Day 1 Of Our Chicago Adventure
Traveling is something that Freddy and I really enjoy doing together. There’s something so thrilling about exploring a new place you’ve never been and creating new memories. Unfortunately it’s not something we get to do a whole lot with our demanding work schedules, but when we are able to get away for a few days we jump at the opportunity! Last week we got to visit our great friends who live in Chicago and they gave us the ultimate tour around the city. I wouldn’t have wanted our first time in Chicago to be any different!
The colorful interior of Carnivale.
We arrived around midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so we were obviously pretty tired and went straight to sleep when we got to their adorable apartment. That is of course after we sat in some traffic due to the T. Swift concert getting out around the time we landed (thanks a lot homegirl). My bestie Lauren, being the master planner that she is, had a full agenda of activities laid out for us while we were there, which was great since we didn’t really know where to begin! We slept in on Sunday and went to a late brunch at Carnivale, a Latin-American inspired restaurant. The interior welcomes you with bursts of color, inviting you to walk around and take it all in. We ordered some rope vieja for the table, and I indulged in the ricotta pancakes with fresh blueberries—they were to die for! I had to enlist Freddy’s help to finish them off for me.
Then we were off to Michigan Avenue to explore all of the gorgeous boutiques and shops. I would say my favorite of them all was the Dolce & Gabbana boutique. Seeing all of the gorgeous clothes and handbags made my heart skip a beat! Lauren and I also had to make a stop into the Disney Store, because why not, and I ended up getting the cutest Rapunzel beach towel! Totally unnecessary, but so worth it for only $7. In that same area was The Drake Hotel, which I obviously knew from one of my favorite movies 'My Best Friend's Wedding', so it was my dream to go inside and see it in real life! I asked the bellhop for a bit of history and he said it was built in the early 1920's! You could tell there was so much history in the architecture, it was absolutely gorgeous. We walked around town for a few hours before making our way to Eataly, the most amazing place I've ever been!
A view down Michigan Avenue.
It's a two-story warehouse-type building, and the entire first floor is an Italian market. You can buy everything from pasta, to spices to desserts--it's unreal. And it's all imported from Italy! But wait, it gets better! Upstairs you'll find several mini restaurants/markets where you can sit down and try all the Italian food your heart desires. We started off with some appetizers and I ate the most amazing parmesan arancini--I've been craving it ever since! Then we went to another little restaurant and ordered some homemade pasta and I had a delicious Moscato wine--so sweet and fruity! I couldn't leave empty-handed, so we bought a souvenir canvas tote, some hazelnut wafer cookies and some Italian pasta that we can cook up at home.
On the first floor market at Eataly! So happy with my new canvas tote!
We were pretty wiped out after a full day of walking around, I think we walked 5 miles to be exact, so we crashed when we got back to their apartment. I definitely slept well that night! Stay tuned for my post about day 2 on Wednesday! xo