HOW TO SPEND 48 HOURS IN CHICAGO

Chicago is an amazing city to visit and I'm so grateful I was given this opportunity to jet off for work with a colleague. I had time to get lost in the city, explore and take plenty of photos. To say I only had one weekend and a few evenings I made the most of my time and managed to fit so much in. If you're heading over to Chicago and need some inspiration for your todo list, look no further! I've listed the highlights of my trip including activities and food, all of which can be packed into 48 hours if you plan it right! 

Michigan Park - The Bean

If you go to Chicago you have to visit Michigan Park to see the Bean. We were lucky and had a day with clear blue skies and managed to get some awesome shots of the skyline reflecting in the sculpture. The city looks incredible from the park also and is a lovely little walk. Unfortunately this area is always busy so it's difficult to get any photos without people.

James Hancock Building

Originally we were going to visit the Willis tower (Sears tower to Americans) although our minds were changed as a colleague at the office recommended the James Hancock building. We were told it's an amazing view and wasn't disappointed when we reached the top. There are a few ways you can experience this view. Option one is pay $25 to go up to the top, option two you can go for lunch or drinks at the bar and not pay $25 just to go in a lift. We were going to have lunch although when we arrived they informed us the only option was bunch for $50 per person. I like bunch but not this much, we headed one floor up to the bar and had a few snacks and drinks. We got the best view seated next to the window, the skyline was incredible.

Navy Pier
Out of everything I did I would say that Navy Pier was the highlight of my trip. It's such a beautiful place and for someone who loves photography it was perfect. I don't know what it is about ferris wheels but I think they look great in photos and the fact its on a pier is even better! It was quite chilly and there was still ice along the pier, combined with the clear blue sky and crisp air it was an awesome day.

Bulls Basketball Game

If you go to America and don't see a sports game whether that be basketball, baseball or ice hockey then you're missing out. Due to the time of year we could only see indoor sports. Some of my colleagues in our Chicago office decided to go to a basketball game and George and I were happy to tag along. What an amazing experience to see a real American basketball game! During halftime we were still very entertained with the cheerleaders, dancers and the mascot shooting t-shirts out of a canon. Luckily either the Basketball or Ice Hockey will be on every other night so plenty of chances to catch a game while in town.

Lincoln Park & Zoo

I've been told that Lincoln Park is a great place to visit while in Chicago, although in the Winter months its not as pretty as it would be in the summer. To be honest the park was very grey and gloomy, so I wouldn't say this is a necessary trip to make, especially if you've only got a few days in Chicago. Just off Lincoln Park is the Zoo that is free to enter, there is plenty to cover so leave yourself with a good few hours to look around all the animals. We made a little friend while walking around, a squirrel felt the need to follow us as he thought we had food. You could tell he does this on a regular basis as he was on the chubby side!

It's time to talk about the important things, the truly amazing parts of my trip. All the food ... and Snapple, how could I forget about the Snapple!

Wildberry Pancakes

You can't go to America and not have pancakes! George and I decided to go to Wildberry Pancakes as we had heard good things. I ordered chocolate chip pancakes with a side of strawberries and bacon, it was an unusual combination but it works!

Mindy's Hot Chocolate

Omg, if you're a chocolate lover then you need to go for a hot chocolate at Mindy's. There is a range of about 8 different variants to choose from and a variety of food and snacks. I had the Medium hot chocolate and it was sweet and so creamy, a little sickly after a while even for a chocoholic like me. George had the Chia one and it was just amazing. Food wise, I would definitely recommend anything with Avocado because Avo makes everything better! 

The French markets

We went to the French Markets a few times for lunch during the week when we were working as it was so close to the office. It's quite awesome, there are so many different type of foods from various countries. From Sushi, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese and so many more. It gets very busy because there are lots of options but definitely worth looking at.

Pearl
After work one day we went to Pearl for food, it was so busy. I decided to try and be healthy and had a cob salad with grilled chicken and oh it was so good! One of my colleagues ordered a chicken parminagno which was huge, it came on a sub and also had chips! That was enough food for 3 meals in my opinion! 

Sushi

I don't know about you but I love Sushi. George and I were told about Sunda and it was so good. Everything was cooked to perfection and I wanted to eat more but I was super full. The one thing I would recommend is the Tiger Shrimp Tempura in creamy honey aioli, now they are the best prawns I've ever had.

Lou Malnati's Pizza

You can't go to Chicago and not have a deep dish pizza, we were told that the best place to go is Lou Malnati's. I thought it would be like any pizza you get in the UK but oh was I wrong. The best way to describe it would be its more like a pizza within a pie crust. You either love or hate it!

Sincerely, Kimberly.

xxx

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MY STAY AT THE VIRGIN HOTEL IN CHICAGO

I was given the most amazing opportunity to jet off to Chicago with work and help our office over there. Naturally, I took my company up on this offer and boarded my flight to this incredible city. I was advised I would be staying at the Virgin Hotel and couldn't resist having a cheeky look on the website beforehand and wasn't disappointed on arrival. Wow! The hotel is unbelievable. The reception area was shades of red and gold, it was a great first impression of the hotel.

The staff were so welcoming and checked us in without any issues. I must warn you if you stay at the Virgin and use a debit card to secure your room (incase you have any room service etc) they will ask for $100 a night reserve. This means you cannot spend the money from your account as it suspends it. Fortunately, I explained that I hadn't got that kind of money in my account, they were very understanding and only reserved $300 for my entire stay instead of $1300 (for 2 weeks, although I was only required for 1 week in the end). Since I was only in Chicago for a week I knew I wouldn't be using room service a lot and rarely have snacks from hotel rooms as its normally expensive. When you've got a 7 Eleven on each corner of the street who needs a $5 packet of M&Ms right? Later, I discovered that the prices in the room actually weren't that bad only $1.75 for M&Ms just FYI!

When walking into the room I was amazed, my company booked a suite for me! The room had a living room, bathroom, powder room, a little table and chair and bedroom. I had so much room to myself and I loved it! I can honestly say that I've never stayed in a nicer hotel. The room was very open and had loads of natural light which is always a plus for me. There was a mixture of modern and retro trends, the Smeg fridge and car seat chair added something quirky to the room. There were a lot of controllers and things on the walls which took me a few moments to understand what they were for. One of the highlights of my room is that I had automatic blinds, its such a luxury and I wish I had them at home.

I was on the 15th floor, the view was great from one window in my bedroom although the other was blocked by a huge building, in a city of skyscrapers what can you expect. My colleague who was 2 floors up had a better view but this sometimes comes at a cost as she had to wake up to see the Trump Tower each morning. If you're on a lower floor and are interested in seeing the city from above, head upto the rooftop terrace. This hotel has an amazing one, unfortunately it was very cloudy and foggy while I was there so I didn't get the full impact but I've heard its a wonderful view. While on the rooftop in the evening we did manage to see the protestors after Donald Trumps Inauguration, people were outraged and marching through the streets. Police were blocking roads off and it caused delays throughout the city but was interesting to watch from a distance.

If you're like me and enjoy a good gym session you won't miss out staying here, there is access to a full gym upstairs. Normally, hotel gyms aren't equip with everything you need but the Virgin hotel won't let you down. There is an assortment of machines, free weights and an area to stretch or do yoga. I had such good intensions to get up and start my day with a workout... unfortunately I didn't make it to the gym in the end as my trip was cut short so I spent the majority of my time sightseeing when I wasn't working.

There are plenty of options to dine, during my stay I ordered room service and had breakfast in the restaurant. The food on both occasions came quickly and the staff were so polite and happy to help. Even though I was in Chicago for a week I didn't quite get the hang of ordering correctly, American portion sizes are huge! I ordered eggs Benedict with turkey, this also came with a side of potatoes for breakfast! At least you'll never go hungry while visiting the states.

My stay at the Virgin Hotel was exceptional, I couldn't think of anything to complain about. The staff were so friendly and helpful, would offer advise of places to visit and eat. The hotel was clean and it was a home away from home for my weeks stay. I would definitely recommend it if you're heading to Chicago.

Since I was so busy with working and sightseeing I didn't leave much time to get photos of the room during the daytime. I would leave when its slightly dark and get back at nighttime. I only had a chance to snap a few quick shots before we headed out for a full day of activities. I think the photos still demonstrate how nice the Virgin Hotel is.

Sincerely, Kimberly.

xxx

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EDINBURGH IN 5 DAYS

I left Edinburgh a few days ago after spending 5 days there with friends from overseas. None of us had ever been to Scotland and thought it would be a nice little getaway to catch up and spend some time together since we hadn’t seen each other for over a year! 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this city as I had heard mixed reviews, one piece of advise I would give you is remember your rain coat as you will need it! Most of the days it rained for at least an hour, although this didn’t ruin our trip we just adapted to the cold and wet weather. Other than that it was a great trip.

Fringe Festival

One thing I do have to say is if the Fringe Festival wasn’t on I think we would have been lost of things to do, Edinburgh is only so big afterall. If you are going outside of August I would suggest 3 days is enough to see what the city has to offer. Luckily the Fringe Festival was on so we had plenty to do! For those of you who don’t know the Fringe Festival is on for the entire month of August in Edinburgh and features musicals, comedians, magic acts, cabrets and music acts so there is plenty to choose from. The atmosphere for all these events was amazing! All the acts would perform on the streets to get everyone’s attention so you could "try before you buy" in a way. Another great thing about this festival is a lot of acts are free to watch and you simply pay what you think the show is worth. We saw quite a few acts including Laura London (magician), Abi Roberts (Comedian) and Elf Lyons (Comedian) and a few more. Spring Awakening the musical was the only performance we pre-booked and paid for beforehand, it was well worth it. The cast gave an incredible performance and were extremely talented, if you’re heading to Edinburgh this month I would suggest you put this musical on your list of things to do as you won’t be disappointed! 

Since Fringe was on there was also loads of markets to purchase some lovely little souvenirs for friends and family. There was also outdoor marquees where live music was played and you could get some street food and have a few cheeky drinks.  

Author’s Seat

If you enjoy hiking then Authur’s Seat should be on your todo list while in Edinburgh. Loz and I trekked up there about midday, we did attempt early morning but other things easily distracted us beforehand. This hike would normally take people about 2 hours at most, not for us, we stopped almost every 5 minutes to take photos and sit down now and again so it ended up taking just short of 5 hours for us by the time we returned to the hostel. It's great to take all these photos for memories, although the pictures never do it justice. Half way up we decided to try and do dual Yoga poses which was interesting, Loz is much more advanced in yoga than I plus when you’re upside down it can be difficult to know your left from your right aye! We finally got a few good shots before carrying on up the hill. We reached the top and god was it windy!!!!! Gale force winds I’ll tell you that! I could put almost all my bodyweight onto the wind and it would hold me up, although I didn’t follow this through completely as I would have injured myself knowing my luck when the wind stops blowing. As we’re at the top Loz attempts to do some yoga in this extremely strong wind and I couldn’t help but think please don’t hurt yourself as it’s a long way down and I don’t think I’ve got the strength to carry both of us haha! After she stops giving me a heart attack we head down the hill through these beautiful flowers and a view just as nice. We went through little foot paths which had netals either side so I got stung a lot, this wasn't ideally. After we did some rock climbing to get down as I think we took a path not often taken, we made it to the bottom safely with no known injuries! 

St Giles Cathedral

This is located in the centre of the city, if you enjoy architecture it’s a great monument to explore. 

Holyrood Palace

This is another beautiful building that I would suggest you go and see, I didn't pay to go inside but I've heard its pretty amazing.

Edinburgh Castle

Personally I didn’t go into Edinburgh castle and only went to view the outside, the castle itself is beautiful. Loz and Aroha both paid to go inside and said it was worth it but was smaller than they imagined.

Royal Botanical Gardens

I love visiting Botanical Gardens, you always know there will be something beautiful to look at. There were so many pretty flowers and mini waterfalls, it was so peaceful strolling around this place. Loz and I found a huge tree that we obviously had to take a few photos as always!

Highlands & Loch Ness Tour

Why not get out of the city for a day and explore a few places around Edinburgh, we decided to book a day tour around the highlands and up to Loch Ness. We got to see some beautiful scenery along the way although we weren’t expecting to spend so much time on the coach. We did stop occasionally for 5 minutes to take some photos but not enough in my opinion. To be honest this tour was not worth the money as it was £46 per person, we were told it also included lunch and a boat tour of Loch Ness, which it didn’t and these were added extras. 

Drinks at Tiger Lily

I wouldn’t have know about this amazing place if it wasn’t for my mother, she suggested we go here for drinks. As always mother has all the great ideas, it was indeed a pretty place, very relaxed and they made gorgeous cocktails. This is also a hotel so it might be an option for the next time I visit. Although since I didn't expect to be taking photos I didn't have my camera, it was dark and my iPhone photos didn't turn out the best.

The Elephant Café 
For those of you who don’t know the Elephant Café is where J.K. Rowling got the inspiration for the first Harry Potter book. It’s said that she would come to the café to write and only order one cup of coffee and made it last as that’s all she could afford. She would always choose the table by the window so she could look outside and let her imagination run wild. You can tell that she did indeed get the inspiration for Hogwarts from Edinburgh castle as they have a lot of similarities, she also took other little bits from Edinburgh for the book so it was amazing to see where everything came from.

Sincerely, Kimberly.

xxx