We spent four days in Chicago – one before our trip to Costa Rica and three after.  We stayed with my mum’s best friends Carolyn and Dan, which was fabulous and like visiting family.

 

 

On our first day in Chicago we went to a free jazz concert and art exhibitions at the Chicago cultural centre (including a great exhibition imagining what would happen if the USA started taking over foreign countries and annexing them to the USA).  We went for a walk in Millenium park and saw the sculptures there, including ‘The Bean’.

 

 

We strolled down to the lakeside and saw the huge fountain, then walked back to Willis Tower. This used to be the tallest building in the world and is now the tallest in North America – it used to be known as the Sears tower until quite recently.  It had a fun glass box with glass walls and floors you could play in, and the views of Chicago were outstanding.

 

 

 

 

 

That evening Carolyn and Dan took us out to experience the famous and delicious Chicago deep dish pizza.

 

 

Our next day in Chicago saw us checking out a free Turkish festival, which inspired us to go visit Turkey when we are in Europe.

 

We then headed down to the Chicago Art Institute which has an amazing collection. We joined a free tour in the modern wing, then headed around the museum to see some of their other famous works.

 

 

That night we had dinner with our friends Jessica and  Abhishek, who cooked up a great Indian feast – it was awesome to see them.

 

 

On our third day in Chicago we did a self-guided food tour (which will get its own post) and on our last day we went to an outlet mall and replaced my shoes (which I had literally worn holes in) and bought some other bits and pieces.  If we hadn’t been travelling onwards by bus we would have bought a LOT more as everything was so cheap, however we have had to reduce our belongings down significantly now we no longer have a car!