Chicago - The Windy City

It has been road trippin` weekend again! Our destination was Chicago this time which is about 380 miles away from River Falls. It is definitely not a stone´s throw but it is absolutely worth every single mile you drive ?

We left on Thursday and booked a hostel in downtown Chicago for four nights as we really wanted to make sure that we will be able to see as much as we want to. It has been a quite unspectacular seven-hour drive but as we came closer to the city center we already saw the shapes and the lights of the skyscrapers and the view was absolutely gorgeous and so the drive had already paid off. Chicago is the third biggest city of the U.S. and you are really feeling this while coming closer to the city. About 40 miles before you come to the city center the suburbs begin and the buildings start to get higher and higher. The lights of the city, the typical suburb car dealers everyone knows from the movies, hundreds of traditional fast food restaurants as well as the lights of thousands of cars are overwhelming. The closer you get to the city center the more amazing the view gets. You could spend hours and hours just watching the colors change. Chicago by night is just fantastic!

After getting a good night´s sleep the first night we left the hostel quite early on Friday heading to the city center. First, we went to the Millennium Park which is famous for Anish Kapoor´s Cloud Gate sculpture. Standing in front of this sculpture gives you a first impression of the magnitude of Chicago´s skyline even though you don´t even see the highest buildings then by far. We kept heading towards the central business district and the famous Navy Pier. Standing on the far edge of Navy Pier really gives you an idea of Chicago´s size. Luckily the sky cleared, and we were able to take some great shots of Chicago. You have a great view over the whole skyline. Taking the Chicago River Walk brings you closer to the city´s unique architecture. Buildings like the Wrigley Building, John Hancock Tower as well as the Willis Tower are just amazing. The variety of the architectural styles of Chicago is absolutely unique: Modern skyscrapers next to skyscrapers that were built in the colonial or French Renaissance style really give the city a one-of-a-kind character. Another impressive factor is the color of the lake´s and river´s water. It is a shiny turquois shade that I have never seen anywhere else around the world before. After spending some time along the river and having a traditional Chicago Deep Dish Pizza at Lou Malnati´s we made our way along the Magnificent Mile which is basically the main shopping street with all kinds of pricy shops. At the end of Magnificent Mile there is the John Hancock Tower; a skyscraper located right at the shore of the lake. The tower has a 360-degree platform at 94^th floor and it provides the best view over a city I have ever seen in my whole entire life. The immediate closeness to the lake, the pure height of the building as well as millions of city lights make everlasting memories! Late afternoon is the best time to get up there I believe as you will be able to see the city during night and day if you are willing to spend some time up there.

Our second and third day in Chicago were quite rainy but this actually gave us the chance to explore a lot more of the city that we probably wouldn´t have seen if the weather was fine. We decided to get a City-Pass for about 100$ and this gave us fast-lane entry to several museums such as the field museum with the world´s largest, most complete as well as best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex, the Adler planetarium which includes a breathtaking 360-degree show of our universe as well as the Shedd aquarium which offers a stunning diversity of all kind of underwater animals. Besides those included entries you can also go on top of the Willis Tower which was the world´s highest building for about 25 years and which is the tenth highest building at present. They got a glass-bottom area at a height of 400 meters which is absolutely stunning. The view up there is great as well even though I liked the view on top of John Hancock Tower even better. We definitely enjoyed these rainy days too and the cloudy sky gave the pictures on top of Willis Tower a special touch!

Summing up Chicago has been one of my favorite destinations so far. We got the perfect combination of an affordable hostel in the city center (HI Chicago Downtown), great days in the city with a lot of everlasting pictures and memories as well as a nice road trip through Wisconsin and Illinois.    

To be continued!