Chicago Chicago That Toddling Town...

Back to Chicago (my home away from home) for a week to visit my dearest friend after three long years! Everything is still the same except for the amazing new structure by Donald Trump! pretty impressive.

Day 1

Arrival....

Day 2

Lots of shopping on N Michigan Avenue and Water Tower place in particular (Oprah has a store on the 2nd level - how bizarre!)

Day 3

Tagged along to a Kellogg MBA talk on Entrepreneurial Finance by Professor Rogers which was incredibly inspiring. Then we hung out at Citizens Bar on W Erie Street to watch the Stanley Cup finals with Chicago Blackhawks vs Philadephia Flyers and ironically the Hawks won! Which reminds me of the time when I was in Miami and the Miami Heat won the NBA, I must obviously have alot of favour and good luck :-) Needless to say, there were lots of celebration on the streets and honking of horns for such a memorable occasion (don't know anything about ice hockey to be honest...) Ended up at the Bull and Bear on North Wells Street (crazy dancing and music) and then The Boss Bar on North Clark Street for burger and fries - late night/early morning snacks..

Day 4

Had drinks with friends at Epic Restaurant and Bar on W Hubbard Street, we didn't get a chance to go to the rooftop because of a private party :( Tried to have dinner at Avec on W Randolph Street (heard the food is superb) but the waiting list was ridiculous, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised - good food = long queues. We ended up at Meiji a Japanese restaurant also on W Randolph for sushi (it seems they get all the overflow from Avec and Blackbird - great business strategy).

Day 5

Another round of shopping this time on State Street and found some good bargains - barely. I'm not sure if its just me but everything seems expensive at the moment??? Anyway, ended up at a really cool bar in the evening called Vertigo Sky Lounge on the 26th floor of Dana Hotel and Spa on N State Street. Vertigo has a sleek patio with an incredible view of chicago and a very mixed crowd. DJ wasn't bad either....

Day 6

This was a hectic day! Well the world cup kicked off the day before, and there were two very important matches on today, England vs USA and Nigeria vs Argentina. Both matches were very dissapointing, England drew and Nigeria lost...Anyway, a long night ensured with the Kellogg crew. We had an all-white party on a private boat on Lake Michigan departing from Navy Pier, with an umimaginable skyline of chicago and fireworks to top it off during sail - tres romantique! We then went by white limousine (cheesy american) downtown. So imagine this, a group of people all dressed in white in a white stretch limo - erhh huh! We ended up at District Bar on W Ontario Street, dancing until the wee hours of the morning, I could barely walk in my shoes later. So after we got kicked out of District we went for breakfast, yes you heard me breakfast! We couldn't get a table in The Publican on W Fulton Street (too many of us) so we ended at Eggsperience cafe on W Ontario Street (a tacky restaurant with bright yellow decor was the only place that would accomodate us) and ate a full blown american breakfast - pancakes, scrambled eggs and maple syrup with chai tea (i know it sounds awful but it was actually srumptious at the time - honestly! You just had to be there...)

Day 7

Got late breakfast/brunch from Orange Restaurant on W Grande Avenue and watched the Germany vs Australia match (Germany won of course). Orange has special dishes on the menu mixed with orange or with an orange flavour e.g. orange coffee - very interesting...hmm..I had the baked oatmeal and dried fruit with syrup - extremely yummy (too much food in America! I feel like a whale! need to detox fast!) We had home cooked dinner with a friend in the evening - amazing prawn salad entree with avocado and grilled potatoes with crab legs...hmmm....chef par exellence... and watched the 2nd round of the NBA finals between the LA Lakers and the Celtics (the Celtics won that match but the Lakers won the NBA 2010). We ended up at Roof on the 27th floor of The Witt Hotel on N State Street, which is apparently 7,000 feet high with an indoor/outdoor experience. The patio has a really cool decor with blazing fire pits (it was also wet when we went, so very ideal?). Roof was extremely busy for a sunday night which I thought was bizarre with horrendous service (impossible to get a drink at the bar which I've been told is standard practice here - real shame) Great view of chicago though....

Day 8

Back to S State Street and N Michigan Avenue for a spot of last minute shopping...

Departure....

Overall an exciting and fun yet tiring week in Chicago. I met a lot of great people, made some new friends and caught up with some old friends, fun times, fun memories.....

Lyrics to Chicago by Frank Sinatra - Love it!

Chicago, chicago that toddling town
Chicago, chicago I’ll show you around - I love it
Bet your bottom dollar you’ll lose the blues in chicago
The town that billy’s sunday could not shut down

On state street that great street I just want to say
They do things that they don’t do on broadway - say
They have the time the time of their life
I say a man and he danced with his wife
In chicago, my home town

Chicago to St Charles to Chicago

O’Hare Airport Chicago must be one of the worst airports in the world. Its international Terminal 5 is disgraceful! Welcome to Chicago, NOT! And how many people are simply getting frustrated with the current security checks in all the airports in the world? Everyone! Security Checks AND O’Hare = Nightmare! Security Checks AND Heathrow = Torture!

Anyway, this was another work trip (I’m sure you are now beginning to wonder…) to St Charles actually rather than Chicago, there’s nothing really in St Charles except for the Chicago Premium Outlet Mall in Aurora , and we also went bowling (vintage bowling alley) in a small town called Batavia, and NO I didn’t visit the Cadillac Ranch (cheesy bar) for those of you wondering….

My time in Downtown Chicago, which I am beginning to fall in love with (I’m not sure it could ever overtake my love for NY but it’s coming close) and it’s fast becoming my home away from home; apart from walking by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Civic Opera House, along the Chicago river, by the Millennium Park and Wrigley Building/Trump Tower, was spent shopping, yep, just shopping! I spent most of my time on the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Avenue) and State Street, up and down and up and down (wasn’t really my choice to be honest). My first time in all the department stores on the mile all in one visit! They were: Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, SAKS Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdales (also their beautiful home collection on Wabash). Very sad indeed…….

Chi Town! The Windy City!

Hello from Chicago! My 3rd visit to Chicago! I was here for a training course for work at our global training centre in St Charles (met loads of great people!), and then I spent an extra week in downtown Chicago.

Chicago is a great city, with different neighbourhoods that cater to different people, very beautiful magnificent skyscrapers, the beach along Lakeshore drive, the restaurants and the shopping.

Highlights of my trip:

Shopping: Loads of shopping, fantastic outlet mall near St Charles, and Water Tower Place on the magnificent mile (N Michigan Avenue), Lord and Taylor (great sale!) - all thanks to the current exchange rate.......

Restaurants: Morton's, The Steakhouse on N State St. (scrumptious food! not only steak, great fish & Lobster too!). There are millions of great places on Rust Street in Gold coast for food! The Signature Room at the Hancock Tower on N Michigan Ave - great view of Chicago. Blu Coral on N Milwaukee Ave in Wicker Park- fab Japanese restaurant (did you ever see the movie 'Wicker Park'?? teary romantic, hmmm....... :)

Tours/Tourist Attractions: Millennium Park and Navy Pier - fun place! went on the Ferris wheel! - nice view of Chicago from the top!

Bars/Clubs: Saw the 3 DJS in concert at The Metro on N Clark St; Rednofive on Grant Avenue is a good bar/dance joint; for authentic blues we went to Kingston Mines on N Halsted St. instead of the House of Blues on N Dearborn st; Another great place is The Apartment (visited it 2 years ago, it's a bar in an apartment - really cool!) - All fab places in Lincoln Ave/Park (many bars and restaurants there & also Wrigley field (Cubby bear on Addison St)) - very lively neighbourhood with loads of young people! (or it could have been because of the chicago cubs game - who knows....)

Hotel: Hard Rock Hotel on N Michigan Ave (not bad! chic bar off the lobby)

Church: Willow Creek Church, downtown Chicago