Wow! Chicago was certainly a shock to the system in terms of temperature! It was absolutely freezing. We started the week with a respectable 10 degrees before dropping to -6 by the end! Topped with the wind factor it felt even colder so we purchased two big winter coats in the sale (we looked like Mitchelen men but needs must!)
Chicago is a real ‘foodie’ city, when we asked the locals about the best things to do, the food came first. There really is everything on offer from food trucks to posh nosh. As a result we made sure we tried out a good selection (!) which included Lou Mitchels famous breakfasts, Lou Malnati’s for the best deep dish pizza in town, Indian House for a curry fix and Ghirardeli’s chocolate cafe for a huge desert!
We also made sure we tried out some of the recommendations we had for cocktails. So first off we took the lift up to the 96th floor of the John Hancock building where we enjoyed the impressive city views. Next up was Match Box a tiny old school bar followed by Three Dots and a Dash (secret entrance that Google told us about!), oh and a fancy hotel bar at The Peninsular.
After visiting Alcatraz in San Fran we wanted to stop by Al Copones Valentine’s Day Massacre site (his men dressed up as police to kill 7 people in an opposing gang) but the building has now been removed, so in all honesty it was an empty space and not worth the taxi ride.
Once in our warm coats we did take a potter around Millennium Park where there is lots of outdoor art including the famous Bean (giant looking coffee bean that reflects the skyline) and glass boxes with local people’s faces projected onto it. On the arty front, Lonely Planet informed us that the number one thing to do was the Art Institute of Chicargo, so we paid an expensive visit ($25pp) and strolled around the vast museum. If your seriously into art it’s worth it, but if not (like us uncultured people) then save your pennies.
Lincoln Park was also within walking distance and whilst it too looked a little sparse with lots of bare trees due to the time of year it did have a free zoo. The rehabilitation of chimps and gorillas made our day!
We stopped by the Federal Reserve Bank which was down the road from our hotel (Allegro – a 1920s styled boutique) as they have a free Money Museum. The museum is only small and we joined a guided talk which believe it or not was really interesting! The Federal Reserve bank is the central bank of the US (bank of banks) and is responsible for price stability and long term economic growth (like the Bank of England except in the US there are 12 of these reserve banks across the country).
A few facts we learnt include;
- $100m gets delivered to the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago each day and on average $35m gets destroyed due to the poor quality of the notes
- The Federal Reserve building we were in stores between $6-8 billion on any given day
- Dollar bills are made from cotton and linen and once the old dodgy ones are destroyed it gets composted (for visiting we got a free bag of shredded notes worth $364!)
- 1/2 to 2/3 of all American Dollars is estimated to be used overseas, meaning the demand for cash is relatively flat
- A new $100 bill lasts on average 15 years, $50 9 years, $1 22 months
On a lighter note, we went to a comedy show called The Second City’s Fast, Loud & Funny. We were not sure what to expect (only that we hoped we would not get picked on), but it was really good and full of lots of short sketches including some hilarious improvisation. It was very reasonably priced and well worth it.
Chicago is a cool skyscraper filled city and definitely worth a visit but we believe you can do it in 3 days. Depending on whether you like the cold or not maybe the summer would be better time of year to go.
The Snow Adventures 