Walk & Shop Chicago

Today we did a TON of walking. We walked around North Pond, along Lake Michigan and all around and through the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was great to walk in the shade with nature all around but then look up to see an amazing city scape - that reminded me of Central Park in NYC.

We ate a fantastic breakfast at Toast, and then did some major fancy shopping along Magnificent Mile, which is a mile long of shopping - everything from The Gap to Neiman-Marcus to Saks 5th Avenue to Coach to really anything you can think of. It also has some great architecture including the city's Water Works, which strangely looks like an old castle.

Then we had a great dinner at Tizi Melloul which is Moroccan. We have eaten so much good food this week it has been insane! I heart Chicago!

New restaurant on the Top 5 for me

North Pond is a fantastic restaurant! The decor is art-deco/Frank Lloyd-Wright. The service was perfect. The view was great, as it opened up to the pond in the park. The food was one of the best meals I've ever had. The menu changes frequently as they use local farm produce. This description serves the taste no justice, but just to record it, here's what I ate:

• Beet salad with horseradish sauce
• Duck with peaches and risotto
• Blackberry topped chocolate cake with cheese on the side and port to match
  

Chicago Neighborhoods

We did so much walking today! We ate some great food, then did some excellent shopping, and walked through a few different neighborhoods of Chicago:

• Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba usually serves tapas but also weekend brunch. We had a sort of eggs Benedict but it was on cornbread; very tasty.
• Shopping in Lincoln Park near DePaul University is great! Favorite store was Francesca's Collections.
• We walked through Lake View, Lincoln Park, North Side and Old Town. See more on neighborhoods.
  

Chicago Culture

First of all, everyone is Chicago is somehow the most stylish, hip and beautiful people ever. How did they all get in this city?

Good Eats:

• Sushi Samba - fantastic grilled peppers as an appetizer; excellent mojitos with crushed fruit in the bottom; I had blackberry.
  
• Chicago Cupcakes - favorites are the traditional and tres leches
  
• Ann Sathers - great breakfast but the best part is the fruit salad b/c it's not just the normal fruit that most places serve
• Excellent Mexican but I can't recall the name of it.

Crazy Things:
We went to see "Jerry Springer Show: The Opera" which received rave reviews when it began in London. It was absolutely bizarre. Jerry goes to Hell and has to get Jesus and Satan to compromise on a special edition of the show. It was insane. I don't exactly recommend seeing it but it was a fun night.

Great Sights:
Millennium Park is beautiful; there are statues, flowers, family fun shows, and a fantastic outdoor theater. We also walked up Grant Park, past the enormous Buckingham Fountain (yes the one in Married with Children) and took a water taxi back to the Navy Pier. The water taxi was a surprisingly wet ride but the Ferris Wheel view at Navy Pier was worth it.

Chicagoland

I HEART CHICAGO!

Chicago is amazing. I am visiting friends who live here for the summer and I am convinced that I should move here too. Their condo is amazing - looking out of their windows you can see the cityscape (which is extremely tall with the Hancock building, the Sears tower and more), the park that stretches for miles, Lake Michigan, the beach on the lake, and the Navy Pier with the ferris wheel! It's such a great view.