The Windiest Windy City

These past few weeks I have been so busy (with studying, obviously) that I haven't had a chance to update my blog on all the amazing places I visited during my Christmas break... So this is the first of many to come.

Chicago

Now for you to fully appreciate my devastatingly cold experience in Chicago, Illinois you have to try and imagine (because unless you've lived here you will never understand) the extent of the wind in Oklahoma. It is windy every day, every single day, if not all day then for at least half of the day, and those are the good days. I am aware that Chicago has always held the title of 'windy city' but what amazed me was the amount of Oklahomans who said to me 'oh its windy there' when I mentioned I was going over Christmas.. Have they been outside in the state they live in? It is windy here! Geographically Oklahoma is right smack bang in the middle of 'Tornado Alley' so it must be able to hold its own in the rank of windy cities. What I was unaware of, and grossly unprepared for, was the cold  freezing temperatures of the winds in Chicago! No amount of British or Oklahoma weather could have prepared me for the -13 degrees celsius temperatures with winds to match. In a bar one night the barman said to me 'you should be used to the cold!' and I simply laughed, he has no idea, Chicago at Christmas is a different level cold, I have never been that cold in my whole life. Coming back to Oklahoma after 2 weeks on the East Coast was like seeing the sun for first time, breathtaking. 

One brisk day we decided to do some shopping, I mean we'll be inside all day so it can't be that cold right? WRONG. Even walking the few short meters between shop doors was unbearable.. Trying to hail a cab that evening around 6pm I honestly was questioning how much longer I could handle the cold for, it was only the thought of the warm apartment awaiting me that kept me on that pavement.   

Aside from the possible frost bite and wind scratched cheeks there is also an upside to the cold... A white Christmas! On December 25th 2013 I had my first proper white Christmas. There was snow on the ground when we arrived in Chicago on the 19th and the sky had spat snow at us every now and again in the days that followed however on Christmas morning we woke up to a lovely white scene (not too thick) outside and when we took our after lunch stroll to find a coffee shop it began to snow.. And it was beautiful. The next day we left Chicago for the slightly milder Detroit, Michigan. 

All in all I think Chicago wins my vote for the windiest windy city.