Chicago - Day Four

More pictures from our trip in Chicago. On this day we planned to go on a neighborhood food walking tour. The tour is from Chicago Food Planet and you can check it out here. Highly recommend doing this type of tour if you are visiting the city. It gives you a completely different feel of the city and besides trying a variety of food from the little mom & pop stores, it's narrated by your own personal guide who goes over Chicago's history with you.

This is Jess our guide for the tour. Sweet, sweet girl who did a fantastic job getting all the stragglers (ahem-Maria)  to keep up.

The first stop on the tour was at a Jewish deli for a pastrami corned beef sandwich. That was absolutely the best corned beef sandwich I've had anywhere. 

Next stop is Tea Gschwendner (please refer to Sue Ann for help pronouncing this name). This is Ryan explaining to us how the drying process works. Ryan is from Hawaii! More about that later. 

Next stop is Old Town Oil, a balsamic vinegar and olive oil speciality store. They have it set up so you can do tasting's of each type. They even tell you which one's to combine for a flavorful mix. 

This is Delightful Pastries where we tried raspberry & apricot kolachki and mushroom pierogis. (Again see Sue Ann for help with the names). 

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The Spice House. Rows and rows of spices with sample bottles for you to take a whiff or try them if you dare.

The Fudge Pot. Chocolate, caramel, toffee, oh my! I could have spent the night here but they kicked me out with the rest of the tour.

Gorgeous single family home in the neighborhood. Please be advised that this is a WALKING tour. People still slightly inebriated from the night before should know better (ahem-Maria). 

More neighborhood shots. Again this is a WALKING tour. People are advised to wear comfortable WALKING shoes. Not like some poor souls from Canada who had on slippahs (or flip-flops for you mainlanders out there). See the Hawaii girls knew better! We left the slippahs at home. We didn't want people thinking we were tourists or something.

Bacino's Pizzeria for Chicago Style Stuffed spinach pizza. Different from deep dish pizza. The sauce on this pizza was…uummmmmmmm.  They also claim that this pizza is heart healthy. Whatever. My heart is calling out for it right now. It misses you.

After the tour was over we found our way back to Tea Gschwendner and Ryan. He's from Hawaii but decided to stay in Chicago after he finished college there. We know he's been away from the islands too long cuz' see how he did the double shaka and we've only got the single shaka? Only been-too-long-away-from-the-islands people do that.

Later that evening we went to Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower). This picture is taken from the observation deck at the Skydeck. It's like an enclosed balcony made out of glass 103 stories up. Yes that outline is me. We're trying to figure out how to take a good picture with the flash surrounded by all that glass. 

Holding on to the sides for dear life while looking down.

The view from straight down. 103 stories up. Yes, that's our feet in the shot. I wish you could see the pedicure I had done before I left home. I had them done special cuz' the guy at the salon said my toes looked so cute.  See flattery WILL get you a bigger tip.

Maria in front of the entrance to the Skydeck. Isn't she gorgeous? She's perfected the art of taking a great picture while posing for a sit down picture. You don't want to see how my pics turned out. Can we say stiff and unnatural?

The. Purple. Pig. It's a tapas and wine bar. Good food. Good wine. Lots of food. Lots of wine. 

Aaahh, I miss Chicago already. Now that Im at home sitting in my shorts and tank top with my hair pulled back in a bun, it's hard to believe we were those carefree gals in the pictures. Our other friend, who shall remain nameless (ahem-Treslyn), said we looked so happy in the pictures. As opposed to our regular, unhappy selves back home. What are you trying to say, huh? Ok so I completely agree with you but STILL. Jacob doesn't want to hear that kind of talk coming out of his momma's mouth. {Sigh} Back to real life. Children. Work. Messy house. HUGE pile of laundry. Waaaaah, Calgone take me away! (Am I dating myself here? Does anyone else remember those commercials?)

I'll have more pictures of our last day in Chicago soon. ;o)