It is safe to say we can be indecisive, and that I can change my mind alot, but having considered Ibiza, Greek Islands, Dubai and Mauritius as our holiday destination we ended up going to……Chicago!!!

I thought I wanted a chill out beach holiday, where I could rest, relax and enjoy some warm weather. Good to have that break away from work and do very little, I thought. Last year we did the beach for 7 nights, and it was day 5 I managed to switch off from work properly. The city break of 4 nights to Chicago was so much better for us, we were so busy there switching off from work was almost instant. We have all heard the phrase “a change is as good as a rest” well this time for me, I think it was better.

I did the typical buying of the Chicago guide book, tripadvisor reports on where to eat(very important 😂) and Mam had a newspaper clipping for us with a snippit on what to do in the city over 48 hrs. It is essential to plan a bit before a short break, your time is limited and you don’t Want to miss out. We had the tourist to do list and I was really surprises how much we ticked off it!

Before I tell you more about Chicago, let me tell you this: it is my favourite city, the nicest city I have ever visited. I am sorry but it has beaten Cardiff (can’t believe i am saying this). Ive not visited very many but they include most of the main UK cities, Dublin, Paris, Brussels (that was an intense one with the ongoing saga of Brexit), Las Vegas, LA, Auckland…so a few to compare with.

Why did I like it so much?

It is the freshest city I have been to, the windy city, well there strong breezes while we were there but the air is so fresh, likely to be the case as it is sat on lake Michigan ( a beauty in itself).

It was also honest and forward thinking. One of the items on our tourist tick list was a boat tour to learn more about the architecture of the city. Quite fascinating with all the different skyscraper structures. The guide was local and had incredible passion for his home area (he also had an excellent sense of humour). He talked to us about the history of the city, about the buildings, and about the river we were cruising at the time.

After the fire in October 1871 (reason unknown but the spread decimated the city) the city comissioned an architect to design a city. The brief? To design buildings that would survive, to separate business and dwelling buildings, and have green space for recreation. They still work to this now, however lots of buildings are accommodation so may not be as separate as originally planned.

It is difficult to find much about the prohibition era, which I suspect may be on purpose.

The structure of the city fascinated me, the transport was incredible. In some prts there were three levels of roads running above eachother, and there is the infamous railtrack which runs above the road. Genius, although quite noisy.
placeholder://

The architecture is a highlight for this city, skyscraper heaven! We ventured up the Sears (now Willis) tower, tallest building in the city. We went to floor 103 from -2 in a lift in 60 seconds! Great or terrifying, depending on whether you like heights or not!!

From here the views were superb, and my husband was brave enough to go out on the ledge….I thought I was brave just getting to floor 103!!

As always, food is a vitally important prt of any visit for me, and boy did Chicago exceed our expectations! It shouldn’t surprise you that as well as an activity list, I had a list of foods too!!

Starting with the Chicago deep dish pizza, moving to pancakes for breakfast, I love pancakes!! Omelettes were also popular there, more used to them being a Gavin and Stacey reference now, but my Napa Valley fig omelette was soooo good!!

We also had beef on the list, bit opted against the steak, due to the price, very high. We don’t appreciate the price we can buy food for in the UK. Many places I have been, food is expensive compared to what we have here at home. To make sure we still had beef, our last night I had a short rib bolognaise and my husband had the burger. More than happy with our options, first empty plates of the break 😂.

It strikes me that in general Americans are more connected to where their food is from. Menus have images of animals next to what the produce. At the zoo, the wolves were being fed white bunny rabbits, I just cannot imagine that at home.

On Sunday morning we had tickets for a Gospel brunch at the House of Blues. The singing was amazing and the brunch was an all you eat extravaganza with re-fillable mimosas for the 2 hours we were there too! I had seen chicken and waffles on some menus but never tried it, this was my chance!! There was so much choice, waffle station, omelette station, fish, meat, salads, vegetables, pasta dishes, pastries, peach cobbler and custard!! Didn’t try everything but I can report that chicken waffles, although very tasty, are not a breakfast meal for me. Mimosas however could become a Sunday morning tradition😂.

I highly recommend a visit to Chicago, fantastic and interesting, and currently investing in the recreation part with a new riverwalk and cycle paths built and being developed further.

We did so much, it is hard to summarise, so I will leave you with some highlights, including the pumpkin lights on Navy Pier, a visit to Lincoln Park Zoo, the skyline which never got boring, some more food and a paddle in Lake Michigan…way too cold for a swim!! I hope it inspires you to take a break, and maybe travel to see something new. It has certainly done us a world of good. Thank you for reading, x.