The Windy City

After Alan & Laura's wedding the famous five (Moira, Mary, Florence, Danny & Steve) all headed to Chicago........... I went too of course (I know that makes it six!!).
After dropping the hire car off at Wisconsin's Madison Airport we all boarded Mary & Steve's minivan and drove the 150 miles to Chicago, Illinois. When I say 'we' drove I meant Steve drove, and it was through some horrendous downpours of rain and heavy traffic on the approach to Chicago so thanks very much Steve........you are a hero.
The weather cleared up just as we approached the centre of Chicago, which allowed us a distant view of the Chicago skyline:


Appoaching Chicago

We were staying at the Congress Plaza Hotel which was right in the centre of Chicago, facing on to the park and Lake Michican. Needless to say we could not afford a lakeside room but instead had a room facing the back of the hotel. Not that we were complaining as it was a large room with queen-sized beds and a commanding view of the Sears Tower (the highest building in USA) and Chicago Public Library (which I believe was part inspiration for Gotham City in the Batman stories). Mary & Steve and Florence & Danny had rooms round the side of the hotel with less picturesque views.
Here is some photos of the view from our window:


Night View from our window



Gotham City Library

The first evening we were there we went out for a bite to eat then had a night-time stroll through the park area that leads down to Lake Michican. It's this parkland that I think makes Chicago so special, with the lake on one side and the skyscrapers of Chicago on the other side you don't get the closed-in feeling of being in a large city, but you have all the city-like amenities such as bars and restaurants close at hand.
The park area is probably best appreciated during the day but here is a few snaps from our night-time stroll (by way of explanation the Chicago Bears were playing some sort of American Football that night and local support was in the usual understated Chigaco style):


Go Bears!!

Stroll in the Park by Monet

I have to say that the Bears have nothing to do with Traquair (at least I don't think so?), and it isn't a Monet just a dodgy photograph.
Strolling through the parkland in the evening was fun but to see it at its best you have to go there during the day. The parkland is split into several different areas with roads and cycle ways running through the middle of it (so you have to be on your toes) and a railway line running under it.
Our hotel was on Michican Avenue which runs along the West side of the parkland area making ideal for exploring both the city and the parkland area. There were lots of interesting things to see in the parks including many statues, such as the Native Americans on horseback located directly in front of our hotel. One was throwing an imaginary spear and the other had an imaginary bow and arrow (I think it was to demonstrate the futility or war, or something like that). Apparently they are both naked, but I did not look that close. Here is a photo of one of the statues in front of our hotel:



Spearless (and Pantless) Rider

Another very interesting sculpture (I think it is classified as a sculpture?) in a part called Millennium Park is 'The Cloud Gate'..........commonly called 'The Bean' as it resembles a giant silver bean.
By giant I mean GIANT as it is so big that you can walk under it, and you can get a great panoramic view of the city in its reflection.
Whether it looks like a jelly, coffee or baked bean you can decide for yourself:


Posing by the Bean

 Although the park area was busy there were a few places where it was a little quieter and you could 'chill out' such as along the waterfront and in a little fountain garden next to the Institute of Art:



Peaceful Fountain Garden

Chicago is not just made up of parks however, it does have one or two architectural wonders (that means interesting buildings to you and me!) and we took a trip in an open top bus one day, and a river cruise on another day, in order to appreciate these wonders.
Don't worry I'm not going to show you dozens of photos of skyscrapers, but I have selected a few I think you might be interested in. In general these are older buildings, or ones that I thought were particularly unique or quirky.
The first is the Wrigley Building built in the 1920's..............it's amazing what you can make out of chewing gum:



Wrigley Building

The next two towers form part of Marina City and on close inspection you will see that there is a marina at the bottom to park your boat, a car park on the next few floors to park your car and above that apartments to park your backside..................how clever is that!.........this was built in the crazy 60's of course:

 

 

Sorry that was on video but I didn't have any still photos of the Marina City Towers, hopefully you managed to view it OK.
There are many more fascinating sky-scrapers in Chicago, but I found myself drawn to a few unusual buildings when we were on the boat. These were bridge-houses, of which there are many as Chicago has a lot of bridge crossings where the river snakes through the city. In the past some of the bridges could open to allow tall sailing ships through and the bridge-houses contained all the machinery to lift or swing the bridges.
Here is a few examples of the quaint little (and not so little) bridge-houses:

Pretty Bridge-house



Not-so-pretty Bridge-house



Impressive Bridge-house

I could have done a whole blog posting on Chicago Bridge-houses but I resisted.
When on the open-top tour bus we also saw some interesting buildings which were not sky-scrapers, this included the Rainforest Cafe, complete with giant plastic frog (not sure how eco-friendly that is?)



Wonder if they do Frog's Legs on Toast

And there was the Redhead Piano Bar (I liked the sign!!) You will also notice the Excalibur Club in the background complete with large fire-breathing dragon above the entrance. Apparently it's some sort of adults club so I wasn't allowed in:


The Redhead Piano Bar

Anyway that's about all from Chicago, with the minor exception of our trip up the Willis (formally Sears) Tower, the tallest building in the USA.........so if you are squeamish about heights stop reading the blog now!!........

Here is a photo of the Willis Tower taken from the tour boat, it's not a great photo but you may be able to make out on the 103rd floor (that's about 10 floors from the top) a couple of green-house type structures sticking out from the side of the building:



Willis Tower from Boat

 The express lift takes you (and fifty other brave passengers) from the ground floor to the 103rd floor some 1,353 feet up in about 50 seconds............... that's two floors (or 27 feet)per second!!.
On the 103rd floor is the Skydeck observation area and the views are breath-taking. Here is just one view looking North-east towards the other skyscraper which look tiny from this height:


Chicago Scrapers from Willis Tower

Remember those little green-house type structures I pointed out? Well they are in fact glass boxes known as 'The Ledge' and if you were wondering what sort of view you get from them:

On the Ledge

 Quite a view I think you will agree and stepping out on to these glass floors is very disconcerting when you are that high up.
If you want to share in this experience watch this video I took (best sit down first):

 

 

 



Well that's it from Chicago, It's definitely a place I would recommend for a visit should you ever get the chance.
I'm off for a lie down now................that video has made my legs shaky!!

Cheers

Teddy Edward