Chicago indeed lived up to its reputation as the windy city. As I exited the airport at 2 o’clock in the morning on Aug 4th, 2017, I was hit with a never ending crisp wind that forced me to put on my windbreaker on top of the hoodie that I was already wearing due to the chilly aircraft. Even though the city had its preceding breezy reputation for some reason (maybe because it was August, notoriously the hottest month of summer), I did not expect to be chattering my teeth that night.
After waiting around fifteen minutes in the cold Chicago air, my ride came. No, it wasn’t a chauffeur, it was the hotel shuttle. However, it did feel like a private ride because at 2 am I was the only one arriving to my hotel at that hour.
I stayed at the Renaissance hotel just a few minutes outside of Chicago. My oh my, that was the prettiest hotel I had ever seen. Granted I haven’t been in many hotels besides the little Holiday Inns I found myself shacked up in during competition season, but I knew this was nice.
The hotel lobby was absolutely luxurious along with its amenities: a pool (with a projection screen on which they showed movies), a jacuzzi, a gym, and a sauna.
The city itself was very nice as well. We were only there for a weekend, but we did our fair share of exploring. We used the metro system (which is very easy to figure out, almost juvenile in the way it operates – it goes by colors. Yellow line, pink line, blue line. One train per line, nothing like New York’s metro system). I liked it because it was simple and used a tap card so there was no need for worrying whether or not your metro card had a dent in it. However, a bit expensive: $25 for an unlimited weekend pass.
We also used their version of Citibike – Divvybike. And we rode around the Chi for a few hours during our last night there.
My favorite part of Chicago was visiting Pilsen, Chicago’s Mexican neighborhood. One of the best cultural parts of Chicago, hands down. We chose the perfect day to go, when we got there they had a town festival going on. The food in Pilsen was amazing, I had my first tamale that day and I wasn’t disappointed. We also got to visit the National Museum of Mexican Art, which is now one of my favorite museums.
Of course we did the usual touristy things: Millennium Park to see the bean, the Skydeck Chicago for an amazing view, and Navy Park for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Check out my travel instagram for some dope ass pics of this trip and my others.
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