Chicago

So far I have only complained (in true British fashion) about the weather in Chicago however i failed to mention how beautiful it is. The above photo was taken outside the Chicago Aquarium, behind me you can see the beautiful skyline perched on the edge of one of the great lake's.

When I was walking along the Navy Pier it was hard to believe the incredible mass of water in front of me was a lake, all I could see was water, a sight which to me resembles the ocean. I later discovered I was staring into the depths of Lake Michigan, only the second largest of the two great lakes, Lake Superior being the largest (who knew this would be a geography lesson). Although temperatures were below -10 the sky was still clear and the sun was up for the majority of my stay which made sightseeing a lot easier.

To the left is the Chicago Bean, formally known as the 'Cloud Gate Sculpture'... The best part about it is it acts as the perfect mirror to take photos of yourself in. All Americans seem to be well acquainted with the idea of the Bean as a tourist must-see however the first time I heard of it was when someone asked me if I was going to see it while I was there. My claim to fame came when I found out it was created by a British Sculptor, you're welcome America. It was here that we watched the Chicago Gay Choir perform an array of Christmas Carols under the moonlight - very festive indeed.

Another must-see for us travellers was the view from the ninety second floor of one of Chicago's tallest towers. While we were there it was only polite to treat ourselves to very expensive, and very strong, cocktails. Speaking of cocktails their menu had the craziest cocktails I had ever heard of, some of which even contained actual bacon (I naively assumed from the menu description they didn't mean the cocktail would contain two floating pieces of streaky bacon, alas I was wrong) but I stuck to the classic Long Island Iced Tea. To your right is the best view in the restaurant which is where the designers made the natural decision to place the ladies toilets.

My personal favourite part of Chicago is the Cultural Center! The building we strolled into thinking it was the library was in fact so much more than just a library. The first floor was dedicated to all different pieces of artwork by different artists, a cafe, tourist advice center and a public area for everyone to sit and warm up for free (a must-have). The second floor had some visual light art, very contemporary and fun, and a huge room with a dome roof  decorated with contrastingly old style stained glass. The third and my most favourite floor held an exhibition of Chicago street art which I learnt is an escalating trend in the city. There was a DJ playing all different kinds of music (taking requests) from hip-hop to Jazz and a dance floor where people of different ages and cultures were just dancing, amazingly well, to this music that they so clearly loved and connected with. It was an amazing scene, I could of stayed there and watched all day.

And that, in a very small nutshell, is the beauty of Chicago.