Gone with the Wind of Chicago City

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Spring is here! Don’t you just feel like hopping and singing with the birds and the beautiful flowers?.................................

Okay Firuz, stop your theatrical imagination already. ;p Our university’s spring break was in early March but my friend had planned this trip since January! She told me about the plan so early so that I would not give her any excuse anymore. Hihi. And actually I was glad that she ‘booked’ me since I had a wonderful spring break with my friends.

We had all planned beforehand including the transportation, accommodation, entrance tickets, and tour bus. Of course, as students, we practiced budget trip and my friend managed to grab awesome deals. When the day came, we took Megabus from Saint Louis to Chicago.

Oh no, staying true to its name: Windy City, Chicago was really windy and cold! There was no snow but we had to wrap ourselves with thick jackets, gloves and even snow caps. Our cheap budget hotel was situated at downtown Chicago but the room was so huge and comfortable. We, three girls had sound sleep every night.

We bought tickets for the best double decker tour bus in Chicago. To capture the best views, we chose to sit on the second floor but yeah…it was totally freezing! Who cares right? As long as you could get the best pictures and videos ;p

Chicago is definitely an iconic city. The buildings and monuments are sophisticated and amazing. It was like visiting a huge architectural museum.

Apparently, Chicago held Saint Patrick’s Day Parade on that Saturday. I didn’t know much about it but after a little research, it seems that it is a special day for Irish people in commemoration of Saint Patrick. But generally, the day is known for being drunk and wearing green ;p

Can you believe that they actually dyed the river green with food coloring just to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day? It was so cool to see a green river!

We watched the parade and learned many new things about Irish people. I just kept wondering how the girls and guys could stand the coldness just by wearing skirts?

On the next day, my friends planned to visit the pier but I really wanted to go to the sky deck of Willis Tower. Therefore, we went our separate ways and I walked all the way to Willis Tower alone by reading the instructions from the Google Map. I found it! (Proud of myself hihi)

Every tower has its own typical viewing deck but Willis Tour is different. There was a glass level on the 103^rd floor and believe me, it was sooo scary! When you step on the glass, you would feel as if you were flying. I was so scared but I tried to act cool and finally I got a very nice shot on the glass floor! Yippee!

Who doesn’t love chocolate? I and my friends met each other again at Hershey’s Chicago Store. The various delicious chocolates displayed in the store really tempted me. Just the sight of the chocolates made me craving for more. I was so happy to get the chance drinking Hershey’s hot chocolate in the cold windy day of Chicago. The chocolate was so creamy and…no words could describe it. I felt ‘deliciously’ warm after having that hot chocolate.

On the final day in Chicago, we planned to have educational experience by visiting the museums. Lucky us, the Field Museum was having its free entrance day, so we saved almost 25 bucks! The museum was like any other museums, (different from the cool City Museum that I visited before) with exhibitions of animals and monuments. I had the chance to see Sue, the most completed and well preserved t-rex fossil in the world.

The final destination was the Art Institute of Chicago. For those who love art, this place would be a perfect place to indulge your passion. I enjoyed the miniature exhibition the most. The small rooms were made with neat and detailed hand work process. I felt as if I was watching marvelous doll houses and how I wish I could shrunk for a while so that I could visit all the rooms myself.

Now enough with the reading, here I present you the audio and visual experience of my trip. Enjoy!

Excitement: 7/10 (I think if it was in summer, I would have given a 10 ;p)

Access to praying location: 5/10 (For zuhur and asar prayers, we prayed at corners in other buildings. No specific mosques nearby the attractions but you can still find mosques at other places)

Access to halal food: 8/10 (We were lucky enough because there was a halal restaurant just around the corner of our hotel. By the way, Chicago has way more halal restaurants compared to my place in Saint Louis)

Budget: About 250 USD including 3 nights stay in the hotel, transportation, tickets for transportation, building entrance, and food. Good deal right?