I had been eager to visit Chicago for years, not least of all because of the array of TV shows and Films that are set here. (ER, Prison Break, The Good Wife, Divergent.) And all those aerial views over the river, with all the bridges are just breathtaking. I wanted to see that for myself. But I also knew it would have a different feel to a lot of the other cities we'd visited in the states and there was something so alluring for me, that this year's trip just had to include Chicago.
Okay, so to day one, for us this was dedicated to Downtown, taking in the architecture, The Bean, and lots of art and sculptures around the centre. Once in the centre or The Loop if you want to sound knowledgeable, the city is wonderfully walkable. But there is also the network of El trains - elevated trains - running around the loop and out to various suburbs and the airport. The El trains are fabulous and I urge you to use them as much as possible. Besides you might have a few ER flashback moments which are always fun. There is a decent bus network too, and other two decker trains called Metra trains. Basically public transport is awesome and you don't need a car in this city. Check out the CTA - Chicago Transit Authority - website for more information, time tables and tickets available: http://www.transitchicago.com/
At Halsted Station/Orange line, working out a plan.
Our train bound for The Loop.
A lot of Downtown's allure comes with the architecture and there are many walking tours suggested in the various guides you can pick up. If you head to the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF), you can book a tour from an expert who will verse you on all things Chicago. There are also architecture boat trips, so if architecture is a passion and a love of yours, then you can fully explore it in Chicago. Learn more about CAF and their tours here: https://www.architecture.org/experience-caf/tours/ If, like us, you are utilising Speed Tourism or just simply want to stroll around and see things for yourself, then there are great walking tours suggested in the Lonely Planet Guide to Chicago and on websites such as: http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/chicago-tours/ and http://www.evisitorguide.com/chicago/metrowalkz/ and http://www.walkchicagotours.com/
There are of course lots of choices, so just pick the best one for you, and off you go!
Approaching the city. Wow.
Our Walking Tour
So this is the route we took, with some guidance from Lonely Planet and some detours of our own, in the interest of exploring as much as we could in one day.
We hopped off the train at Washington/Wells, which was a perfect place to start our tour, of course stopping for a coffee and cake first. A block away is the County building and Chicago City Hall, on the corner of Washington and La Salle. This huge building, with flags waving was bustling this Saturday morning, with lots of weddings.
Chicago City Hall
Continuing North on La Salle, you'll see the James R Thompson building, or the curvy building, as I liked to call it. You can find out more about the curvy building, here: http://www.theatriumchicago.com/ It wasn't open as we passed it, but the atrium looked pretty cool, so if you can get in, just for a goosey gander, I would.
James R Thompson Center (US spelling)/Curvy building.
Take a right onto Randolph Street and you'll pass around the side of the James R Thompson Center, to find a wonderful sculpture sitting outside, awaiting your perusal: Monument with Standing Beast by Jean Dubuffet. It is a hands on piece and you might have to wait your turn behind several giddy kids to enjoy your own exploration. It's lovely to see such art out there, for everyone to enjoy.
https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/under_the_picassoschedule.html
Side view. You'll have to go and see it yourself for the frontal view, or just google image it.
The plaza, looking over to City Hall, complete with trees and fountains.
Across the road, directly opposite Untitled, sits a beautiful Miro sculpture and in The Sarky traveller household, Miro is one of our favourites, so we were super excited by this. Directly behind it is a very interesting curved bench, which you can sit on and actually take in all three sculptures you've just seen, from a great vantage point.
Miro's Chicago, originally named: The Sun, The Moon and One Star.
The Millipede Bench, look at all those legs.
At Miro, we headed east on Washington to find the Reliance Building, sixteen stories of glass and white terracotta.
Marshall Fields, now Macy's.
The 6000 ft dome by Louis Comfort Tiffany. View from below at Cosmetics.
Take the lift up to the top and take a closer look.
The beautiful original lifts.
Guess what's on four?
A fountain, why not.
Where do you want to go next?
As it was close to Halloween, we were very much enjoying the Lower Ground Floor and its candy shops. Lots of spooktacular treats.
We exited Macy's on the corner of State and Randolph, a short walk from the iconic Chicago theatre sign, a photo op if ever there was one.
Wrigley Square dwarfed by sky scrapers.
Jay Prtizer Pavilion. An amazing venue for a summer concert.
Crown Fountain. He he. She's spitting on me.
Ah, The Bean. An absolute marvel.
The Sarky Traveller through The Bean.
A walk around Millennium Park will take you past an array of sculptures, some interesting bridges, the lovely Lurie Garden with its traditional prairie grasses and flowers, all the way to the Art Institute of Chicago. Sadly when we were there, there was a gourmet food festival happening and the BP Bridge was closed. But we did enjoy the giant heads.
We didn't have enough time to stop for the art gallery, but if you'd like to work that into your schedule and find out more, you can check out the website here: http://www.artic.edu/. So we headed off through Butler Field past its Music Shell to get our first glimpse of Lake Michigan.
Buckingham Fountain.
Next stop was the huge Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. What I loved about this was the amount of space. The fountain itself if huge, but the square surrounding it is even bigger and just gives you this sense of space and freedom, whilst still being slap bang in the centre of the city.
After this we wandered through Grant Park towards Michigan Avenue, about seven blocks South of where we started in Millennium Park. We crossed over the Metra station with its two storey trains to meet up with Congress Parkway and to find a spot of lunch.
Van Buren Metra Station.
The architecture of Michigan Avenue.
We thank you Lonely Planet guide as you directed us to the wonderful Cafecito, a Cuban sandwich place on East Congress Parkway, a stone's throw from the Chicago Public Library. You have to try this place! http://www.cafecitochicago.com/. It's awesome! It's even open late Monday to Friday (9pm), so if you fancy a mighty sandwich for dinner then so be it. Enjoy.
His.
Mine.
Yum yum.
After lunch we shimmied on to the Harold Washington Library, which was practically next door to Cafecito. I love to explore other libraries around the world, but if books aren't your thing, you should still wander up to the ninth floor where a beautiful Winter Garden awaits you.
The entrance hall. Pretty impressive,
The Winter Garden on Floor 9. Wow.
After our literary jaunt, we sauntered back on ourselves a little, ending up on Jackson Boulevard facing the Art Institute of Chicago, to take in some important sights, including the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF), and the Route 66 sign.
A short walk onto East Adams Street and you'll bump into this gem, the historic start of Route 66. Now I've seen the beginning and the end, having been lucky enough to visit Santa Monica Pier a couple of years earlier.
Inside CAF, you'll find an interactive 3D model of the city.
These are on the lifts (elevators), to tell you which floor. I mean come on, that is gorgeous.
As I mentioned earlier in the blog, tours are run from here. There are walking tours and boat tours and exhibitions. There is also a great design and gift shop, so it's well worth making a stop here. CAF is on South Michigan Avenue, between East Jackson Boulevard and East Adams Street, opposite the Chicago Institute of Art. You won't be able to miss it.
Now the next few blocks between Adams and Dearborn, and Adams and Franklin, boast a host of architectural gems, another incredible sculpture and lots of financial buildings. And some of them are pretty darn big and pretty darn impressive. And so, we took a stroll.
The Chicago Federal Centre, with a strange Flamingo in front of it.
The Fisher Building.
Further North on Dearborn is the Marquette Building. You can get in the lobby here and check out the mosaics of French explorer Jacques Marquette. There is also a nice exhibition on the ground floor that tells you more about the building and its construction.
Back on Adams Street heading west, we passed by the Rookery. There are tours available at certain times, so check out the website, as the interior by Frank Lloyd Wright is breathtaking: http://cal.flwright.org/tours/rookery
Looking down La Salle Street to The Chicago Board of Trade. Also on this street is the Federal Reserve Bank and the Money Museum. And you are also only a couple of blocks away from Willis Tower, one of Chicago's biggest and most visited sky scrapers. Sadly when we arrived there was a two hour wait - clearly mid-afternoon on a Saturday was a bad idea - so we decided to postpone our Willis tower visit and go back to our accommodation for a rest before the evening excitement began.
Quincy El Train Station. So much wood. So beautiful.
So, for our first night in Chicago, we did want needed to be done: ate a shit load of food and listened to the Blues. But on our way back into the city, we managed to catch this incredible sun set:
This time we changed for the red line at Roosevelt, and took it to Grand, ending up in the Near North neighbourhood. There we took a short walk to the Midwest institute that is Portillos, on the corner of Clark and Ontorio: http://www.portillos.com/ Think fast food, think Chicago dogs - and I don't mean the fluffy kind - think Italian American fare, and imagine all of this in a chaotic bustle of eating frenzy, and you've pretty much summed up Portillos. It's also great fun, very family friendly and cheap and cheerful. You can choose from an array of foods on offer, so there's definitely something to tickle every one's fancy, and you can finish the meal off with frozen custard - yet another Midwest wonder - yes that's right, I said frozen custard. And it's so bloody good!
Gangster themed, bustling diner.
My first Chicago dog.
After our meal we took Clark Street South for two blocks, to the Blues venue: Blue Chicago. Granted we arrived a little early, but that didn't bother us, especially when cocktails were $5 and extremely strong. You have to be over twenty one to enter, and they will check IDs, so make sure you have one on you, and the cover charge is £10/12, depending on which day you attend. But considering the music goes on until the early hours of the morning, this is a tiny sum to pay.
http://www.bluechicago.com/ Check out the schedule and find out about the venue and its legacy at the website.
We were lucky enough to see Charlie Love, JW Williams and Laretha Weathersby.
Okay, so that was day one. Over fifteen Kilometres walked, a pretty extensive tour of The Loop, a little peek at the lake, and some classic Chicago food and entertainment. Not bad really. And three more days to go.
Join me next time, when I'll be taking the Riverwalk, exploring Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Lincoln Park Zoo, eating some Chicago Style Deep Pan Pizza and much, much more.
The Sarky Traveller
