Chicago is known for skyscrapers left and right of the Chicago river, the worldwide best blues music (e.g., Magic Sam, J.B. Hutto, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells), deep dish pizza, and 1920s gangsters like Al Capone.
Even today the crime rate is very high. After 12 shootings in the last night, I stopped counting news reports on TV during breakfast. Maybe that’s the reason why Chicago became a film location for Batman Begins and the Last Knight.
I had just one day in Chicago. The highlight was a visit of the Chicago Blues Festival. A lot of blues bands were playing on several stages in the Millennium Park. A few guitarists changed between stages and were playing in different bands. The mood was unbelievable and I was very sad having just one day in that city.
It was hard to leave the Blues Festival but I wanted to see a little more of Chicago. So, I had a walk from the Millennium Park along the River-walk to the Navy Pier. Navy Pier is a 1 km long pier on the shoreline. It encompasses a small leisure park, gardens, shops, restaurants, and several other attractions. A great place to watch people.
Chicago is located directly at Lake Michigan, one of the fife Great Lakes of North America with a surface of 58,016 km². We had beautiful sunny weather but sometimes clouds draw through the city. Visibility became instantly poor and the temperature dropped. But the clouds disappeared as fast as they raised.
Finally, I made my way back from the Navy Pier to Central Station. As I already did several km this day, I decided to take a boat. Driving on the Chicago River in the evening was amazing. The skyscrapers got perfect light in the sunset.
Before I took the train back to my hotel, I had to try one famous Chicago dish: Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza. A resident recommended me a very good restaurant called Giordano’s (223 W Jackson Blvd). It took a while until I got seated at the bar. It was very crowded but I enjoyed it. The pizza was not that big in diameter but I just mastered eating two slides. It tasted great but you cannot imagine of how much cheese such a pizza consists.
Just one day was definitely too short to explore this city. Enjoy the photos and maybe you will also get a chance to visit Sweet Home Chicago.
