I spent 5 days in Chicago at the end of April/beginning of May and thought I’d share my impressions and some travel recommendations. This is a great city for art. architecture, culture and food but boy does it have some crazy weather. What I thought was going to be spring felt like winter, with cold, windy and rainy days and brutal nights. I literally was cold every minute I was outside. Still, I managed to squeeze a lot into a short trip and greatly enjoyed what Chicago has to offer.
Hotel:
I started looking a few months in advance for a reasonably priced option, with my only requirements being a private room and private bathroom in a centrally location. While Chicago does have some hostels and budget offerings, they mostly didn’t come with a private bathroom. I ended up getting a good price at the Millennium Knickerbocker (https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/chicago/millennium-knickerbocker-hotel-chicago/), an old historic hotel in the Magnificent Mile/Gold Coast neighborhood. I heard the hotel described as “tired” and I’d say that this is an accurate description. It was fine, but nothing to rave about. I generally prefer smaller hotels or B&Bs, so this wouldn’t typically be my preferred style of hotel but it was by far the best option I found, balancing location and price. As I love public transportation and hate taking taxis, I wanted to be somewhere near a subway. It was about 1/2 mile from the nearest subway stop, which normally wouldn’t have been an issue but the less than ideal weather made the walk seem longer than it was.
Breakfast:
My favorite meal when I travel is breakfast and Chicago had some excellent options.
Wildberry (http://www.wildberrycafe.com/)–I had to wait about 40 minutes for a table but it was worth it. Delicious, decadent french toast.
Yolk (http://eatyolk.com/) — There are a few locations; I went to the one in the River North neighborhood. I sat at the counter and enjoyed watching the activity in the open kitchen. Food was excellent.
Xoxo (http://www.rickbayless.com/) — This is one of Rick Bayless’ less expensive restaurants. I asked if the huevos rancheros were spicy and was told no. I found them to be spicy, yet delicious. The hot chocolate and churros were to die for.
Eggy’s — This is on many lists of best breakfast spots in Chicago but I didn’t care for it. It was also down a staircase, and was difficult to find.
Other food:
Everybody told me I had to try Chicago deep dish pizza. I went to Giordano’s in the Navy Pier area. It was fine. Call me a snob, but I prefer New York pizza.
I had a great dinner at the Berghoff (https://www.theberghoff.com/), a historic bar and restaurant in the Loop (downtown area). Despite it being a German restaurant, the menu was pretty eclectic and I had an absolutely delicious butternut squash lasagna.
Chicago has the only Costa Rican restaurant I have ever found outside of Costa Rica, Irazu (http://irazuchicago.com/). Since Costa Rica is one of my favorite places in the world, I felt the need to go there out of a sense of nostalgia. I wish it was open for breakfast because gallo pinto (typically eaten for breakfast in Costa Rica) is my favorite meal, but I had it for lunch instead.
I had delicious Mexican (specifically Oaxacan) food at Kie-Gol-Lanee (http://kiegol.com/) a restaurant I never would have found on my own. A friend who lives in Chicago took me there and it was in a completely non-touristy area (yet accessible by public transportation). The neighborhood was filled with Vietnamese restaurants.
Museums:
As hard as it is for this New Yorker to admit, the Art Institute of Chicago (http://www.artic.edu/) rivals the Metropolitan Museum of Art as quite possibly the greatest art museum in the world. There, I said it. The museum has too many treasures to list, but standouts for me were Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” and Chagall’s “America Windows.” But there is so much more. You could spend an entire day there and not see everything.
I also loved the Driehaus Museum (http://driehausmuseum.org/), set in a beautiful 19th mansion. While disappointed to miss last year’s exhibit of the clothes of Downton Abbey, I enjoyed the current exhibit of French art nouveau posters. The furnishings and Tiffany glasswork in the house are stunning.
The Pilsen neighborhood has a nice Mexican art museum, the National Museum of Mexican Art (http://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/) which has the added benefit of free admission. There is supposed to be some nice street art in the area around the museum, but I didn’t see very much of it because it was raining when I was there and didn’t walk around too much, although I did see some at the nearby subway station. I also found a Mexican bakery where I bought a roll and a cookie for a grand total of $1.43.
Theater/Comedy:
I’m not embarrassed to admit that I planned this entire vacation around seeing the musical “Hamilton.” The Chicago cast is on fire and tickets are somewhat easier to come by than in New York. So if you are looking for a way to see the show, this is one option. Just sayin…
While there, I also caught a production of “My Fair Lady” at the Lyric Opera (https://www.lyricopera.org/concertstickets/calendar/2016-2017/productions/lyricopera/my-fair-lady). Although this production didn’t get great reviews, I enjoyed it and the theater itself is magnificent.
I was able to get half-price tickets through Hottix (https://www.hottix.org/) for a show at the famed comedy club, Second City (http://www.secondcity.com/). The show I saw, Improv All Stars, was on one of their smaller stages, the Up Comedy Club around the corner from their main theater. I kind wish I had splurged for one of the shows on the mainstage instead. It was fun but not as good as I expected.
Architecture:
The one thing that everybody told me I had to do in Chicago was the architecture boat tour, given by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (https://www.architecture.org/experience-caf/tours/detail/chicago-architecture-foundation-river-cruise-aboard-chicagos-first-lady-cruises/). It was pricey but worth it. It would have been even more fun if I wasn’t freezing the entire time. The volunteer docent on the boat was excellent. I would have also taken one of their walking tours, if I had had more time.
Other than the boat tour, you can see stunning architecture just by walking around. My favorite buildings were the Rookery (http://therookerybuilding.com) and the Tribune Tower (http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/tribune-tower/). I also got to learn quite a bit about Chicago’s architecture and street art from my Greeter, Peter. The Chicago Greeter program (http://chicagogreeter.com) is part of an international network where visitors are matched with a volunteer who shows you their city for a few hours. I was lucky that Peter was extremely knowledgeable about architecture and history and showed me things that I never would have found on my own (like the Tiffany glass dome inside Macy’s, which is in the old Marshall Fields building). I recommend taking a greeter tour in Chicago, as well as any other city that participates in the program.
Public Art Works:
Probably the most famous piece of public art in Chicago is Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor, more commonly known as the Bean. It’s fun to take selfies in the reflection of this giant silver piece, but it I preferred photographing the reflection of the skyscrapers.
I also really enjoyed Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa, where faces of people are projected at the ends of a giant fountain and if you wait long enough, eventually water spurts out of their mouths. Every few minutes the faces change.
In addition, there are works around the city by Picasso, Chagall, Calder, and many other artists. Some I found on my own with the help of my guide book and others I only knew about because of my Greeter, Peter.
Transportation:
Before I arrived, I bought a Ventra card (https://www.ventrachicago.com) for the subway (http://www.transitchicago.com) with an unlimited 7 day pass on it ($28), even though I was only going to be there for 6 days including my travel days. The pass included the fare from the airport (otherwise $5). I’m not sure if I saved money compared to paying for rides as I went along–my guess is that it was worth it because the weather prevented me from wanting to walk as much as I normally would have, but had the weather been nicer, it probably wouldn’t have been a cost savings.
Well, there are my thoughts, impressions and suggestions for Chicago. If you go, hope you enjoy it as much as I did! And maybe wait until at least mid-May or maybe even June if you want to avoid winter…
Fierce Sunflower 