 |
Chicago Worth Looking Up To
Chicago needs superlatives to describe it.
Probably the greatest outdoor museum of modern architecture in the
world, it’s home to three of the world’s tallest buildings, to
twenty-six Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses, and to the only river to
flow backwards! The great fire of 1871 was the opportunity of a fresh
start for Chicago, when out of that inferno they built a city that
redefined architecture. Just take a walk down Michigan Avenue and you’ll
see what I mean: from beaux-arts-style hotels in the north to the deluxe
apartments of East Lake Shore district, the architecture is stunning.
 Few waterside cities use their inland sea or
their shoreline so well. It has twenty-nine miles of beaches and
lakefront trails for jogging, walking, skating, and biking, lapped by
the waves of Lake Michigan, the fifth largest lake in the world. When
it’s too cold for the beach there are more than 500 parks linked by
tree-lined boulevards, a botanic garden, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the
second largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist
paintings outside of The Louvre in The Art Institute of Chicago.
The 110-storey Sear’s Tower, at 1454 feet is
the highest occupied tower in the world, and ground to top in the
super-fast lift takes 70 seconds. It lures 1.5 million people a year for
a stunning overview of the city from its Skydeck. The second must-see is
the 1000-foot Hancock Tower where you can walk the Skywalk and listen to
the talking telescopes. On the ground is the world’s largest aquarium
(the John G. Shedd) with its glass-walled Oceanarium containing sharks,
sea horses and a world beating collection of jellyfish. Right next door
is the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum – great for all ages.
This is a city of theatres with a hotbed of
theatre talent, from improvisation in upstairs venues and pre-Broadway
try-outs, to world class companies like Steppenwolf. The forerunner of
all comedy clubs, The Second City, offers cutting-edge satire in
a theatre-club atmosphere where you can eat and drink, or if your taste
runs to confessionals and fist-fights you can join the audience at an
Oprah Winfrey show, (tickets at 1058 W. Washington St. Tel: 312-591-9222
– taping Tuesday to Thursday when show is in production), or The Jerry
Spring Show (tickets 454 N. Columbus Drive, Tel: 312-321-5365).
 The city has great jazz clubs, the best lying
between 31st and 39th streets on State Street. The oldest is the
Green Mill where Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin drank bootleg
gin courtesy of Al Capone whose picture beams from behind the bar. Jazz
fans will head for Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, blues
archive and photo gallery, located in the recording studio on S.
Michigan Avenue, which brought the world the first Rolling Stones record
and the sounds of Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Bo Diddley.
At the last count there were 5,894
restaurants in the city from Argentinian to the Chicagoan speciality –
deep-dish pizza. It goes without saying that there are discos, clubs,
and nightlife to suit all ages is plentiful, but did you know that
Chicago is a great place for designer shopping. Head for Magmile, or
Michigan Avenue, if you’re of a mind to bend the plastic seriously and
don’t forget to pop into Marshall Fields, the second largest department
store in the USA after Maceys. Bling lovers will head for Wabash Avenue,
otherwise known as Jewellers’ Row.
There is just too much to do. For advice on
where to go and how to get there, pop into the Visitor Centre for a cup
of tea and a chat about the “Chicago Greeters” programme and to pick up
maps and information. If time is limited, then sample the architectural
tours on a Greyhound bus, have afternoon tea at The Drake Hotel, take a
trip along Lakeshore Drive, ride the Loop with your get on and get off
ticket, and take a river cruise (May till October) before visiting one
of the city’s most popular places, the Navy Pier. If you have kids with
you there’s a ferris wheel, an Imax cinema, a theatre, an ice-skating
rink and old-style American cooking that won’t upset anyone.
When Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked over the
hurricane lamp and started that fire, it did us all a favour – it gave
us modern Chicago. |
|
