A Day in the Windy City

My travels have been a little closer to home these days, but thankfully I live near a pretty cool place. A few days ago, I went with my friend (and one of my favorite people) Elvera, along with her friend and cousin, to explore downtown Chicago.

Good thing I came along, because I was the only one willing to risk death to visit the top of the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) with Elvera's friend and out-of-towner who wanted to see the views.

Like Elvera, I am also not a big fan of heights... but being inside a building doesn't really bother me- even one like this that's about 1500 ft high. Surprisingly, I don't even really mind the glass Skydeck. I wouldn't jump on it or lay down on it, but I can successfully tentatively stand on it without hyperventilating. 

However, you'll never see me step foot on a roller coaster. There's something about being enclosed by walls and able to control where I walk that makes something like this more manageable to me.

The next item on our agenda was eating some authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Which, by the way, I have never done before. Turns out it's pretty good. We ate at Giordano's.

They put the toppings (in my case, just cheese) under the tomato sauce. It received the official coveted Marissa stamp of approval.

After being stuffed full with pizza we wandered over to Millennium Park. Of course, the best thing to do there is to take lots of interesting pictures in the Bean- officially called the Cloud Gate.

The other enjoyable thing to do here is people watching.  :)  

That was our last stop of the day in Chicago. We then headed back to Milwaukee to go to a Buck's game. I hadn't been to one in years, and I can't remember ever going to one when it was this crowded. Apparently, Kobe Bryant is a big deal. And when he is playing against the Milwaukee Bucks for the last time since apparently he is retiring, a lot of people apparently care about this and will come watch the game. Clearly, I am an expert on the NBA.

Despite my lack of knowledge, it was fun to watch. I like how basketball is fast-paced and you never have a chance to get bored because of all the ways they entertain the crowd. Let's contrast that with soccer or baseball, where I start to die from lack of stimulation. My personal favorite entertainment was the senior citizen dance team that performed to the song "I'm sexy and I know it." Would other teams have that? I kind of doubt it.

It was a fun day catching up with my friend who in a few weeks is moving across the world!! I've been cooped up writing papers and it was good to get out. On that note, I should probably be writing a paper right now.