Got an Official Postcrossing card from Illinois! I’m sure many of you have at least heard of this US city – it’s Chicago, the third-most populous city in the country (only behind NYC and Los Angeles)! Given its worldwide fame, it’s a bit daunting to come up with a satisfactory yet succinct post for it… but I’m gonna try! Chicago is an international center for things like culture, finance, technology, education, transportation, and trade. It amasses a walloping number of visitors year – in 2018, it was the second-most visited city in the country (NYC is always gonna slay in any contests to do with “people numbers”). This is helped by the fact that Chicago O’Hare International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, and I can attest to that given how many layovers I have there! Chicago is known for being the innovator of deep-dish pizza, which is pizza with a really thick but soft crust which makes it more like a pie. It’s also known for its incredible density of skyscrapers, to include the Willis Tower, which is was the tallest building in the world between 1973 and 1996 (it’s also shown here on the card – naturally, it’s the tallest one!) The world’s first skyscraper also originated in Chicago! This would be the Home Insurance Building, constructed in 1884, and it’s the very first building to be deemed as a skyscraper. To the northeast of the city is Lake Michigan, one of the country’s five Great Lakes. Because of the city’s position by this enormous lake, there are a ton of really cool beaches… which is kind of unique because the lake is like a freshwater ocean! No more salty wipeouts! On the flip side, being so close to the lake makes for some really cold winters and heavy snowfall. Better stock up on some steaming deep-dish pizza if you wanna weather the cold here! Thank you so much for sharing this neat postcard with me!
