Day 2 in Chicago – We are never going to leave!

The weather was absolutely perfect. I mean really really perfect. Blue skys, no clouds, amazing. We got our start around 10 when we hopped on the Red Line going north, got off at Chicago station and walked our way to the John Hancock building. It could not have been a better day to be up there looking out over the city. We could see as far as Gary Indiana and the vistas were spectacular. From there we walked the Magnificent Mile and ducked in and out of the shops, I picked up a pair of shoes and Rebecca picked up some clothes from H&M.

But that wasn’t the mission for the day, if you recall from yesterday, the goal today was Pizza and we hit the mother load. Gino’s East was recommended to us by a friend and it was absolutely delicious. Exactly what we were looking for – a true slice of Chicago pie. The line was just long enough to know you had come to the right place but not too long as to annoy you. Once we got in we noticed that just about every flat surface in the place was covered by the graffiti the thousands who had come here before, pretty cool. We ordered a Gino’s Sausage Supreme. Our waiter warned us in advance that they cook everything from scratch and that it would take about 45 min for the pizza to arrive but it was worth it. If you find yourself in Chicago, looking for Pizza, I highly recommend you head over to Gino’s on 162 E Superior St.

We spent more time walking the mile and shopping, we hit up the Apple store for fun and then headed to the original Marshall Fields store to explore. Most department stores in the US are well, department stores. Boring, formulaic and just what you are expecting. The original Marshall Fields store however has character, in some ways parts of it reminded me of Harrods in London if you can believe that, and that’s a serious complement for any store in America. Despite wandering around for some time, we ended up not buying anything except a box of chocolates which I’m enjoying right now

We took the red line back home, dropped off our booty for the day and then headed immediately off to meet up with Rebecca’s cousins (whom we are staying with) and enjoy a concert at Millennium Park. Completed in 2004 it transformed a part of the city once dominated by a railroad switching yard into 25 acres of parkland. Center to the park is a huge outdoor pavilion designed by Frank Gehry which is where we enjoyed our dinner and watched the concert.

Also in the park is “the bean” or Cloud Gate sculpture created by Anish Kapoor which is this gigantic stainless steel “bean” that has been polished to be super reflective. It wraps a warped reflection of the skyline around it’s curves and really catches your eye. You can walk underneath it where you feel like you are entering into a fun house mirror of the most extreme kind. I heard this thing cost a ridiculous amount of money, I think it was worth every penny.

The concert came to an end, we wandered back home and now as we get ready to turn in I can’t help but feel like in the past 2 short days I’ve really gotten to know this city. I’m adding it to my short list of places I’d consider living next.