Chicago is my kind of town...

It has already been almost a week since I was in Chicago (and it has been quite the week!) but better late than never for this post. Karisti, Michelle and I met up in Chicago last week and had a fabulous time! For those of you who don't know, the three of us lived in the same apartment building in Berlin for my first year, then Karisti moved to London and Michelle moved to Singapore. The last time the three of us were together was my 30th birthday in Berlin 2 years ago (it was also the World Cup, which was super fun), so it has been way too long. Karisti lives in Iowa, so meeting in Chicago to start our trip was the most logical. I had never been to Chicago before and I loved it! What an incredible city!! I could very easily live there.

We had a couple of fun-filled days in the city, including:
* Taste of Chicago - The annual huge food festival was going on while we were there, so we ate and drank our way through it. Tons of people and lots of great food, even some vegetarian things!
* Bike tour - Chicago is a flat city, so it is perfect for biking. Michelle booked us on a 3 hour, 11 mile bike tour of the city that was fabulous! We biked along the lake and through a bunch of the parks. I had forgotten how much I love to bike and it is the perfect way to see a city.
* Boat tour - I'm also a big fan of boats, so a boat tour along the river and on the lake was right up my alley. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and kept throwing information at us about all the buildings we were seeing, most of which I can't remember. But it was very cool to be on the river and look up at all the amazing architecture.
* Fireworks - Chicago does it's fireworks on July 3rd, which worked out perfect for us since Michelle and I were leaving on the morning of the 4th. We camped out in Grant Park, took turns going to get food and beer at Taste of Chicago, listened to the Grant Park Orchestra perform (they did 1812 Overture, which is Michelle's favorite, so she sang along), and then watched the fireworks, which were awesome. They set them to radio music and started out with Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", so we had a great time dancing and singing along.

All in all, a wonderful time in Chicago with the girls!