MCC trips to explore city's ethnic neighborhoods

McHenry County College Trips and Tours Program features trips to Chicago ethnic neighborhoods.

Spend a day focusing on all things Italian or Polish in Chicago with two separate day trips offered by McHenry County College's Trips and Tours program.

Trips include Italian Day featuring Eataly Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 6 and Polish Day on Sept. 9. To register, call the MCC Registration Office at (815) 455-8588.

For more information, call Claudia Terrones at (815) 455-8782.

Italian Day: Features Eataly Chicago, an extraordinary market with 23 eateries. It's a 63,000-square-foot food wonderland, with mozzarella made twice an hour and a variety of fresh and dried pasta, extra-virgin olive oil from throughout Italy, meats, fish, cheeses, cookbooks and gifts. Enjoy lunch on your own as you browse through the market, shopping for goodies to take home.

The goal of Eataly is to encourage visitors to assemble an Italian meal at home with the finest and freshest ingredients.

Another highlight of the trip is a visit to the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, which celebrates the contributions of Italian American athletes from all over the U.S. Housed in the heart of Little Italy, visitors will be impressed with the scope of the collection.

Also, visitors can learn the history of The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, a neighborhood church on the city's Near West Side that represents the centerpiece of family life, and rich cultural diversity.

Trip leaves MCC at 8 a.m. and returns at 5 p.m. Aug. 6. Cost is $79. Register using Trip ID NST S27 008.

Polish Day: Polish Day in Chicago features a visit the Polish Museum of America, one of the largest and oldest ethnic museums in the United States.

With more than one million people, Chicago has the largest Polish community outside of Warsaw. Exhibits include Polonia stained glass, folk costumes, remarkably decorated eggs, paintings and sculptures. The museum shop sells a wide variety of Polish arts and crafts.

A delicious, hearty lunch buffet is included and features traditional Polish specialties at Red Apple, a restaurant where many of the patrons speak Polish.

Also visit St. Hyacinth's, the beautiful basilica where Polish immigrants attend Mass, which is still celebrated in Polish. Stop at a bakery to stock up on delicious Polish baked goods before heading home.

Trip leaves MCC at 8 a.m. and returns at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9. Cost is $99. Register using Trip ID NST S45 009.