Tag: Travel

Parc des Princes (Paris), Camp Nou (Barcelona) and the European Football Stadium Experience

Photos: First two rows of Paris / Paris Saint Germain / Parc Des Prices. Bottom rows of Barcelona / FCB / Camp Nou.

About four years ago, I finally had a chance to watch a football match in Europe, watching a 2-2 tie between Real Madrid against Valencia. The match itself (I remember Real as a bit sluggish) wasn’t that great, but this Cristiano Ronaldo goal was pretty nice:

What I remember from that match is that the Santiago Bernabéu is an old, non-modernized stadium hosting one of the five most valuable sports teams in the world. Surprisingly (or alarmingly), smoking near the seating area was pretty common and the view really wasn’t so good (I paid the relatively reasonable price of $75 or so for nose-bleed seats). My wife Ha remembers nothing from this match, but a couple of months later she got to see Zidane (before he became coach of Real Madrid) there in the equivalent of an old timer’s charity match for less than $25 (I was jealous).

In planning for our Europe trip this past March, I really wanted to watch more football. I’ve seen Manchester United twice in exhibitions (once vs PSG and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Chicago, the other last summer vs Real Madrid without Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara), and to see them in England is still a big to do for me.

Instead, we were fortunate to see Paris Saint Germain vs FC Metz in Paris, and then Barcelona vs Chelsea in the Champions League (think playoffs) round of 16 at Camp Nou.

The Matches

I knew the PSG match would be a blowout – Metz is one of the worst teams in Ligue 1. Unfortunately, Neymar has gotten injured a couple of weeks before the match (months after I bought the tickets direct from PSG) and Cavani was suspended. Kylian Mbappé, the next great young “chosen one” at 19 years old played ok, but despite all this PSG won 5-0.

Ha and I were in row 1 (technically the second row) in the center of the lower deck. The tickets were about $120 each and all considering, a great deal. Since we were close to level with the field, it was a different view from above, but you could truly get a sense of the speed of play and the level of skill, even from Metz. The crowd atmosphere was just ok and the 48,000 seats in the stadium did not look anywhere near sold out.

One thing I learned is that after matches, home players go to the goal side housing their supporter groups and thank them for their support. Supporter groups chant and sing literally non-stop throughout a match.

For the Champions League match, it was a thrilling experience to see Lionel Messi in his prime play in a high stakes elimination match. Messi responded by scoring his fastest goal ever in less than 3 minutes, then followed that up with an assist and second goal.

Easily the best soccer experience I’ve had, even after paying around $250 per ticket to sit in Lateral 3 (good viewing angles, but fairly high up) on Viagogo, a secondary market for tickets. The face value was around $170, and I think I could have bought tickets for the match direct from the club a week before the event. I didn’t know this would be possible however, so I bought tickets months beforehand just to make sure we’d be able to go.

The European Stadium Experience

Parc des Princes and Camp Nou, like Santiago Bernabéu, are older stadiums. All three remind me (not in a good way) of Candlestick Park in San Francisco, which has now been replaced by the fabulous AT&T Park for the Giants and Levi’s Stadium for the 49ers.

The San Jose Earthquakes MLS team play in Avaya Stadium, which was completed in 2015. Despite housing a mediocre soccer team and holding only 18K people, Avaya is a much better experience than any of the three European stadiums I’ve been to.

How so? Huge high resolution big screens are in all modern American stadiums and arenas, but not in Parc des Princes, Camp Nou, or Santiago Bernabéu. I have good stadium-alternatives food options with food trucks at Avaya but Aramark (popular provider in the US as well) does the food at Camp Nou; our sausage / hot dog was plain bad (not worth finishing). If I remember correctly, there were perhaps 3 different food items one could buy in the whole stadium. 3! The food options in Parc des Princes was about the same.

There is no in-seat food delivery as you might get at Levi’s. Whether you think this is good or bad, there’s no alcohol served either. More on that later.

No ads, no extra information, not even helpful overlays on the big screens, no music, no one hawking snacks in the stand. From a purist perspective, I guess you could say you’re just left alone to enjoy football – in some ways the TV experience for football is the same. That can be a good things, but there’s just a lot of money left that these teams should be and can be making without ruining the spectator experience (see Earthquakes).

These are all just reminders of how American sports, particularly in the last 20 years, has become so competitive from a business perspective, innovating (nowhere near as fast as startups, but clearly fast relative to Europe) to capture more value from the modern sports fan.

Getting back to our hotel in central Barcelona from from Camp Nou was good – a number of different train lines connect at different stations nearby. Worst case, Camp Nou would have been just an hour away walking. Getting back from Parc des Princes was a mess, however. Google and local bus stop information suggested a bus we could take back to our hotel. That bus did not stop at the designated stop. It stopped at another stop (like a mini bus depot) very close by with other buses and just did nothing. I believe it was at least a half hour before any buses left, and all the while, we had no idea what was going on. Bus drivers didn’t know or could not say, or there were no signs that suggested an answer. We would have taken the subway, but the lines just to get into the (one) station were completely packed.

Alcohol and Hooliganism

One of the biggest surprises in European soccer is the lack of alcohol sales at the stadium. I don’t really drink, so it’s not such a big deal, but on the business side, this seems to be a lost opportunity. Then again, I’m not a fan of drunk fans either. I tried to think more about why this is the case, and my guess for it is hooliganism, a term used to describe disorderly, violent or destructive behavior perpetrated by spectators at association football events.

English football in the 1980’s was notorious for this; it was just dangerous to attend games.

During the Barcelona-Chelsea match, I witnessed hints of this after Barcelona went up 2-0, and the Chelsea fans in attendance became upset at a potential missed call. In another section above (and behind us) I had seen a plexiglass-like transparent barrier dividing the top-most section and the one in which I was sitting. I realized that opposing teams fans sat there, but I wasn’t clear why the barrier was needed. I had never seen that at a sporting event before.

After the missed call, I started hearing constant loud bangs on the “glass”. I then started seeing flying objects fly overhead (and likely hit fans). These were coins being thrown by Chelsea (a London-based club). What was astonishing to me is that there was no security to warn fans or to watch the fans doing this.

It was almost everything was perfectly all right and expected. In the US, you see warning messages on the big screens and around you to text message security in case anyone is being disruptive. You feel like you have an outlet in case you feel unsafe. Not the case here.

Then, when you think about not selling alcohol to fans, it does make more sense.

Casino Royale Dreams in Venice, Burano, and Murano (Italy)

As my wife and I walked around Venice, we kept dreamily thinking of the adventures of James Bond and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. (See Venice filming locations) It’s one of our favorite movies, and in my mind, it’s easily the best of the Bond 007 films (I don’t appreciate the older Bond classics like Thunderball).

When we first got to Venice, however, we had come from missing our early morning flight from Paris, and we were not in the best moods. We took a water taxi in because we thought it would be a good experience, but because of the cold and rainy weather (early March) that day, small windows (limited visibility) that were pretty close to water level, and the long wait (not because of long lines, but few boats), this wasn’t a great experience either.

At the end of the trip, we took the bus from Venice to the Airport, and that was a much better, faster, and cheaper experience than the water taxi. Even if it had been summer with gorgeous weather, I would recommend the bus unless you’re staying on the other side of the Venice and would have to walk 30+ minutes to get to your hotel.

We stayed at Domina Home Ca Zusto / Hotel Ca’ Zusto Venezia, a well located 4 star hotel, for three nights for around $100/night. It was definitely the best hotel stay of our Europe trip, with good sized rooms, a solid breakfast, and great support staff.

For our first day in Venice, we essentially slept in after getting lunch. Plus, it was raining pretty hard, and we just needed rest. Two full days ended up being pretty good to appreciate the city, however, even despite the cold (around 10C, 45-55F) and intermittent rain. I’ve seen photos of Venice in the summer, and it is nuts!

If I could do it again, I’d go to Venice slightly later, right around late March / early April so that the weather would be slightly warmer but still without the crowds. That was the big benefit from our visit. There was still a decent amount of people around, but nothing where we’d say things were crowded. We could set up, take photos, and really enjoy the sights without any lines or concerns about pickpockets.

Another benefit of visiting in March? Trying out moeche, or soft-shell crabs, which are only available in the fall or early spring.

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The crabs were great, but the rest of our meal at the highly touted (and easily $70 per person) Osteria alle Testiere was disappointing. The other items we ordered were just okay, but we were left waiting over 25 minutes between appetizers and the next dish. There wasn’t any advance warning, bread in between, or any service. When we asked about the wait, we were told snootily that “this isn’t fast food”.

I’ll talk more about the specific things we did in a bit, but in general, it’s really easy to walk around Venice, but it’s also just as easy to get lost. Even with Google Maps (which got confused all the time) and a map in hand (yes, I can read maps), I felt like I wasn’t sure where I was a quarter of the time. You can take water taxis around the main islands, including Burano and Murano – overall, pretty convenient and quick though I imagine it’s different during the summer.

Tourist maps will show a main path that loops around Venice, taking you through all the main touristy areas, including food and shopping. While we took that path, just to see everything, we also took considerable time off going into random areas, looking for places that locals ate at. Our best meal was at one such place.

See these articles for more on Food:

10 of the best budget restaurants in Venice | Travel | The Guardian

The Best Restaurants In Venice, According To The Locals | HuffPost

The Venice that most tourists miss | Travel | The Guardian

We originally booked Venice more on my wife’s suggestion. I really wasn’t so excited about it, but once I got there, even despite the rain, I took to it quickly. There definitely feels something magical about the place. I don’t have a big need to visit again soon, but I’m glad I made the trip. There’s a feeling that you’re visiting something unique in the world, something with a lot of history and significance, and walking in a town surrounded by water is a bit surreal.

Things We Did

We didn’t go to the Guggenheim (I’m no art lover, but had at least heard of it, and had no idea it was in Venice until the night before we arrived), or do a boat canal serenade (it was cold, expensive -$100-, and as we thought about it, we did not think it would be that great). I’m not a big coffee drinker normally, but I learned about cappuccino vs espresso vs latte. We also had passion fruit tiramisu at I Tre Mercanti; tiramisu arguably has its origins in/around Venice.

I’d heard that true Italian pizza is like a small piece of cheeze and meat on a cracker. Despite plenty of restaurants touting their authentic Italian pizza, however, they were all like the pizza we had at Antico Forno, American style pizza.

Our favorite meal was in Murano, a ten minute water taxi away from Venice, at La Perla ai Bisatei. This is seafood for the Venetian (in Vietnamese, we’d use the term bình dân). Ha’s second favorite meal was at another local-focused venue, Trattoria Alla Rampa. This is where we discovered other Venetian favorites like Baccalà Mantecato (white fish), spaghetti con nero di seppia (squid ink spaghetti), and Polenta (almost like rice porridge).

  • Cicchetti (Italian tapas) and Spritz (not al Bitter) at Osteria Alla Ciurma. I’m not so into tapas on cold, non toasted bread, it turns out.
  • Ice cream at Gelatoteca Suso. I remember liking this quite a bit with the unique ice cream flavor that I tried.
  • La Patatina a San Giacomo – expensive ($50 per person) but nothing special. We regretted this meal.

During the trip, I also learned about Venezia FC, the local Serie B soccer team. They’ve been moving up steadily after new ownership by an American-Italian owner and might get to Serie A within the next couple of years. A new stadium is planned. I went to Venezia F.C. Rivenditore Ufficiale to buy an official 110th anniversary jersey, getting the baby blue goal keeper shirt along with official Serie B and Respect patches. In talking to the store owner, he mentioned that he hoped the team would get into Serie A after a couple of tries rather than right away in order to build enough of a foundation to stay at the top levels.

For me Burano and Murano are not so special, but walking around them makes you realize how much the Venice area (uh, Merchant of Venice?) is purely a tourism hub today. What was once perhaps the financial hub of the world due to its location between continents is now just a place left by time. I read some articles discussing how locals have been leaving in droves over the last decades; what was formerly a city of 100K is now at 40K .

Burano has colorful houses, which are great for photos, and lace, while Murano is focused on glass-making. These end up feeling like gimmicks to attract tourists, and I think the reality is that there is just nothing else to pivot to. This makes me think of manufacturing jobs and old industry in America; those jobs are better done elsewhere, but are there new jobs, even with training, that can take place of those old jobs? In Burano and Murano, the answer feels like no.

Four Days in Paris (Food, Football, and other F Words)

I spent three years learning French in High School. Every few years since then, I’d spend a month or or so trying to revisit (Duolingo) the language in hopes I’d get to use it one day, but once I had enough money saved (20 years after graduation) to actually go, I could only remember some basic words and phrases.

In early March, Paris is pretty cold (maxing at 10C / 50F) with rain, but overall, things were pretty good – good enough to walk around 8+ hours a day. We stayed at the Hôtel Beaurepaire in the 11th Arrondissement based on Eater’s recommendation. At around $100/night and a few minutes walk from the République (connected to by at least 4 of the 13ish subway lines) station, it was a great location for us. The room was very small, the elevator was even smaller (1 person elevators are a thing in Paris) and the staff a bit…lazy, but it was a solid place to stay for a couple without kids.

Food:

In Paris, I really wanted to focus on food, though I knew we couldn’t hit the best of the best. In general, food is really expensive in Paris and Europe. Meals (without alcohol) were easily $50 (in Euros) per person, even without getting a full X course set. Sure, we went to more highly rated places, but not places considered elite on the fine dining scale.

The highlights were Yann Couvreur for dessert pastries, Chez Alain Miam Miam (in the middle of a food court / market) for sandwiches, Restaurant 52 (also in a great food neighborhood) for dinner, and Du Pain et des Idées (super famous for its Pain des Amis / Friendship) bread and other baked goodies. Du Pain was only a few minutes walk from our hotel, and the very first thing we did in the city after check-in.

Other visits:

In terms of the sights, we walked around a lot and took the metro a bunch, and even went to a Paris St. Germain football (soccer) game (unfortunately, Neymar was injured and Cavani was suspended) at Parc des Princes. More on the match in a separate post later.

We did all the touristy stuff, but since Ha and I don’t really care for museums, it’s more that we just walked around places. We did do Friday night at the Louvre – we saw the Mona Lisa, as everyone does, but enjoyed the apartments of Marie Antoinette and Napoleon III more.

Sights and Shopping:

Recommended Resources for Parisian Food:

More photos:

The Kellogg Student’s Food Guide to Impressing Your Friends in Chicago

Visits in ChicagoWhether you are visiting friends, or have friends / family visiting you in Chicago, I have done the work (food, dessert, hang out) so you can have a place to recommend and go.

As a big fan of sites like The Wirecutter, which chooses the very best item in a product category (ex. what is the best TV for me?), I wanted to create a similar guide for Kellogg students traveling into Chicago.

All the places below are those that I have personally eaten at over the last year (vast vast majority over the summer of 2015). There is also at special bonus Hanging Out guide at the very end of this post.

Some things to keep in mind: I am no food expert, and for the most part, I cannot tell good food apart. To me, it’s all just good. However, I will try my best to pick winners (denoted in bold, the first place mentioned in any category) in each category, though I likely have biases towards food that just tastes different and stands out to me. In terms of what to actually order at each, I will make notes when I remember something noteworthy, but for the most part, refer back to Yelp or explore!

How I chose places: I researched information from (mostly) Yelp, friend referrals, The Chicago Reader, and TripAdvisor, as well as guides like the Thrillist and just…Google search for “best of…”. Everything place here will be $25 per person or less unless explicitly mentioned. I preferred going to places that were less than $15 per person ($$ on Yelp).

Meals

BBQ / Ribs / Brisket

Smoque BBQ is the considered the best (including by Kellogg MMM and BBQ expert KJ Plank) by the general public. In addition, it’s cheaper than most places but conversely, it is not easy to reach by public transportation. I like the ribs here a lot, but not the brisket so much. Blackwood BBQ, on the other hand, offers tremendous brisket for a great price – you can even pick the fat level of the meat (I choose maximum), but that is all they sell. The location I visited in the Loop is only open for lunch, but there is another location that is open for dinner. Ha (my wife)’s favorite place in the category is Blackwood. Chicago Q sells all the BBQ meats you expect but is a bit expensive and the venue is a bit on the fancy side. Green Street Smoked Meats is a solid BBQ place in the West Randolph area, and while it has solid brisket, it is not the best option for any specific item. Twin Anchors Restaurant & Tavern (Old Town) is my wild card. It is actually quite famous and has a long history in Chicago. It does not look particularly fancy, and is where where Two Face shoots Officer Wurtz in The Dark Knight. Ha and I enjoyed our ribs (great sauce) at the bar and it was great thinking about that scene just a few feet away.

Breakfast

Wildberry Pancakes and Café is definitely our favorite for pancakes. It’s next to Millenium Park on Randolph, and if you try to get there after 9AM on a weekend, you will definitely wait over an hour (no reservations allowed). I really liked the Fat Elvis Waffles (peanut butter, er.. butter and banana) at Little Goat in West Randolph and the The Local Chicago is more of a standard, but good quality place that is a block away from the John Hancock Center.

Burgers / Hot Dogs

There are many burger options in Chicago, and adding an egg on top seems like the cultural must-have for any burger nowadays. If you want a true expert’s opinion, do ask Ray Su of Kellogg MMM, but my favorite is bopNGrill. People seem to love Au Cheval in West Randolph, and I have had it twice to confirm my suspicions. The burger there is good, but I think of it as the best possible version of a Big Mac (without the middle layer of bread). If you do go to Au Cheval, remember that the single burger is actually two patties. Ha’s favorite burger is the SmokeShack from Shake Shack in River North (opposite of Eataly). I felt that 25 Degrees’ burger was pretty standard, despite the reviews.

As for Hot Dogs, Chicago-style ones are served all over, but the one that I remember going to for that and its famous Italian Meat sandwich is Portillo’s Hot Dogs & Barnelli’s Salad Bowl. I have learned that I am not a fan of either Chicago-style Hot Dogs or the sandwich. The sandwich is served very wet and is thus, hard to grab onto and eat.

Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for you, I did go to the famous Hot Doug’s before it closed last year.

Chicken Wings

Usually when I see a place crown itself as best something, I think it is BS. However, Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap in Downtown Chicago really does have great wings. I was pleasantly surprised from my waiter’s recommendation. However, both Crisp (Lakeview, shown below) and Dak make excellent Korean-style wings, and you will not be unhappy with any of these three picks.

Chinese / Dim Sum

MingHin Cuisine (Chinatown) is generally considered the best reasonably affordable dim sum in the city; expect a 30 minute wait during peak times on the weekends. Its regular menu is perfectly fine as well. Furama Restaurant (Argyle) is closer to Evanston but not particularly good and despite strong reviews for Sun Wah Bar-B-Que (also Argyle), I did not like it at all (Ha disagrees). Lao Sze Chuan on Michigan Ave is the same place that exists in Evanston – great Sze Chuan (approved by Kellogg MMM and Sze Chuan / Sichuan province native Daniel Xu) cuisine.

Diner

Do people ever say, “I really want diner food today?” I am not sure, but Dove’s Luncheonette (the Fried Chicken is fantastic – it’s more like a fried chicken steak than a KFC bucket piece) is a great option in Wicker Park. The previously mentioned Little Goat is a good option as well.

Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken. There are plenty of places to get it, but I am actually fond of supermarket fried chicken, such as at Jewel Osco. 8 pieces for 7.99. But for a real establishment, check out The Roost Carolina Kitchen in Irving Park. There is also the Harold’s Chicken Shack chain throughout the Chicago area, which Derrick Rose loves. I have heard quality is inconsistent by location, which happens with any fast-food chain. The one I went to was just okay.

For those in Evanston who never venture outside the Downtown area, make sure to check out Chicken Shack before you leave Kellogg.

Indian / Nepalese

Cumin in Wicker Park has great food, but I also liked Ghareeb Nawaz. The former option is great for a night out, while the latter is great for no-frills, very cheap food. Bombay Wraps is a solid, fast-food style option in Downtown.

Italian

Picking Eataly Chicago in Downtown (opposite Shake Shack) is a bit of a cheat. It has a number of places within to choose from. While he preferred the NYC location, Italian (and Kellogg Exchange Student from IE Business School) Valerio Patrizi vouches for Eataly’s authenticity. For more of a sit-down restaurant, Ha and I enjoyed Quartino, which is also Downtown.

Japanese / Ramen / Other

Go to Wasabi in Logan Square if you like some serious Ramen. Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ in Downtown is a great option for cook-it-yourself BBQ, but gets quite expensive for dinner. Ha and I took advantage of its lunch deal.

Japanese / Sushi

While not a sit-down place, Osaka Sushi Express & Fresh Fruit Smoothies is Ha’s pick – it has the best cost / quality value proposition and is located near Grant Park, Downtown. For more of a true social dinner experience, Sunda in Downtown is a great alternative, but will get pricey. Ha and I could only do the lunch special there. Kabuki Japanese Restaurant in Lincoln Park was just ok for me, but is BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer).

Korean

Gogi is the winner in this category by default (although I guess I could have included Dak and Crisp from the chicken wings section), but it is an excellent choice for Korean BBQ, having tried it myself and with it frequently visited by my Kellogg KWESTIE Jihyung Kim.

Mexican / Tacos / Burritos

L’ Patron Tacos is my favorite Taco place in the city – its taste really stood out for me. La Pasadita is a Chicago tradition and was well regarded in Five Thirty Eight’s Best Burrito in the United States competition, but I wasn’t a big fan – I felt the burrito was a bit salty. Ha loves Big & Little’s Restaurant (Belmont) for its fusion tacos and soft-shell crab Po’Boy (below), and also likes Taco Joint, especially for its Chile Mango Margarita.

Middle Eastern / Mediterranean

Sultan’s Market (Wicker Park) is fantastic and cheap; Alhambra Palace, however on West Randolph, is the opposite – students went there during our first week at Kellogg, CIM Week.

Other

Here are some other places that I cannot quite categorize, but want to mention anyway, good and bad. The ones I recommend are in BOLD.

  • Beatrix – a good “American” restaurant. I do not know how else to describe the food, but very solid.
  • Bruges Brothers – despite the commotion and long lines over its Duck Fat fries during Taste of Chicago, I was not particularly impressed.
  • Dia De Los Tamales – tried a tamales during Taste of Chicago, nothing special.
  • Feed (Southern) – great roasted chicken.
  • Cafecito (Cuban Sandwiches, Downtown)
  • The Purple Pig – this place is very, very, popular, but I think it’s overrated and a bit expensive ($30 per person before drinks). Everyone loves the bone marrow here, but I suspect that these are people who did not grow up eating much bone marrow. I did, however, thus $15 for a bit of bone marrow seems excessive.
  • Garrett Popcorn Shops – shops are all over Downtown, very good popcorn, a Chicago treat!
  • Pierogi Heaven (Polish, Downtown) – Ha really liked this. I am more neutral but would give it another try.
  • Chick-fil-A / McDonald’s – I do not think I need to comment much on these. You likely have an opinion already.

Pizza

Although we seem to be in the minority on this, Giordano’s is both Ha and my favorite deep dish pizza. You do not need to go to Chicago for this, of course, as both Giordano’s and Lou Malnatti’s have locations in Evanston. The Art of Pizza is another good option, and for thin crust pizza, Ha and I are big fans of Blaze Fast Fire’d Pizza, which again, has a location in Evanston.

Thai

Kellogg friends Nancy Lee and Matt Shin introduced us to Aroy Thai Restaurant and even after trying out other city favorites in Opart Thai House Restaurant and Sticky Rice, I feel Aroy Thai to be the best.

Vietnamese

I should know Vietnamese food well, having grown up in a Vietnamese household and spending over 7 years as an adult in the country, but I cannot really recommend any specific Vietnamese place for Pho. They are all pretty similar to me, and not necessarily better or as good as anything in Vietnam or in Vietnamese-dense areas like San Jose. That said, I really like Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) and che (dessert dish) at Ba Le Bakery. Other places I have tried for various dishes include:  Little Vietnam, Le’s Pho, Tank Noodle Restaurant (Tank is the most well known place, with a great corner location), Little Vietnam, New Asia, Pho Viet, and Nha Hang Viet Nam. Ha is a Pho-elite, able to break down how different Pho broths are made and feels that most of the Pho’s in Chicago have too much MSG.

Desserts / Sweets

Cupcakes

Molly’s Cupcakes in Lincoln Park is definitely the favorite in the city, while Ha LOVES the Passion Passion Passion cupcake at More Cupcakes (Downtown). We enjoyed Ms Tittle‘s Cupcakes at The Taste of Chicago, and Sprinkles Cupcakes is known for its cupcake ATM machine, but is not unique to Chicago.

Donuts

Finding the best donuts became my personal passion over the summer, with Do-Rite Donuts & Chicken winning as my personal pick. Do-Rite also makes a highly regarded fried chicken sandwich. Glazed & Infused Doughnuts / Glazed & Infused Doughnuts and The Doughnut Vault are great options that I liked, but The Doughnut Vault almost always runs out before 12PM. Stan’s Donuts & Coffee is a popular stop around Chicago, but I did not like it as much as the others.

Ice Cream / Other Desserts

I liked the unique flavors at Black Dog Gelato (ex. Goat cheese cashew caramel), but Mindy’s Hot Chocolate is where to go if you are “MBA rich” and really want to have high-end dessert. Worth trying at least once. Other good options are Margie’s Candies / Margie’s Candies (there’s two) and Lickity Split Frozen Custard.

Hanging Out

This is a bonus section, as after all, after you eat, there should be something to do! I am not a big bar or club person, thus this section is a bit weak, but I do want to mention two places that I enjoyed, beer arcades, where you can play games and have a drink (without the juvenile experience at Dave and Buster’s).

Both Logan Arcade and Headquarters Beercade River North are highly recommended. Logan Arcade has Killer Queen, of which less than 10 machines exist in the world. It’s a 5 on 5 (required, not optional) team battle game that is hard to describe but easy to pick up. Only .25 cents to play and the community around the game is great. I came with a bunch of friends (not quite 5), and the other players were generous about teaching us the game and letting us play for free. It is very addictive.

Beercade, on the other hand, is Downtown and most of its arcade and pinball games are free. Thus, you can buy a drink and just relax and play whatever you want. Ha loves Pinball and can handle very little alcohol, thus she became a very cheap date here.

If you have questions about any of these places or would like to add your own recommendations, let me know in the comments below. Otherwise, enjoy and I hope this guide helps!

Driving in Fear in the Midwest Rain

Coming back to Chicago from Cleveland last week, it started raining. At first, this wasn’t anything special as I’ve driven in the rain plenty of times, but then we hit a spot in which it was raining so hard, I lost complete visibility. When the rain first started, I had already slowed down to around 60MPH and kept a distance of over 5 car lengths behind the car in front. We (Ha and I) then hit an area where that car completely disappeared and I could not even see the left (I was in the left-most lane) barrier to the freeway.

This was the scariest time I had ever experienced driving. My heart breaking out, sweat creeping out, I knew I needed to slow down, but I was fearful of the other cars around me. If I couldn’t even see the road or other cars, that would likely mean they couldn’t see me. Thus, it wouldn’t be a good idea to just stop in the middle of the freeway. However, to keep going would risk that I would hit someone else or drive into the barrier. I saw a car in another lane slowing down as I did with its caution blinkers on. I signaled to the right and slowly switched lanes to the right. I wanted to get off the road completely and stop, but I couldn’t even see it. I could only see my neighboring caution car and wanted to go along with him. During this entire time, I was expecting to get hit from behind – it is one thing to see a crash in front of you or have a few seconds of fear. I think this patch of rain was about a minute long, which may sound short, but is intensely terrifying if you are in it. When I finally got to the right most lane and was looking for a way to stop off the road, we passed the rain, and things became more reasonable in terms of visibility.

Since I am from the West Coast, I wonder if this type of rain happens to everyone in the Midwest area from time to time. All the cars involved were very lucky, and I hope no one got hurt. Keep in mind that this was around noontime, during the day. If this had happened at night, I don’t know if there is any way we could have avoided an accident.