What's the word, hummingbird?: #4 Chicago two of my faves True Crime & Pizza

Went another hour back in time and so instead of 6 hours behind home, it was now 7 (and more to come!)

The planes get smaller each time. Only a 2x2 and 20 rows. Weird use of letters though A-C and D-F, I understand not using E but why not B then instead of A 🤷🏽‍♀️. Anyways, flight was delayed for about 30minutes but we caught up some of that during flight. It was only about an hour and a half flight in the end. Got to the airport and I was ready to go through customs. I received an email a few days ago to download an app and fill in my arrival card to go trough a fastlane but I couldn't be bothered. Didn't know how busy it would get but decided to wing it. And so, I got off the plane, followed the Exit signs and found myself in baggage claim within 5minutes or so. No customs, no security, I guess it doesn't matter from Canada haha. And I remembered I did go to US departures (so maybe they did the check there already, no questions asked though). But alright, made my way to the Blue line train to get to my hostel. And yes, I checked this morning what I booked, private room with shared bathroom and no breakfast so back to my intermittent fasting :-)!

Left Toronto in rain, arrived in Chicago with sun. I heard that it was raining 'cats and dogs' here the day before so I really was lucky. I usually am when it comes to the weather. Knock on wood, fingers crossed because there is a lot of rain predicted here and in the next cities on my list.

Arrived at the Blue Line, every route has a color and so you have Red Line, Pink Line, Blue Line, etc. and so they call it the 'L' train. I couldn't tap in with my creditcard and so I had to buy a ticket and saw that they had a 3day pass which was also good for buses and so I decided to buy that.

Got off the train next to a highway but omg I smelt pizza! Whaaaat, where?! I also noticed that under the stations name, it said Greektown. I made mental note to check that out later. Passed a pizza place but it looked closed, and I didn't smell anything in front of it but who knows. And I then saw a bunch of blue flowerpots filled with plants and other statues and I thought to myself "what a cute street" and -ding ding ding- 1+1 is 2, this is Greektown haha. The hostel is right in the middle of it. I had no idea, don't recall reading about that in the reviews! But fun! Went to the room, shared showers and toilets are right next to my room so close. And so it is back to "basics", but that's fine because I do have my own room! My room is on the top floor however, which is the 3rd floor and so it's like I'm home again, but with way more steps haha over 60 (almost double). There's no elevator. But again, that's fine because I'll need to work off the pizzas that I will have here haha! Went to the room for a bit and booked a Gangsters&Ghost tour for that night. Excited!!!

On the Blue Line

The pizza place I passed

The flowerpots, statues and also garbage cans that read 'Welcome to greek town'. There were also flags on the lampposts with greek town.

My private room :-)

Shared bathrooms with a toilet in the sun hihi

The 60+ steps

Booked!

Chatted with my friend that took care of my plants back home before heading out. Plants were still alive, thaaaanks! Went out for food on my way to the walking tour! Found this place to try my first Chicago pan pizza.

First Chicago pan pizza, holy crap. I didn't finish it completely but I did almost! Food that can kill you 😅🙈

There was another "welcome party" down here as well haha live music festival or something! Walked around the city for a bit on my way to the tour. I noticed a 'Cindy's' on the map so I wanted to take a picture of it for Cindy but once there, I didn't see it 🤦🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️. I looked it up online the next day and it was a rooftop bar which is why I didn't see it.

The end of Route 66

Saw a bit of the city and then headed to the meeting point for the tour! The tour was fun..lots of dark history (which is what the tour guide said the tour should have been called) and gangster stories!

Not sure you can make it out on this picture, but the tour guide's wearing a hat that says 'pizza slut' haha. I was the 2nd person that said I like your hat and so he covered it with sunglasses after that so I couldn't take a better picture of it.

Chicago theater and Nederlander theater.

From Google: The Nederlander Theatre in Chicago was renamed in February 2019 to honor the legendary Broadway producer and theater owner James M. Nederlander. He was the founder of Broadway In Chicago and championed the city's downtown theater district for over six decades.

June is Pride month and so rainbow colors :-)

I had nothing planned today and so I Googled on what else there was to do or see. I found an article that talked about all the different neigborhoods Chicago was surrounded with and picked two to visit. Pilsen and (of course) Chinatown. For Pilsen I read about murals, chill vibes, Mexican community and the Mexican Art Museum and for Chinatown, well that goes without saying.

Morning walk to Pilsen, first day back fasting as well but it wasn't a big deal. I usually get more energy when I don't eat. It was a nice walk which took me through the University grounds for the first part. And I then quickly knew I was close when I saw the first mural and then another, another and a lot more! Walked around for a bit and continued a few blocks further to find an area full of Mexican murals and restaurants. It was a bit before noon and so not a lot was open yet. And because I was in a Mexican area and it was tuesday, why not have Taco's (Taco Tuesday). I found a cute place with authentic Mexican food and decided on a Mexican breakfast dish with tortillas instead (Tortilla Tuesday). I then made my way to the Mexican Art Museum which was also nice!

Trying to be artsy :-)

Mexican Art Museum

Haha random school girl passing by that said she loved my dress 😅🙈

Next stop, Chinatown. I walked for a bit but it was another 45 minutes and I decided to catch the bus. I had a public transport card for 3days so I might as well. Little did I know I had to wait for a good 15minutes. But I danced my life away at the busstop haha.

Chinatown was fun, walked in to a few shops and also went to a supermarket where I found one of my favorite drinks! I decided to go back after that and walked to the train to get back. I did get off a stop earlier so I had a bit of a longer walk back :-).

10+ km - breaktime in the room!

Chilled in the room for a bit and headed out again for dinner. Now, fyi it was a 2km walk downtown and I did that at least twice a day, sometimes more. I wanted to get pizza but by the slice and so I googled for that and found a place! I had a slice of pan pizza and a thin crusted one as well. I also ordered a salad. Nom nom good pizza! But also enough, no more pizza for me after this (in Chicago). I walked around the city for a bit after that and found a Target and so I figured I would get water there because it was cheaper. They didn't sell small bottles and so I ended up with a gallon one. I carried that back to the hostel in hand, on my hip and on my shoulder 🤭.

Final day in Chicago! Went to the Garfield Park Observatory, the picture will tell you the rest. After my walk through here, I Googled places to get another Chicago's favorite, the Chicago dog and decided on a place to get one.

There was a lot of rain predicted today and so I brought my umbrella with me! My mom always said "being prepares is half the work". But I didn't need it (yet). It started raining when I got to the platform, but it stopped when I got off 45min later. I walked to the restaurant and there was a flyer on the door that said they were filming today for Zoom and that you would be on it if you walked inside. Turned out they also paid for all the food ordered until 2pm haha lucky me! I did however found that out later and so when I went to get a shake áfter I ate, I had to pay for the shake (hard to not remember me in a red dress haha). And that was fine by me haha. Still had a free lunch! Walked back to the hostel while I finished the shake on the way. I was so full. Couldn't imagine I would eat again today haha. It started raining a little when I walked back. Usually people back home are jealous of the warm weather when I'm away. But with the heathwave at home, they probably were jealous of the rain as well!

Not sure about this look out point 🤷🏽‍♀️

My favorite, the fern house 🤩

I'm prepared!

Free lunch, Chicago dog

You can't have rainbows without a little rain. And another compliment received haha. Girl that drove across the street from me and yelled from her window that she loved my dress haha.

Chilled in the room for a bit and it was pouring outside. I had a river cruise later that day and so I wasn't looking forward to rain on deck. But another lucky day, it stopped when I went out the door and the sun broke through the clouds just as I got to the docks. And it didn't start raining again until I was almost back at the hostel again. It didn't stop after that until after I went to sleep. So thank you weathergods! The architecture river cruise was fine, but I mostly enjoyed the sun haha.