Millennium Park and Michigan Avenue

I got up quite early the next morning, I think because my clock is still out of whack. The previous day, Sameer and I had spent a lot of time just looking out the window because we were just so taken in by the view of the buildings, the snow, and the cars coming and going below us. When I got up, I went to the window and looked out to see everything covered in snow. It was still snowing at that time and I noticed that there were only two lanes in the streets open for traffic.

Sameer got up shortly afterwards and we got showered and had breakfast. Before we left, we looked out again and by this time the clouds had gone, the sun was out, and someone must have been out with snow shovels and machines to move the snow from the streets because all the lanes were now clear, and parking lots and pavements were also snow free.

We took a walk up our street, Madison Street, all the way through to Millenium Park. Along the way we passed a number of Starbucks, a couple of Dunkin Donuts and a Garrett's Popcorn. We stopped to have Dunkin Donuts (the were okay) and I got a bag of caramel corn at one of Oprah's favourite Chicago traditions, Garrett's Popcorn. Near the end of the street we also came across a comic book store, which of course we had to go into.

Then on to the amazing Millennium Park. We wondered around all starry eyed and snapped away along with the other tourists. We were really entranced by the Cloud Gate Sculpture, which is more commonly known as The Bean. Can you tell why?

After that we walked through Grant Park which is across the highway, along the lake. It was a very plain park, no major centrepieces or flowers, probably because it was winter and totally snow. But with the benches facing the lake and the tall towers of the city as a backdrop, it was beautiful.

While we were there, we spotted a small group of people on a private tour. The strange thing about them was that they were all on these machines which I was raving about six months ago and for some reason now can't remember what they're called. :P Can anyone jog my memory? Anyway, after reading all about them on Slate and Wikipedia, it was really cool seeing them in real life and seeing how they move and turn. Cool. :)

Then made our way to Michigan Avenue, also known as the Magnificent Mile. It's a long street lined with posh shops. We couldn't really afford anything but we had a good time wandering through Macy's, Bloomingdales, the Apple Store (ohmigod), Levis and so on and so on. We did actually buy something in Borders (been in one, been in them all) where I picked up a copy of Wizard's First Rule to keep me occupied. Though I gotto say, pricewise we were both still missing the second hand bookshop in the market at Cambridge. Here's a picture of the city from Michigan Avenue.

We stopped for lunch at Pizzeria Uno, a famous pizza place which is listed in all the tour books. Predictably, it was packed and there was a 20 minute wait for a table and an hour long wait for the deep dish pizza. The pizza was divine though and Sameer has come away with a new idea - cheese underneath, chunky tomato sauce on top. Just to make you luss, a picture of the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. This is an individual sized pizza. We were going to order a medium but the lady who took our order took one look at us and said "I think it would be better if you ordered an individual." It was more than enough. We were stuffed after one slice and took the rest home for dinner.