Chicagooooo

      It has been a week since I went but I have just been so busy with work that I forgot to blog about my trip to Chicago! I planned my trip to Chicago because one of my best friends Lauren is living there for her summer internship and I had never been to the city. My only real experience with big cities is NYC so I compared much of my visit to it.

Ohio Beach

     
      Going to Chicago was one of my first trips really traveling by myself--in all other trips I either go with a friend or my family, and even though Lauren lives there, she had to work during the day on Friday so I was left to my own devices.  Surprise surprise, I liked being alone! When you go around to tourist attractions and museums, its nice not to have someone following you or nagging you about stuff. And being the planning neat-freak that I am, I made a list of all the places I wanted to visit and foods I wanted to try. And I printed it off and crossed stuff of as I did it. Obviously.

Crown Fountain

      Some of the highlights of my trip: Millennium Park, Skydeck (the top of was what perviously the Sears Tower and now the Willis Tower), The Art Institute of Chicago, Navy Pier, and just hanging out on the "beach."  Yes these are all touristy things but they were great. For a couple of hours one afternoon I just sat in Millennium park by the Crown Fountain and watched the kids splashing in the water. I just lost myself in their happiness and lack of care about anything!  I also tried some Chicago deep dish pizza, but must admit that New York has got them beat on that front.

      Speaking about the city in general, I loved it. The people were friendly and the city was clean and easy to navigate. The only negative was that the public transportation was nowhere near as proficient or all-encompassing as NYC's. And I doubt I would enjoy their winter's. But I would definitely say that I would go back!

Hat Rack by Marcel Duchamp--I wrote about this piece in part of my Senior Thesis and got to see it in person at the Art Institute! 

Weekend with Allie

     This past weekend my sister Allison came to visit. And since she hasn't been to NYC nearly as much as I have, there were lots of touristy things she wanted to do; not that I am complaining, I love visiting iconic New York landmarks and taking pictures. Friday, she came into the city al on her own, and easily navigated her way to H&M and Forever 21. When I got an e-mail from Mom later that day asking if I had heard from Allie, I freaked out a little because to be honest, I hadn't heard from her for a couple of hours...but not to worry, she was alive and shopping her way through Manhattan. After work, I met up with her on 5th ave and we made our way down to Little Italy for some tasty Italian food. I chose Vincent's since it is the oldest restaurant left in Little Italy (all 4 blocks of it), and to be honest, I was quite disappointed in the quality of food. I guess just because it has been there for over 100 years doesn't mean its still good... Well, our dinner may not have been outstanding, but our desserts at Ferrara were superb. See my Facebook album to admire the deliciousness. After stuffing our faces with chocolate, we went to the Empire State Building and watched the sunset from both the 86th and 102nd floors. If you happen to go, I would advise not spending the extra money to go all the way up, it wasn't really that much of a difference.

  Saturday we woke up early, an by early, we took the 6:50 train into the city to catch the 8:30 ferry out to Liberty Island. It was amazing to see the statue so close up--the air was nice and cool and there was a mysterious mist on the water. After walking around the statue, we took the ferry over to Ellis Island and explored the museum there.  They have done a great job there with artifacts and and displaying facts. Allie and I tried to look up our ancestors but could only find one on our mothers side--its hard when so many people back there changed their names upon arrival.
  After our morning of island hopping, we made our way to Broadway to have lunch with our Aunt Margaret and watch the Lion King. The last time I saw the movie, was probably when I was 10, and so I did not remember the plot line entirely. It was exciting to watch the show in a new view, especially since I could not remember all the details. That was until, I was standing in line for the bathroom at intermission, and the little girl with her grandmother, explained the whole end of the story to her g-ma: thanks a lot little girl. The show ended up being breath taking and I hope to watch another soon.

  Sunday, for fathers day, we took grandpa with us out to Rockaway to visit our cousins. It was beautiful beach weather and a good end to the weekend. I turned a nice shade of reddish-brown and enjoyed a chocolate mousse cake made by my aunt (the pastry chef). After an hour of cursing and struggling with my iPhone, Allie and I were able to locate Laguardia and drop her off to fly home. All in all, a quality weekend. And I knocked off 4 things from my NYC bucket list!