Chicago is known as the windy city due to its breezy lakefront. The nickname windy city is playfully used to describe the talkative nature of the locals.

Sitting on Lake Michigan in Illinois, Chicago is the third largest city in the US with a population of almost 3 million.

Other things Chicago is known for includes jazz and blues music and 1920s gangsters such as Al Capone.

We can’t forget Chicago the style of food, deep dish pizza, the Italian beef and the Chicago hotdog.

Of course you have the famous Chicago Bulls basketball team that dominated the NBA in the 1990s winning six championships which included two separate three peats featuring Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

The Bean

The Bean is a work created by British artist Anish Kapoor.

The 110 ton sculpture, which is in Millennium Park is made from polished stainless steel plates reflects Chicago’s skyline and the clouds above.

You can see your reflection and the illusions you see give off different shapes and sizes of your head and body.

Speaking of Millennium Park, it’s an award winning place for arts, architecture and landscape and it is one of the most well known outdoor music venues in the US.

The Cloud Bar

The cloud bar is Chicago’s highest sky bar on the 94th floor of the 360 Chicago building. You can enjoy craft cocktails and panoramic views of the city.

You can purchase a dual ticket and go on the tilt. The Tilt is a ride where you hang on to some handlebars, lean forward and the glass tilt moves you forward 1000ft above the city.

It lasts for less than a minute and frankly it isn’t worth the money, and for a thrill junkie there wasn’t much of a thrill.

You can just purchase a standard ticket for the bar. You can stay in there for as long as you like and enjoy the views of Chicago.

I hung out with a lady I met at The Bean, Karen (not her real name). She was from the UK and lived in the US and was travelling in Chicago.

It was all cordial and then she hits me with a “What do you think about what’s happened in the last few years?”.

I was confused and had no idea how to take that question. She said she was referring to the pandemic and how the whole thing was a hoax.

I mean in what world is this an interesting topic to bring up in a cocktail bar? Don’t get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and everyone of us went through different experiences good and bad during the pandemic.

This isn’t a thing where we’re taking sides on the pandemic or vaccinations, we’ve all had enough of talking about it. She went on and on about it, and I just let the words go through one ear and out the other while I drank my cocktails.

I’ve met many people on my travels, plenty of friendships have been made with people from around the world. Sometimes you’ll meet people that you won’t gel with. The important thing is to keep it civilised.

River Cruise

A good way to see Chicago is to hop on Chicago’s First Lady, and cruise through the skyline on the architecture tour.

It’s a good way to cover a city the size of Chicago and learn the history of the architecture. Chicago is known for its bold architecture and has a skyline which is home to many skyscrapers.

There’s plenty of tours and several companies you can do them with so you won’t need to worry about booking a slot beforehand if you’re someone who likes to do things on a spur of the moment. The cruise lasts for 90 minutes.

Just don’t do what I did and turn up with shorts, t-shirt and a hoodie. There’s a reason it’s known as the windy city so make sure you bring extra layers even in the month of September.

Sky Deck

The Sky Deck is on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower.

The Willis Tower was once called the Sears Tower. It’s still commonly referred as the Sears Tower despite the name change 15 years ago.

It used to be the tallest building in the world and has graced the Chicago skyline for over 50 years.

You can buy a 3 in 1 ticket which gives you access to the museum which showcases the story of Chicago through exhibits, storytelling and areas providing photo opportunities.

After the museum you head to the top of the Willis Tower where you can see views up to 50 miles, and on a clear day you can see into 4 states.

And then you have the ledge, compromising of glass floored balconies which extend four feet outside of the Willis Tower. 1.5” of glass separating you and 103 floors below the ledge, all for those Instagram photo opportunities with the view of the city in the background.

Food

Never have I known a city have the amount of food associated with it than Chicago.

Lets start with the obvious one, the deep dish pizza. This one divides opinion. It was the first thing I sought out when I arrived to Chicago.

I get why people would love it but it wasn’t for me. Everything felt like an overload. Not to say I wouldn’t have one again but I wouldn’t rush for it. I’ll stick with New York, Roman and Neapolitan style pizza.

One I learnt about after arriving is the Italian beef. This is thin slices of roast beef with hot and sweet peppers in a French roll. It can also include provolone cheese though this isn’t traditional.

Now here’s the important part of the Italian beef, you dip it in the juices from the meat. Technically the dip is an option but I was advised by a couple of locals who were waiting in line with me to have it dipped before eating in. I was actually told to get it double dipped, so fuck it why not? It’s not like I’ll be eating it everyday.

This one I enjoyed, but get lots of napkins and wet wipes because your hands and mouth are going to be full of the juices from the dip.

Lastly we have the Chicago hot dog or the Chicago dog. A Chicago dog is an all beef frankfurter in a poppy seed bun topped with mustard, a greeny sweet pickle relish, white onions. Tomato, dill pickle spear, pickled sport peppers and celery salt.

I liked it despite anything pickle related being in there. Next time I’d remove the pickle spear and alternative sauces that don’t include pickles but either way, it’s good to try something new and be open minded with food.

Chicago has plenty to keep you interested and more to come back for.

I was gutted to miss out on some live jazz music but there’s always another time. At the time I went, going to a bar to see live music was only available once a week on a Sunday.

I had the opportunity to see some live music as it fell on the day I arrived, but by the time I knew it was too late.

I assumed live music would be shown throughout the week instead of once a week, and I didn’t know the situation with how the pandemic affected it the industry in Chicago.

I believe live music venues, bars etc were looking at getting things back to normality pre pandemic so here’s to hoping the live jazz and blues music scene in Chicago gets back to how it was before.

Chicago style food will always split opinion. Well pizza more than anything else, but regardless of what my personal opinion is on it, it’s worth trying and finding out for yourself.

I guess you can say the same about anything be it trying food, drink, visiting tourist attractions or exploring another city or country.