We found a voucher for a deli called ‘Manny’s Delicatessen’ that was about a 15 min walk from our hostel. Manny’s was awesome a huge cafeteria style restaurant with way to much food to know what to get. Marc decided to get the pastrami sandwich and after talking to Gino (long time staff member who has been cutting meat since 1984) I tried a sample of all the meats and loved the corn beef and pastrami so had a mix of both. The sandwiches were huge but I still got a side of pickled beats to try. To add to our meals Gino bought over some Mac and cheese on the house for us to try (on a count of being Australian), all the food was amazing and was an awesome way to start Chicago.
After dinner we decided to go for a walk around and found little Italy just down the road from the hostel. We stopped for some Italian lemonade (like ice slushy) a perfect way to end the day.
Day 1: To start the day we headed town to the ‘Navy Pier’. On our way there we went though the financial district, which was not particularly nice and both Marc and I were left a little unsure on what Chicago really had to offer.
After further exploration we popped out near Grant Park and the Buckingham fountain. It was really hot at this stage and it was taking me a little to adjust to the humidity, as I could not stop sweating.
At the fountain Marc got swindled. A homeless man was asking for $2 for the paper but we only had a $10 note... the man said he had change so Marc gave him the money. However he only had a $5 note in change so Marc ended up paying $5 for a paper he didn't even want. Marc's charitable side disappeared after that he he he.
After a long walk along lake Michigan’s banks we made it to the Navy Pier. It was very gimmicky and touristy but interesting to see. For lunch we had our first Chicago hotdog, which was awesome; Poppy seed bun, relish, mustard, onions, tomato, pickled chilly, pickle slice and celery salt. Mmm I was hooked.
After lunch we went on the Chicago architecture boat tour, which was awesome because it gave us a feeling for the history and the layout of the city. Interesting facts we learnt the name Chicagoua/Chicago means stinky onion. Chicago was originally a swamp, great Chicago fire in 1871 and the fact that they reversed the flow of the Chicago River to no longer flow into lake Michigan because of all the sewage they pumped into the river.
We then made our way to the magnificent mile on Michigan Ave which was full off all the standard big name stores. I purchased some chocolates from Hershey’s and stopped in at Victoria secret for a new jumper and some souvenir track pants and top (Chicago cubs)... not too sure if the money will last the full 12 months if I keep this up though!
On our way home we passed the ‘Purple Pig’, which Marc had read about so we decided to stop for dinner. Absolutely delicious highlights were the beats and braised turkey leg. At the restaurant though I realized that I was extremely burnt after walking around in the sun all day... silly Australian.
We decided to walk the rest of the way home, which was a huge walk all the way to the other side of the city. On our way we passed the famous Chicago theater and the Broadway district.
Day 2: Another really hot day in Chicago, especially after I had been badly burnt the day before. We went to the Baseball to see the Chicago White Sox play the Minnesota Twins. We had made some friends in the hostel Nichole, Michelle and Jelena all staying in my room and they all decided to join us for the day. After catching the train to the US Cellular field we purchased some tickets at the stadium. The game was fun especially because Nichole had never been before. It was pretty hot in the sun for the first hour but after that we were in the shade thankfully. ‘Twins’ won 5 – 2.
After the game we went back to the hostel cooked some dinner and went to the Irish pub down the road that had free popcorn and hotdogs for the patrons. After a few drinks and fun conversations with Nichole and Michelle we decided to have a quiet night and go out the next night to dance up a storm. After getting back to the hostel Marc decided to go out again with another guy we met Breen for one more drink… but didn't get home until 5am silly sutho.
After further exploration we popped out near Grant Park and the Buckingham fountain. It was really hot at this stage and it was taking me a little to adjust to the humidity, as I could not stop sweating.
At the fountain Marc got swindled. A homeless man was asking for $2 for the paper but we only had a $10 note... the man said he had change so Marc gave him the money. However he only had a $5 note in change so Marc ended up paying $5 for a paper he didn't even want. Marc's charitable side disappeared after that he he he.
After a long walk along lake Michigan’s banks we made it to the Navy Pier. It was very gimmicky and touristy but interesting to see. For lunch we had our first Chicago hotdog, which was awesome; Poppy seed bun, relish, mustard, onions, tomato, pickled chilly, pickle slice and celery salt. Mmm I was hooked.
After lunch we went on the Chicago architecture boat tour, which was awesome because it gave us a feeling for the history and the layout of the city. Interesting facts we learnt the name Chicagoua/Chicago means stinky onion. Chicago was originally a swamp, great Chicago fire in 1871 and the fact that they reversed the flow of the Chicago River to no longer flow into lake Michigan because of all the sewage they pumped into the river. 
We then made our way to the magnificent mile on Michigan Ave which was full off all the standard big name stores. I purchased some chocolates from Hershey’s and stopped in at Victoria secret for a new jumper and some souvenir track pants and top (Chicago cubs)... not too sure if the money will last the full 12 months if I keep this up though!
On our way home we passed the ‘Purple Pig’, which Marc had read about so we decided to stop for dinner. Absolutely delicious highlights were the beats and braised turkey leg. At the restaurant though I realized that I was extremely burnt after walking around in the sun all day... silly Australian.
We decided to walk the rest of the way home, which was a huge walk all the way to the other side of the city. On our way we passed the famous Chicago theater and the Broadway district.
Day 2: Another really hot day in Chicago, especially after I had been badly burnt the day before. We went to the Baseball to see the Chicago White Sox play the Minnesota Twins. We had made some friends in the hostel Nichole, Michelle and Jelena all staying in my room and they all decided to join us for the day. After catching the train to the US Cellular field we purchased some tickets at the stadium. The game was fun especially because Nichole had never been before. It was pretty hot in the sun for the first hour but after that we were in the shade thankfully. ‘Twins’ won 5 – 2. 
After the game we went back to the hostel cooked some dinner and went to the Irish pub down the road that had free popcorn and hotdogs for the patrons. After a few drinks and fun conversations with Nichole and Michelle we decided to have a quiet night and go out the next night to dance up a storm. After getting back to the hostel Marc decided to go out again with another guy we met Breen for one more drink… but didn't get home until 5am silly sutho. 
Day 3: After a late start as I could not get Marc out of bed we went for a walk around Chicago to see some more sights. The Aquarium, Museum and Planetarium (only from the outside as admission was way to expensive). We then caught the train down town to go to Millennium park. The park was nice but our favorite site was the ‘Cloud’ or ‘Kidney Bean’ a big-mirrored object we had loads of fun taking pictures with as it was like a big fun mirror. 
Afterwards we continued to stroll down Michigan Avenue. On our way we came across a place called ‘Billy Goat tavern’ very seedy from the outside but cool on the inside it had been a local hang out since 1834 and was famous for it’s burgers and not selling fries only potato chips and only Coke no Pepsi. Marc got a double cheeseburger that he inhaled after being so hung over.
That evening we went out to ‘Uno’ (the first deep dish pizza place in Chicago) with our group of friends from the hostel. It was a 40min wait for a table but the pizza took about 40mins to cook so it all worked out perfectly. The pizza was good but extremely filling, still prefer the traditional thin crust pizza. 
After dinner we then walked to the John Hancock building to visit the signature room of the 95th floor and enjoy the nighttime view of the city, which was amazing. Even thought it was free to go we paid the price for our drinks. The rest of the night we continued drinking and made our way to a piano bar called 'Howl at the moon', where we had loads of fun as they played song requests. The previous night I told Nichole and Michelle if I was 16 I would bone the Bieber but I’m 27 so totally not interested… this all got taken as I like Justin Bieber (which I don’t) and they requested ‘Baby’ for me. It was so funny as the piano player did not want to play it as the last song of the night but he did… and we all sang along to it at the top of our lungs he he he. The rest of the night was very hazy and we got home around 5:30am!
Day 4: Extremely hard to get out of bed today and had a pretty big hang over but all worth it. As we were all feeling like crap we decided to have a beach day down by the lake. The whole group went, about 6 of us. After a feeding of McDonalds we just lazed around the beach for the afternoon. On the way for one last beer I accidently dropped my iPod touch on the concrete and smashed it :( so sad but at least it still worked.
Sad to leave our new friends of 3 days on Wednesday morning but Nichole, Michelle and Breen all came down early to have breakfast with us before we departed. Hopefully get to see them all again next year.
Mmmm! That pizza looks delicious!
ReplyDeletesutho not gettin in until 5am... things dont change even when you are hangin out with Oprah !!
ReplyDelete