Top Things That You Shouldn’t Miss On Your Trip to Chicago
Chicago is the most populous city in the state of Illinois and the third in the whole United States. The Windy City is also known for its green surroundings, priding itself with its well-maintained parks that are over 570, including Lincoln Park, the largest park in the city that’s visited by about 20 million visitors every year. Aside from parks, this city has so much to offer. You can expect amazing architecture, great shopping experience, scrumptious foods, beautiful arts and more. If visiting Chicago, here are some of the things that you shouldn’t miss.
Enjoy the Panoramic View of Chicago
The towering buildings in the city are not just high, but they are also known for their fantastic architecture. Three of the tallest buildings in the United States can be found here including the Sears Tower, Aon Center and the Trump Tower. Whether you’re in your hotel room, relaxing in a park, dining in a restaurant or grabbing a cup of coffee, you would admire the amazing view that’s in front of you. The Loop is the center of the city and this is the perfect place where you can start your sight-seeing. You can walk around the area or you may also join a river boat tour that would show you around the Loop. Aside from the buildings, you would also be in awe of the beautiful architecture of the churches. Over two thousand churches can be found in the city such as St. Hyacinth and St. Mary of the Angels.
Try Its Popular Foods
While there are several gourmet restaurants that you can find around Chicago, there are also lots of cheap eats that are equally delicious. The city is popular for its specialties like the deep dish pizza. Instead of the usual pizza that you usually have, it’s thicker and full of ingredients baked in a thick pan. You may also try their Chicago style thin pizza. Aside from their signature pizzas, your trip wouldn’t be complete without sampling the Chicago-style hot dog. The hotdog is made of pure beef and it’s topped with a wide selection of toppings such as dill pickle, tomatoes, peppers, mustard and pickle relish. Don’t put ketchup on your hotdog as locals don’t do that. Plus, you wouldn’t need it anyway since the hotdog is already bursting with flavors. Italian beef sandwiches are also must tries.
Admire Various Arts
If you’re an art lover, you would feel the excitement of being in the city as there are wide arrays of arts to check out. The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the top museums that you should go to. It has a collection of over 300,000 arts and artifacts from different parts of the world and from different periods. If anthropological and biological collections are more of your thing, The Field Museum is your kind of place to go to. The city also has the Arts in the Parks project that brings art, theater and performance available to the public in different parks.
Listen to Great Music
There are many venues in Chicago that you can go to and enjoy a great night full of great drinks, food and music. Metro is one of the best when it comes to live music. Its stage has graced several popular singers including Nirvana, Prince and Bob Dylan. You may also dance and party the night away with electronic music playing at The Mid. Another upbeat club is the Smart Bar.
Shop Until You Drop
From discount stores, malls and luxury boutiques, everything is here in Chicago. This is a haven for shoppers. Green City Market is the place to checkout if looking for the freshest produce. The hottest trend in fashion can be found at the Apparel Center. You should also go to North Bridge and visit the various shops.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image by not specified (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/photos/62619) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
2nd image by L. W. Yang from Los Angeles, California, USA (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
3rd image by Jrissman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
