Its big its windy its oh so cold in the winter

So lets talk about Chicago.  It is the biggest city in the Midwest and the second biggest city in the US.  Of course there is shopping, lots and lots of shopping everything from Michigan ave which has all the stores like 5th ave in New York, Macy's, Saks, Chanel, Burberry the whole works.  If you have money to spend they will easily take it in big bags!  Did I mention purses on Michigan ave?  well YES there is.  There is what is called the magnificent mile  which is part of Michigan avenue (the expensive part) but there is so much in walking distance dining, bars and dance clubs, hotels and pretty much any pampering stuff you need is there.  When we stayed there we stayed at the Tremont Hotel which is a lovely  hotel in the heart of Michigan ave where we could walk or cab everywhere.  The best way to get around Chicago is cab, you don't want to rent a car there because it is so expensive to park downtown.  I believe I paid 11.00 for 1/2 hour when I went downtown to the consulate.  So take a cab and trust they know where they are going and loads cheaper then driving all over hells half acre and parking.  We took the train into Chicago which was a really nice ride dropped us downtown at Union station where we cabbed to the hotel.

 The Tremont Hotel is a gorgeous hotel in the heart of Chicago.  Its very elegant and old fashioned with lots of marble and dark wood.  I found the rooms pretty small for the amount of money that the rooms cost but it was very Laura Ashley looking and well appointed with the requisite telephone in the bathroom in case you wanted to do two things at once (yuk!)  but the shower was all marble and glass and very beautiful.  The bed was large and pretty much took up the whole room.  The restaurant was a Mike Ditka restaurant which had Ditka's face out of butter molds kinda creepy if  you aren't from Chicago and don't know who he was!

  Lets see fun things to do in Chicago include, but are not limited to, Sears Tower now called   Willis tower at 108 stories they have built a glass room hanging off the edge of the tower to stand in and look down at the traffic-tres scary!  Tourist items are expensive there, better to walk a block and a half to TJ Max  upper or Filenes basement lower.  Both are fun and Filenes always has good bargins!  Its walking distance from Michigan ave. 
Another fun thing we did was the Blue Man Show at their own theater which is decked out just for them and it is so cool its patented and you are not allowed to take pictures in there.  They provide raincoats for the first few rows.  Its always an adventure at the Briar street theater!  You might need earplugs but the show is well worth  the cost!