Chicago

Chicago - The Windy City, once Al Capone's home - and now Chicago's crime rate is lower than in many other cities. Besides Al Capone and John Dillinger you might think of butcheries; but there are just ruins left.


The city seems to be more than "just modern", it pulses and lives with an iron, steady heartbeat. We were lucky to confirm this description, despite the fact that we neglected the night time a little bit.

Now, let's see, what we actually did:

An Undergraduate's Quick Guide To Chicago

 

1.0 The Museum of Science and Industry - The Top of Action

The first thing you do, visiting one of the great museums in Chicago, is to line up as fast as it's possible. Then you can start thinking about the ticket you buy. Luckily, we already decided and bought a CityPass, which is really recommendable as you save about 49% and get many additional features when you visit the five museums or sights.

Inside the largest science museum of the western hemisphere you can explore a German submarien from the Second World War as well as an original coal mine. We visited neither ;-) since there was a free ride with a flight simulator, a great 3D-film about space junk (an underestimated problem just above our atmosphere) and another good film about the destruction of coral reefs.
Don't worry, we did not only watch one documentation after another: A great exhibition about storms and their development caught our attention and the "art of a bicycle" is what I would call a mixutre of modern art and amazing (or amusing ;)) technology.
Unfortunately some of the explanations were not the most precise or accurate ones, but the show about it was fantastic! (Maybe my perspective is a little bit biased due to my universitiy subject ;-))

Just be careful, science is so cool that you might spent three hourse or longer in this museum! And, then, add the time for the journey - the museum is not directly located at downtown with the other ones (see the following texts); nevertheless it's a nice view from there.

2.0 The Adler Planetarium - Our Cosmic History

On the next day we headed for the Adler Planetarium, also a very interactive and multifaceted museum about our galaxy and beyond. Again, a 3D-film was scheduled and we even attended survey by a university student who researched the learning effect by 3D-presentations compared to the 2D ones. I've no idea how we performed, but at least a family was happy about the film vouchers :-)

2.0 The Shedd Auqarium -  Fascinating, But Captured Life

Bach on earth we only crossed the street to arrive at Shedd. But for this enjoyment you have to survive the queue. Fortunately, due to our CityPass, we were able to skip most of this queue and our waiting time was reduced to about twenty minutes:

Nevertheless, it's worthwhile standing out there; in the huge building you can find any type of fish, frog or shrimp you made up during the waiting. The exhibitions cover the Great Lakes, the Amazon (I understood why amazon.com chose this name) and special creatures like flabby jellies. If you need a break, there's a round Caribbean Reef you can sit around and observe fish doing a headstand (to show off his skills or to express his boredom since the basin's diameter is not that large and he isn't the only one in there).

3.0 The Field Museum - A Firefly's Glow

The last of the three great museum giants near Grant Park at the very center of the city is the Field Museum - somehow hiding a lot of interesting things behind the word "Field": Three exhibition halls, many continuous exhibits and (of course, how else?) a 3D-theater.

Our CityPass bestowed us a 3D-show about the best preserved mammoth baby Lyuba. Just a month old it was drowned and after 40 000 years discovered by a reindeer herder in the Siberian mountains.
We watched out for her in the "Evolving Planet" excursion, but we just saw the "tyrannosaurus rex" in the foyer (it's the largest and most complete one ever digged out).
Probably most astonishinng impression was left by the bioluminescence samples. We didn't only realise that fireflies coud glow, but also that jellies might light up and so many kind of fish that I wondered the ocean doesn't shine.

3.0 Skydeck -  A View on an Infinite City

412 m above the streets - that's a nice 360°-perspective. Let's take the "above the streets" literally and thus we watched cars passing directly under our feet (mh, almost, we've been in the 103rd floor). That was indeed scary and I'm happy that nobody started jumping, while we stood on one of the ledges of Chicago's highest building, the Willis Tower (ranked second highest in the US, ninth in the world).

4.0 Navy Pier  -  Chicago's Leisure 

Being used to the "just fun" or "just boat" piers from Europe the Navy Pier acted in a quite multifunctional way: Apparently built to settle down the chaos which developed out of the shipping traffic the Pier also became a gathering place (with an own theater etc.). During the Second World War the Navy used it as a training center.
But now it's primarily an amusement park with a chairoplane, Ferris wheel and many other tourist attractions, distributed among the 1km of the Pier's length; at the end we watched the ship of the rich and famous passing by - some of their boats enjoyed the privilege to were dock directly at the Pier's side.

4.0 A River Cruise - Highlights of Modern Architecture

I'm afraid, our fabulous CityPass didn't house a river tour, so we had to face the regular fees for any sight (around 28$). But the cruise was worth its price: Since 60% of Chicago were burned down in 1871, especially the river side has been a playground for renowned architects. There've been so many that I am not able to remember all of them (this is of course not due to my memory skills ;-)).
Still there are some fun facts as the pure existence of car elevators, so you don't have to store your limousine downstairs. If you prefer your boat or sailing yacht savely stored just around, you should consider an appartement with a marina below the building.

Merchandise Mart

style of West Wacker Drive

The Merchandise Mart (left) was once owned by the Kennedy family who made a great deal with it. Indeed, the building was so large that it had an own zip code until 2008.

Mirroring its surrounding the West Wacker Drive and similar buildings (right) represent a mix of modern and classical design.

skyline seen from the river to Lake Michigan

5.0 Millenium Park - Art

I'm sorry - for visiting Millenium Park so late and then just posting "Art" in the headline... Munch would scream! ;-) Nevertheless, at some time in your life you just seek a bean and we found the bean (sorry! Just a philistine's first impression):

Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor at AT&TPlaza

Of course it's actually called Cloud Gate and is famous for its warping mirroring effects - the experience of "somewhere-inbetween" is conveyed well; you nearly get lost inside the Gate:

Inside/Under the Cloud Gate

(Oh, I love Physics, don't you? ;-))

Luckily we watched many families with (sometimes) bored children, but fortunately there's the refreshing Crown Fountain which chases off any art-refusal and heat (there is a 5-cm deep pool from one block to the other). The Wow-effect dominated the first few seconds and then we identified huge faces on the block's screen! Just be careful, they might spit water... The artist actually wanted to show the dualism of light and water and I think, yes, that's been successful.

Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa

A little further we did not only stumble across a bean, but also across some mushrooms. I'll try to find out why they came into existence (apparently that's been just a temporary exhibition):

Something we definitely could not miss was the huge "concert hall" (actually it's the Jay Pritzker pavilion) designed by Frank Gehry offering space for 11 000 people (7 000 of them will sit on a lawn attached to the seats). It's anther fascinating piece of architecture - and that's probably an understatement: The Chicago Tribune noted "The most celebrated architect in the world may soon have a chance to bring Chicago into the 21st Century".

6.0 The Water Tower - And Some Other Places To See

There are many things in life you can collect: Stamps, your own teeth and - Hard Rock Café pins or shirts or caps or Idunnowhat. Even if you aren't into piling needles you have to visit the on in Chicago (1 out of 175 worldwide, now there are even Hard Rock Hotels belonging to the same chain; one of thes hotels is located here, too).

Hard Rock Café with biggest McDonald's in the background

I nearly forgot: We're in the US, so there is one superlative next to the other: The formerly Original Rock 'N Roll McDonald's was once the busiest McDonald's in the US. Now it's still busy, of course, but Russia can count twice as many visitors in one year.

After a quite filling meal (and a veggie-burger with s mushroom which made it look like a real hambuerger) we rolle around to the water tower. We had passed it already a few times, however, we didn't recognize it ;-) (the architect, William Boyington might have been a little bit angry...) But for the citizens in 1871 when the great fire burned down Chicago the water tower was one of the few remaining landmarks. Thus, it became a symbol of Chicago's "I will"-spirit.

Oh, no, it was already around 7 pm after Summer Dancing and we decided to leave for Andy's Jazz Bar, which my supervisor had recommended. I haven't been too sure if I was a fan of jazz, but we had to try it ... to pay 5$ just as an entry fee ;-) Retrospectively that was fair, since the music was proper jazz and the food was more than edible. Just don't ask me, if I will return... Sometimes we weren't sure, when we were supposed to clap. To sum up: Jazz is interesting :-)