chi-chi- Chicago

So husband and I took a trip out to Chicago for a couple of days to check out a city neither one of us had been to before but had both heard so much about.

Let me tell you it's one of the best cities I have EVER visited. I loved it. It's a beautiful place and the food is AMAZING!

As soon as we landed we saw an old friend.... A friend we have spent many hours with... Hello Etihad Airways! We miss your comfy seats with individual touch screen tv's and edible food! Oh and your not over booking flights...

Hello Etihad Airways! We miss your comfy seats with individual touch screen tv's and edible food! Oh and your not over booking flights...

When we got there, there were two things I knew I HAD to do (surprisingly neither involved yarn)

1 I HAD to try the classic Chicago style deep dish pizza

This thing was AMAZING. We got the small which feeds 1-2 people and we still had two slices left over! We went for the straight cheeze (as you can probably tell from the pic) and it was just oozing out the sides (which you can also probably tell from the pic). The crust was light and flaky and the sauce had so much flavor. I mean look at that pizza.... I really don't need to tell you how good it was.

2 I HAD to try an Al's Italian Beef Sandwich - the one that has been all over food the travel channel. After watching show after show on the place I knew that there had to be something to the hype.... and there was....

I nearly fainted with this beefy goodness. Seriously I am not a sandwich person. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I prefer anything BUT a sandwich but this kind of sandwich I can get use to. They fill a soft baguette with this amazingly seasoned & thinly sliced beef then they put their special peppers on top (which to be honest I was hesitant about but TOTALLY make the sandwich) and then they dip the sandwich in the beef gravy. I mean seriously this was the best sandwich ever and I loved it and I wanted to move into the shop and eat it every day. Add to that an orange soda and fresh cut fries and what more could you ask for?

We also got too see the sights and wander around the city a bit. The city is loads of fun and the people we so nice.... I am already planning where we'll visit (and what we'll eat) on our next trip.

On our way back to Portland we got an amazing view of Mt. Hood which I just had to share.

Now if only we had an Al's Italian Beef......