Oot & Aboot: My big fat Greek wedding in Chicago

My first full day to roam Chicago, and I was excited! This morning I had booked a Grand Tour of Chicago to get in all the sights. At 9am I met up with the tour group, and to my amusement, it was to by run by someone who looked very much like Ray Charles, but without the whole being blind thing. Which was good considering he was the driver. We started off checking out ‘downtown’ Chicago, what we know as the CBD. The tour guide was so laid back he was almost asleep, but he was funny none the less. We checked out Navy Pier, the library, John Hancock Tower, Sears Tower, and many other structures that make up the Chicago skyline. It rained very briefly during the tour, but the heat stayed and the sun quickly came out again. We went along the Magnificent Mile, which I now know it’s called the Magnificent Mile, there was freakin’ good shops. We went passed the Art institute of Chicago, which I would check out later and the Field Museum. We stopped at a viewing point of the city scape outside of the Planetary for a few minutes before we got back onto the bus. We then headed north to check out what was on offer. We went passed Oprah’s apartment which overlooks Lake Michigan (very niice) and then passed a hotel famous for being the digs of Bugsy, who was Al Capone’s opponent during Chicago’s mob history. Chicago has a big history of gangsters and the mob but I’m told it’s kept on the down low and not publicly celebrated because it’s basically criminal behaviour. However, having said that, many tourist shops sells Capone goods and a couple of tours go to sites such as the St Valentines Massacre that Capone was involved in. I’m also told by the tour guide that Chicago almost completely burnt down in The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, so there aren’t many old buildings in the city.

We get to Lincoln Park, Chicago's main park, and have a 15 minute break to go check out the conservatory and Lincoln Park Zoo, or just to wonder. I quickly bolted to the zoo and tried to get in as much as I could in 15 minutes. So not much! Lincoln Park Zoo is free all the time, which I thought was pretty cool. As was the conservatory. After the break, we headed back to the tour meeting point to pick up some more people for the South Chicago tour. In the South Chicago tour we took in the tree lined streets of beautiful sandstone houses with stoops, and areas that are much more expensive than most. We saw Wrigley Stadium which I was excited to see. The Cubbies were playing the day we were there so we couldn’t stop. The area around Wrigley stadium is known to locals as Wrigleyville. Think we’ll have a Telstraville anytime soon? Not likely. The bus went through the University of Chicago, where the grounds were beautiful. It’s one of America’s more prestigious universities, which I hadn’t realized. Just along form the university was Robi House, which is one of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s finer works. It’s a beautiful house, and a fine example of his prairie style. Wright’s work features prominently in Chicago…I’m guessing he lived there??

I saw Ali’s old residence and then for the benefit of the newer tour guests, we checked out downtown again before the tour finished up. It was a good tour, but again another example of how these tours check out a stack of stuff but do it so quickly you don’t get to enjoy anything for long. For example, I’ve never been to a zoo for 10 minutes and that’s it. Still, a cheap way to see everything before I dig deeper.

The tour company drops several of us off at John Hancock Tower as part of our tour is entry to the observation deck. John Hancock Tower is the biggest tallest building behind Sears Tower and not by much. I chose to see this one as I’m told it’s much quieter compared to Sears Tower. Well people are right; I got to the 97 floor in no time. It was a awesome sight seeing the city from that high up. Lucky it was a clear day so you could see really far. After checking out the 360 view of Chicago, it was time to get some lunch. I read that a trip to Chicago isn’t complete until you try deep dish pizza. I was slightly intrigued, so I made my way to Gina’s East Pizza, a joint famous for their pizza. I take a seat in this ultra cool place; the walls, seats, and tables are written all over by people who have eaten their and it’s pretty cool. My waiter tells me to try their famous pizza and that it takes 45 minutes to cook. By this point I am very intrigued about what to expect. It’s 3pm so I’m starving, but I’m willing to wait 45 minutes for pizza, I cant get enough. It finally arrives and it looks like a pizza pie. They start with the crusty base, then they put on the cheese, then the toppings, then the chunky tomato sauce, It’s basically back the front. So I dug in and I have one word for you: AWESOME. It was tasty as, and that’s a big call for a pizza connoisseur like me. I couldn’t eat it all myself, it’s a lot of pizza so I had to leave behind a slice, but hands down best pizza I ever had! Pricey too, at $22 a small pizza.

I had back to the hotel and quickly got ready as I was heading out to Tony & Tina’s Wedding at 7pm. Tony & Tina’s Wedding is the longest running off Broadway theatre dining experience in the US and I’m told it’s worth checking out. The premise is that you are a ‘guest’ to this fictitious wedding and reception played out by actors. The characters are Greek, so you can imagine it was like My Big Fat Greek Wedding Live. It was so freakin funny. During the reception, the ‘caterer’, known as Vinnie introduced me to everyone at the wedding as Tina’s second cousin twice removed from Australia. I had an awesome time and was sad to see it end. I even got to dance with the best man and talk to the drunk minister.

After the wedding I headed downtown to find a Jazz club, another must see do experience in Chicago. I ended up at Chicago Blues. It was a very funky club with live Jazz. It was here a met a super friendly Scotsman who insisted I call his daughter when I get to Boston to hang out. We talked most the night about all things American and I tried the local ale; Honker’s. The ale was surprising good, better than Bud. The live Jazz was great! Some complete idiot then spilt red wine all down my back , and so much so, I had to go back to the hotel and change. I was so pissed, cause the club was cool. Not sure I’ll call the Scotsman daughter, she lives in main, not Boston, so I may not have time, we’ll see.

What I learnt about Chicago today:

Locals LOVE their city and they LOVE the Cubs, even though they haven’t one a World Series since like the 40’s.
Deep dish pizza is a got to try experience
Taxis are a fair bit cheaper in Chicago than in LA. I got uptown for like $8.