This is an entry for the Sanriotown Travel the World Event at http://blog.sanriotown.com/traveltheworld:hellokitty.com/

In the last part of August of 2008, I took a much awaited vacation to Chicago, Illinois, USA.

There was so much to see, do and shop that at first I didn’t think I would accomplish all in 12 days.

Of course my beloved Hello Kitty was with me on my trip. She’s always on my Blackberry. Here is my favorite Hello Kitty theme for my phone. Ignore the date, I just took a picture today but rest assured she was with me the whole trip. I don’t think I could live without her as she contained my whole itinerary.

I’ve always been the typical tourist type. I love museums and great architecture. I love the shopping. Luckily Chicago has everything! And no wonder since it’s the third largest city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles.

There’s so much shopping to be done - I was in heaven. Outlet mall shopping, mall shopping - my feet were hurting at the end of each day. ^_^ I paid off my credit cards before the trip just to rack up a balance again.

There are museums galore. I only had time to do 8 of them - there were many more that I could not visit. Let me share my favorite pictures with you.

Art Institute of Chicago

Field Museum

Museum of Science and Industry

Museum of Stained Glass

I mentioned before that Chicago has great architecture. Many famous architects came from Chicago. Chicago is world known for it’s schools of design and innovation.

Sears Tower (view from the ground)

Hancock Observatory (view from the ground)

There’s also other stuff to visit too - the aquarium, the planetarium, the free zoo, Navy Pier and the many parks.

Adler Planetarium

Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park (huge fountain modeled after the one in England)

Lincoln Park Zoo (free admission to this zoo)

Shedd Aquarium

Navy Pier

Whew! How’s that for a mini vacation? There’s so much to see and do that I could go back for another12 days and not re-visit the same attractions. The weather was just perfect, not to hot and not to cold.

I love Chicago!