized there are so many adventures yet waiting for us.
