Happy New Year, Hive people!!
My Christmas and New Year's this year were a little different from our family traditions since, due to some circumstances, the three of us couldn't be together for this Holidays, so my husband and I decided that I would visit my son in Chicago for Christmas. We've had an incredible few days, even though we missed to be together the three of us. But my holiday break is over and tomorrow I have to go back.
To start the year, I want to share a little bit of the magic of Chicago in December. A few weeks ago, when I first arrived, we made our first visit to Downtown.
The Chicago River and the buildings around it looked majestic at dusk. And luckily, when we crossed one of the bridges over the river, we caught a glimpse of the Chicago subway, known as the L, decorated with lights for the holidays.
Let me get a little closer so you can see the L with its Christmas lights.
We were on our way to Portillo's to eat a Chicago-style hot dog, which I'll show you one of these days;)
After having a couple of hot dogs, we walked along the Loop to Daley Plaza to visit the Christkindlmarket, Chicago's traditional German-style Christmas market.
The market was packed with people, even though it wasn't a weekend.
But despite the crowds, we managed to have a cup of Glühwein, a spiced mulled wine traditionally drunk in Germany and other European countries in winter, and especially at Christmas markets.
It was delicious, and we have the cups as a souvenir of these special days.
After browsing around the market stalls, we headed out onto the street.
But not before taking a few more photos of the market from outside.
In the square where the market is held, there is a sculpture by Picasso. Can you see it?
From there we went to see the Chicago's Christmas tree, which is put up every year in Millennium Park. It was beautiful and huge with its dazzling lights!
A closer look at the magnificent Christmas tree and a view of Michigan Avenue in this part of the Loop.
Our next stop was a traditional pub in Chicago's Loop, but I'll tell you more about that next Beer Saturday.
To wrap things up for today and get the year off to a good start at Hive, a little power up at the beginning of the month. Happy HPUD!
May the new year bring you and your families good health, peace, joy, and prosperity. Happy New Year!🥂🎉
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Thank you for reading.
All images and writing are my own unless otherwise stated.
© CoquiCoin
January 1, 2026
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