Hey, guys!
I am finally back with another blog post, and this time I am talking all about my amazing trip to the Windy City. On my fall reading week, three of my new friends from medical school and I decided to plan a girls’ trip to Chicago and it was the best decision we could have made!
DAY 1
We decided to take an early flight from Toronto so that we could spend the full first day doing touristy activities, and start our trip off strong. From the Chicago airport, we went immediately to our hotel to drop off our bags and settle in. After organizing ourselves, we set out to explore the city.
My first impression of Chicago was that it was so beautiful. I could not stop admiring all of the unique architecture, cute boutique shops and, of course, the Chicago River.
After taking some pictures at the river, we went to the Nutella cafe! I mean, how can you just walk past a Nutella cafe? Am I right? The cafe was so cute on the inside and had a modern vibe to it. Not only was the decor unique, but the food was amazing. We tried most of the Nutella items on the menu including the crepes, Nutella baguette, and pancakes. They were all delicious!
After this delicious stop, we headed straight over to Millennium Park to see Cloud Gate! It was such a beautiful sight. There were so many people trying to capture the perfect picture, including us! The only unfortunate thing about the bean was that it was so hard to get a picture without tons of people in the background, but other than that the park was amazing. We walked around some more and saw the other cool art pieces displayed in the park. It was such a great experience. There was a beautiful contrast of buildings, greenery, and art pieces. Millennium Park was definitely one of my favourite parts of the trip.
After Millennium park, we made our way to the Navy Pier to go on one of the architecture boat tours. We explored the pier for a bit before the boat tour and got to admire the beautiful view. We also decided that we were going to eat dinner at the pier and try the famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza from Giordano’s restaurant. As the evening approached, we went on our boat tour right before sunset to experience the architecture both in the daylight and in the night’s sky. Besides how cold it was, the tour and views were beautiful. There were so many different styles of architecture to appreciate, as well as a display of lights as it became darker. It was an incredible experience.
DAY 2
Our next day in Chicago was just as full of activities as our first day. In the morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel then headed straight to Willis Tower to check out the SkyDeck. We left early so that we were the first people in line for the SkyDeck. We skipped through the museum part of the attraction and went directly to the deck on the 103rd floor. This way, we would have a lot of time to take pictures and appreciate the view before it got too hectic. I would definitely recommend going early and skipping the museum to anyone who wants to take advantage of the beautiful backdrop the SkyDeck provides to its visitors!
After we finished at Willis Tower, we decided to check out the Riverwalk! In between, we also checked out some cute cafes and grabbed a coffee. It was so cold outside that we continuously had to be bundled up, but we couldn’t resist staying outside to explore the Windy City.
After our delicious dinner, we decided to try a small donut shop for dessert, called Glazed and Infused. This donut shop was so cute and had specialty donuts for sale. There were pumpkin spiced and red velvet flavours that were decorated for Halloween. I opted for the red velvet “eyeball” donut. It was adorable and tasted great!
DAY 3
Exhausted from the first two days, we slept in on the morning of our third and final day in Chicago. We decided to have a relaxed, laid-back day so that we weren’t too drained when returning home. For brunch, we went to this cute little restaurant called Yolk. There was so much variety on the menu and the portions were huge! Since I am so obsessed with red velvet, I ordered the mini version of the red velvet French toast. It was divine. I wish I could re-eat that dish. So delicious…
After breakfast, we headed over to the 3 Arts Club Cafe. We specifically planned to go to this cafe because of the beautifully designed interior. There are no words to describe how amazing and beautiful this place was. Just scroll down to see it for yourself.
The rest of the day just we relaxed at different coffee shops, packed up all of our stuff, then went for dinner at the Purple Pig. The restaurant had small sharable dishes, so we ordered tons of items off of the menu to try. I loved the grilled octopus and my friends ordered the beef bone marrow and the slow cooked pork shoulder. Everything was beyond delicious.
DAY 4
The last day of our trip consisted of us ubering to the airport and returning home to Toronto. We all had such an amazing time and really enjoyed everything Chicago had to offer.
I was more than impressed by the beautiful Windy City. We checked off all our items off of the Chicago to-do list and got to experience the beauty everyone raved about. I would definitely recommend visiting this city to see the architecture, river, unique cafes, and tourist attractions. It was amazing!
If you have any questions about my trip or Chicago in general, comment below! I would love to hear from you!
XOXO,
The Girly MD (to be)