USA 37. CHICAGO, THE WINDY CITY.

Monday, September 22, 2014

We had been in the suburbs of Chicago for the weekend, visiting lots of Wright buildings and that amazing Mies van der Rohe "Farnsworth House" but on Monday we jumped in the train and headed into the famous "Windy City".

Des Plaines Art Deco.

With Amanda as our experienced guide we head into Chicago on the train. But weeks before we came to Chicago Alexandra had prepared an itinerary. So what are we going to see today?

Ok, should be busy...

But first, it never ceases to amaze me how every city comes up with a variation on public transport. Nothing unusual about double storey suburban trains but I have never seen this configuration before.

Just outside Union Station we encountered the first witnessing cart of the day.

Great to meet new friends this way.

And downstairs in the station, a witnessing table.

Chicago Union Station, opened in 1925, is the third-busiest rail terminal in the United States, after Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, both in New York City.

Stairs to the Great Hall.

Corinthian columns and marble polished floor. A ticket to Ancient Greece.

The impressive Great Hall.

This is what I expected in Chicago. Elevated railways.

Old and new. Detailed and minimalism.

The Chicago River. We will come back to that later.

Chicago bagel with Philadelphia cheese for brunch.

The second witnessing carts of the day.

Chicagos famous Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 442 m skyscraper. At completion in 1973, it surpassed the World Trade Center towers in New York to become the tallest building in the world, a title held for nearly 25 years.

Grant Park Buckingham Fountain, 1927, one of largest fountains in world.

Alexandra and Amanda.

North Harbor Tower, Harbor Point and Lake Point Tower

The 1972 CNA Center is a simple, rectangular International Style building, but it is unique in that the entire building was painted bright red, turning an otherwise ordinary-looking structure into one of the most eye-catching buildings in the city. Good truick.

Image on loan from Wikipedia.

Escaping the museum.

And what do you get for the city that has everything? In 2003 Paris came up with the perfect gift. This sinuous art nouveau replica of their own 1900 Paris Metro. Hopefully Chicago doesn't find out that Paris have exactly the same gift to Montreal.

http://lloydandalex.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/23-good-old-old-and-new-montreal.html

Look at this little guy, a hawk that patrols Grant Park and keeps the rodent population on its toes.

The larger than life 1928 bronze Bowman statue at the intersection of Congress Drive and Michigan Avenue in Grant Park commemorates the tribes that once roamed the Illinois parries.

Millennium Park Crown Fountain

Two 15 m high glass block towers facing each other (literally facing) across a very shallow black granite reflecting pool.

LED lights behind the glass blocks present the appearance of moving human faces. Over 1,000 Chicagoans were filmed for the LED videos displayed in the fountain.

A 12 metre high resin sculptures titled "Looking Into My Dreams." She does look etherial don't you think?

Cloud Gate, otherwise known as the Chicago Bean inspired by liquid mercury. This is one very impressive sculpture.

The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above.