Chicago

     On the train to Chicago we'd been warned by multiple people about the terrible dangers that were looming before us: street shoot-outs, muggings, violence, etc. Rather unfazed, we de-trained at Union Station and took a cab to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency, downtown.

 Our room there was a gift--Thanks, Bob!

It. Was. Awesome.

Seriously.

If you want to be pampered and find yourself in downtown Chicago, we highly recommend staying there. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on, goodness. We also had a great view of the city from the 33^th floor. After showers and lounging and enjoying the view, we indulged in some Chicago style pizza about a block away.

Giordanos Pizza

The next day, we ventured out to find our hostel for the next two nights, in Greektown.

We got lost and ended up walking further than we wanted to but did eventually find the hostel, which wasn't the Hyatt—their advertised king-size bed was two doubles pushed together--but it did us fine, the staff was friendly and so were the terribly drunken Hungarian guests. We took the bus and the 'L' all around Chicago, had some wonderful food (more pizza and sandwiches), saw sights, and the Museum of Science and Industry. 

Mmm Potbellys.

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

"If rats can't feed, rats can't breed."

Bar view.

We opted out of going up into the John Hancock building because of the 15 dollar/person fee, but the next day a bartender recommended we go to the 96^th floor and have a drink, so we did. Sure the drink was $12 but we split it and got to enjoy the beautiful view. The womens bathroom actually had an amazing view too, strange but awesome. 

Entrance to The Violet Hour.

     That night we also visited Wicker Park, which is a neighborhood known to be the hipster region of Chicago. There we found a nice little spot called The Violet Hour. It's a cool little bar in an unmarked building that prides itself on its exclusivity. Inside it had an air of Alice in Wonderland meets upscale speakeasy. Again, very expensive drinks but we had a good time. The rest of Wicker Park was either closed or too hip for us.

Did we mention the heat? It was really hot. Okay, uncomfortably warm. Too hot to hold hands so we had to link fingers most of the time.

I, Bonnie, also had my first Duncan Donut in Chicago. It was decent but didn't quite compare to what the Duncan Donuts of my dreams. The coffee was okay, I guess.

The day we were set to leave Chicago we decided to ride the 'L' around in circles, just to see what we could see, and were lucky enough to witness a crazy lady with a Whole Foods bag throw a temper tantrum. It seemed that the train was stopped longer than she could tolerate. On our way back to Union Station we had fancy Italian coffee and sorbet at Lavazza and saw a tv pilot being filmed. They had police line a street downtown and made a huge mess—litter and paper everywhere. At the station, our train was late (a common theme) and the agent at the station had asked all of the families and elderly to group themselves at the front of the boarding line, resulting in a crazy kid fiasco. We set up shop out of the way and played rummy. Every once and a while a couple of kids would come flailing towards us and we'd have to tell them that this area was off limits and then grumble to each other about today'ss lax parenting methods.

Overall, Chicago was a lot of fun, and easily the coolest big-city we've ever been to.