Chicago Part 2

We only had a few days in Chicago, and yet so much we wanted to do. So before we left SA, we made our bookings and bought our tickets and pretty much jam-packed our schedule.
On top of this, there were so many foodie things we wanted to try out, so we just made peace with the  fact that we were going to have the odd donut for breakfast, and dessert for dinner. Because this is America after all.

The weather was still rather foul, and colder than we could have imagined. It honestly was almost as cold as London was in December. Thank goodness for tossing in a pair of Chelsea boots into my suitcase at the last minute. They saved my toes. My fingers and nose were not so lucky.

Bundled up, we went to warm up with a cup of coffee, before heading off in search of the hugely popular Doughnut Vault. We took a detour via the park to stretch our legs and 'earn' our sugar-laden breakfast.

After stopping for another warm drink at yet another coffee place (did I mention it was really cold?), we eventually found our way into a quiet part of the city and thought we'd gotten lucky and were first in the queue. Until we walked around the corner. And found the rest of Chicago braving the chill for their fix too. So I broke one of my life rules, and did the most American thing I've done to date, and I queued for junk food.

Most flavours had sold out, so we settled on vanilla glazed regular, plus a buttermilk vanilla donut (which they're famous for). The vanilla glazed was the size of my head and delicious. But we agreed that the buttermilk one just tasted like it needed to be baked for a few more hours until it was an Ouma rusk, that could be better used for dipping in a cup of tea.

We walked back toward Magnificent Mile to grab lunch and something that resembled a vegetable or an actual meal and failed miserably. We ended up inside a Garrett's Popcorn store and walked out with some Garretts Mix instead. Garrett's Mix is caramel popcorn and really, royally cheesy popcorn mixed together. Which you would not think would work at all, but it does and its instantly addictive. However, it is worth nothing that your fingers will be yellow for days.

We decided to write the day off in terms of our health and grabbed a taxi to our next stop, United Centre, for the Chicago Bulls game. We'd been following the play-offs for weeks leading up to our trip, hoping that we'd get to see a game while in Chicago. And the b-ball gods smiled upon us and we were able to see the Chicago Bulls against the Cleveland Cavaliers (yep, that team with LeBron and some other guys who don't get to play much).

We toured the stadium and bought some cheesy souvenirs, grinning like idiots the entire time. We couldn't believe we'd been so lucky with how the play-offs worked out, and that we'd managed to find tickets. But it only got better.
Watching the Bulls at home meant a vibe and a show like no other. Complimentary Bulls t-shirts awaited us at our seats. Beer flowed. Shouting "Defence, defence" until our voices were gone. Cheerleaders and pyrotechnics at each timeout. And then, Kanye...

Yep, Mr Kim Kardashian himself gave us a little impromptu show during one of the timeouts. It was phenomenal. And the game couldn't have been closer, keeping us on the edge of our seats, high-fiving strangers when we were ahead, and cursing LeBron when we were behind. Ultimately, that lanky bugger pulled off an amazing final shot that clinched the game for the Cavs. So, heartbroken, we went in search of the legend himself, Michael Jordan.

We paid our respects to the Lord of basketball and headed back uptown. After the heartbreaking loss, there was really only one thing that was going to lift our spirits, and that was chocolate. We'd noticed a Ghirardelli store around the corner from our hotel and had made a mental note to pop in if we had a chance. Its not at all on the 'Chicago must-try' list of foods, but we fell in love with Ghirardelli when we were in San Francisco two years ago, and if you ever have a chance to try their warm brownie sundae, you absolutely have to do it.  And never share one, it should be all yours.
That is also one of my life rules, by the way.