If you only have a day of sightseeing in Chicago like we did, you may want to follow what we did: start your journey at Millennium Park and then walk towards Navy Pier. You'll see loads of the noteworthy architecture in the city on foot. Then when you're at Navy Pier, book yourself a seat at their Architecture Boat Tour. I booked mine via Viator.com and I saved about US$5. If you use my referral link https://www.viator.com/raf/CS2M25ROZ, you'll get US$10 credits!

Anyway, back to the sights. Chicago is home to skyscrapers and they're really the city that birthed skyscrapers. Love how each building has a story and how they're influenced by the architect's philosophy as well as trends.

The roof of this building is meant to resemble a cathedral

Post-modern Trump Tower

Did you know that the founder of Chicago is actually a Haitian named Jean Baptiste Point du Sable? As a passerby commented, he's the founder but his memorial statue/bust is one of the smallest in the city. However, this reminds us that USA was built by immigrants from all over the world. Not just white Caucasians. Plus reminded me the Haiti was a French Colony. Which explains the very French name.



This building has stones from other landmarks all over the world! I really hope that they got them legally...but anyway, I don't think they can be removed.


Walking further onto Navy Pier, we finally got onto our boat tour and it was a welcome respite because we've been walking since New York! Hahah. Not to mention that although Chicago is called the Windy City, it didn't get very windy for us when we were walking.

 And I'll now bombard you with tons of photos with no description just for you to enjoy...haha...


 

Outline of Chicago with the Red balcony marking where this building is

That's real gold on the roof!

I really really enjoyed the boat tour and it was only 1.5 hours long but you get a humourous guide telling you the history of the city, the history of the buildings and architects and you get to see another side of the buildings which you won't be able to do so by foot!

It has been a very full day and boy were we tired. Thank goodness Joanne decided to pack some sandwiches before we left. That really did help the stomach as our boat tour ended at 6pm but we reached our apartment only at 7pm. So...yup...pack some snacks, otherwise you'll have to buy expensive food at Navy Pier!