19-5-2010(Wednesday) Chicago
This article is the continue of last article on Navy Pier. After Navy Pier, we went to Michigan Avenue, the place is also called Magnificent Miles for its upmarket shopping. We started from John Hancock Building, the floor that sell camera, computers, and other electronic goods. By walking down the street from John Hancock until the crown fountain in Millennium Park. Along the Michigan Avenue are numerous upscale stores, the shopping heaven for Chicago City.
The Magnificent Miles & Near North Side
View Larger Map
After leaving Navy Pier, we walk along the beach shore, and crossed the highway to the neighborhood of Near North Side. The neighborhood is an upper market residential area, which is closed to Magnificent Avenue. A kind American Japanese who just finished her shopping, guided us to the John Hancock Center. We walk along N Lake Shore Drive, which is a highway, toward Northwestern University Department building after crossing E Huron Street. We then turn westward into E Chicago Avenue, where the Northwestern University Medical School is located. The Lake Shore Park is opposite the medical school, after the park is Museum of Contemporary Art. We said good bye to the good Japanese lady when she left for her apartment around East Pearson St. John Hancock Building is nearby at Michigan Avenue. From East Pearson St we come to the junction of Michigan Avenue, where the historical Water Tower Place is located. The Visitor Center is located there. By walking another block, crossing E Chestnut St is the location of John Hancock Center, opposite is the old Fourth Presbyterian Church. Not far away walking southward is the City Gallery- Water Tower.
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot (344 m) tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan. When the building topped out on May 6, 1968, it was the tallest building in the world outside New York City. It is currently the fourth-tallest building in Chicago and the sixth-tallest in the United States, after the Willis Tower, the Empire State Building, the Bank of America Tower, the Trump Tower Chicago, and the Aon Center. Chicago 3rd tallest building, after Willis, Trump Tower. When measured to the top of its antenna masts, it stands at 1,506 feet (459 m). The building is home to offices and restaurants, as well as about 700 condominiums and contains the third highest residence in the world, after the Trump Tower also in Chicago and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This skyscraper was named for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, a developer and original tenant of the building
The 95th floor has long been home to a restaurant, the latest tenant being "The Signature Room on the 95th Floor." While patrons dine, they can look out at Chicago and Lake Michigan. John Hancock Center's Observatory attraction (called John Hancock Observatory) competes with the Willis Tower's Skydeck across town. John Hancock Center is in the heart of Michigan Avenue, a prime tourist hotspot in Chicago, while the Willis Tower is in the financial district. John Hancock Observatory is complete with full 360 degree views of the city, up to four states and over 80 miles. The floor-to-ceiling windows leaves nothing between you and the view. The Observatory has Chicago's only open-air SkyWalk, where they took our 80 feet of windows and put in NASA-approved steel casing so you can feel what it's like to be outside more than 1,000 feet up. There's a History Wall with exhibits about the City of Chicago from its first settlers up to the completion of John Hancock Center
The observatory is at 94th floor. The admission of US$21 per adult, including general admission ticket, Open air sky walk, and Exclusive JHO View 360 souvenir. Fast track is US$29 per adult. The general admission ticket is US$15 per adult.
We did not go to the observatory, as we have been to Willis Tower. But we did go into the building and rest at the shop for sometime, looking out of their glass window to the Michigan Avenue. The real window shopping.....
http://www.johnhancockcenterchicago.com/Index3.htm
http://www.hancockobservatory.com/en/
Willis Tower entrance is expensive, John Hancock is also fee paying. Some tips to have bird view of the city, but avoid paying entrance fee for budget travelers:
1.Go to the Signature Lounge 95th floor, get a Coke and experience the view while avoiding the admission fee for the observation deck only a few stories up.
Note: You can spend $10-11 and visit the official observation deck on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building, or you can wait in another line, sometimes shorter, and always free line to go to the Bar/Lounge on the 95th Floor.
The view isn't as dramatic with tables, and bars and people sprawled along the window seats, but for the budget traveler, or drinker, you can get a 2nd-rate view and spend your $10 on a couple of expensive drinks.
2. Another alternative to avoid paying fee is to spring for a sinfully delicious dinner at La Cite`, the fabulous round restaurant on top of Lake Point Tower (the wave-shaped glass building across the street from Navy Pier). Prix fixe menu. This is Champagne and Chateaubriand heaven. For daytime views at a more modest cost Sunday brunch is sometimes offered.
3. Buy Chicago Pass, not total avoidance, but to save cost.
The Chicago Water Tower
The Chicago Water Tower is a contributing property in the Old Chicago Water Tower District landmark district. It is located at 806, North Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile shopping district in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. Located adjacent to Loyola University Chicago's downtown campus, the Water Tower serves as one of the Chicago Office of Tourism's Official Visitor's Centers. The Chicago Water Tower is the second-oldest water tower in the United States, after the Louisville Water Tower in Louisville, Kentucky.
Since its survival of the Great Fire, the Water Tower became one of the city's most famous icons as it symbolized Chicago's resilience. It was threatened with demolition several times - in 1906, 1918 and 1948 - but it was saved each time thanks to a public outcry. The tower was eventually restored in 1962.
In May of 1969, during the year of its centennial anniversary, the Chicago Water Tower was selected by the American Water Works Association to be the first American Water Landmark. Today the tower is one of the most important historic attractions in Chicago. It houses a gallery which showcases works from local photographers.
The tower, built in 1869 by architect William W. Boyington from yellowing Joliet limestone, is 154 feet (47 m) tall. Inside was a 138 foot (42 m) high standpipe to hold water. In addition to being used for firefighting, the pressure in the pipe could be regulated to control water surges in the area. The tower gained prominence after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. While some incorrectly believe that the tower was the only building to survive the fire, a few other buildings in the burned district survived along with the tower. But the water tower was the only public building in the burned zone to survive, and is the only one of the surviving structures still standing. In the years since the fire, the tower has become a symbol of old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire. In 1918, when Pine Street was widened, the plans were altered in order to give the Water Tower a featured location
Water Tower Place
Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a 758,000 sq ft shopping mall and 74 story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. The complex is located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, along the Magnificent Mile. It is named after the nearby Chicago Water Tower.
The tower section is a 74-story 859 foot (262 m) reinforced concrete slab, faced with gray marble, and is the eighth tallest building in Chicago and the twenty-sixth tallest in the United States. When built, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. It contains an award winning Ritz-Carlton hotel, luxury condominiums, and office space and sits atop a block long base containing a highly successful, atrium-style retail mall that fronts on the Magnificent Mile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Water_Tower
The Magnificent Miles & Shopping
Known as the Magnificent Mile, North Michigan Avenue Between Oak Street and Grand Avenue is Chicago's version of Fifth Avenue with its abundant upscale shopping.
Shopping is never my solely tour agenda in any of my past tour destination. Be it London, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong, and now Chicago. Sometime I was forced to follow the tour group, sometime family members. But Magnificent Miles along Michigan Avenue is different, my aim is to see the Tulips that planted along the street. Shopping along the street planted with Tulips, what a romantic idea... wife and daughter were naturally happy.
http://www.shopwatertower.com/ & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Tower_Place
After my failure to see Tulip blossom in Amsterdam, I really looking forward to see the Tulips planted along Michigan Avenue. But sad to say, it is no longer blossom, nevertheless managed to see some, even the one named after the wife of the Mayor of Chicago. It is also fortunate, as the next day the workers(most of them are Central American) are changing the flowers for Summer season.
Crown Fountain, Millennium Park
We missed Crown Fountain during our visit to Millennium Park, we decided to visit after the shopping walk along Michigan Avenue. Even it is getting dark, the fun of the fountain and the night view of Chicago is worth the visit.
Dinner at Millennium Pub
The cafe is packed with the locals, drinking and watching the sport events from the TV. This is the meeting place of locals after office hours, some even with their office attire. The place is crowded, but the service is good. We really enjoyed the food there.
The Pub is near to the hotel, but also near the State Street and Train station. Some homeless people are there, but did not disturb us.
Need to have good sleep tonight as tomorrow afternoon we are leaving Chicago. It is a happy night, as Chicago is shopping heaven for tourist also...We are satisfied that we are able to tour the Chicago all on our own. A beautiful city. There is still room to explore, missed Hyde Park, may be next time if there is another chance to visit Chicago....
Chicago will be in my memory for life....
Monday, June 21, 2010
Chicago - Navy Pier
19-5-2010(Wednesday) Chicago
The Chicago City’s 29 miles of lakefront paths are just one reason Chicago is one of the world’s most walkable and beautiful cities. The lakefront paths or trails are along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, one of the lakes in Great Lake. One of the top tourist destination in Chicago is Navy Pier. It is located at 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, at the lakefront of Lake Michigan.
Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot (1,010 m) long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is 50 acres of parks, promenades, gardens, shops, eateries and attractions. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $89.7 million today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and city planner Daniel Burnham and his associates. As Municipal Pier #2 (Municipal Pier #1 was never built), Navy Pier was planned and built to serve as a mixed-purpose piece of public infrastructure. Its primary purpose was as a cargo facility for lake freighters, and warehouses were built up and down the pier. However, the pier was also designed to provide docking space for passenger excursion steamers, and in the pre-air conditioning era parts of the pier, especially its outermost tip, were designed to serve as cool places for public gathering and entertainment. The pier even had its own streetcar.
Located on Lake Michigan, just East of Chicago's Downtown, Navy Pier has been a Chicago landmark since it first opened in 1916. Originally designed as both a shipping and recreational facility, the Pier also served as a military training site during two world wars, a venue for concerts and exhibitions, and the temporary home for a once-fledgling University of Illinois' Chicago campus.
As the Pier fell into disuse during much of the 1970s and 1980s, the State of Illinois and Chicago embarked on a joint plan whereby, in 1989, ownership of the Pier was transferred to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the same body which oversees Chicago's McCormick Place. The Authority moved swiftly to redesign Navy Pier into one of the country's most unique recreation and exposition facilities.
Today, Navy Pier is Chicago's number one tourist attraction
Navy Pier attractions include sightseeing tours from companies such as Seadog I, II, IV, and Extreme, Shoreline Sightseeing cruises and Water Taxi service, and the Tall Ship Windy. There are also dinner cruises by the Spirit of Chicago, The Odyssey, and the Mystic Blue Cruise line. Other attractions include rides like the Ferris Wheel along with many seasonal festivals for Halloween and Christmas. The pier has fireworks on Wednesday and Saturday nights during the summer and Friday and Saturday nights during the fall.
The popular Strictly Sail boat show and Chicago Flower and Garden Show are held at the Pier as well as many other fairs and expositions throughout the year. Also a part of Navy Pier is the Childrens' Museum with many different exhibits and activities for both children and adults to enjoy while visiting the museum. The pier also has an IMAX theater, and the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, many of which were salvaged from Chicago mansions.
An anchor from the naval vessel USS Chicago (CA-136) is on display at the far end of the pier. Is it the only landmark related to the Navy?....and the name of Navy Pier. Preferably the whole naval vessel is display here to reflect the name of Navy Pier, like the one at Fisherman Wharf(San Francisco),and San Diego harbor.
(extracted from wikipedia and Navy Pier's websites)
View Larger Map
It is easy going to Navy Pier from the Loop or downtown; there are bus service direct to Navy Pier.
Seagulls at Navy Pier and Navy Pier Park
A lot of seagulls at Navy Pier, a brave birds that is not afraid of human. They come very close to the tourist and visitors, looking for food. Just beside the Navy Pier, fronting the park, there is a long stretch of narrow land mass, bordered with tires, which is the nesting ground for seagulls. You can see the seagulls, big or small, flying all over the place. Some in the sky flying, some walking, some playing with other seagulls. If you are taking Lake Michigan shoreline cruise, you can come close to the nesting ground.
While waiting for the Lake Michigan shoreline cruise, we have a chance to talk with one old lady from mainland China, who was visiting with her granddaughter at the Navy Pier. She was staying at the Condominium nearby, with her daughter's family. Despite not knowing a single word of English, she enjoyed the time in USA. Where she is more relax, compare to mainland China. Her husband however was not used to life in USA. She is happy because of her granddaughter, the joy of playing with the child.
Lake Michigan shoreline cruise
River cruise and Lake Michigan cruise - exploring the city’s astonishing architecture during a guided tour (on foot or aboard a Chicago River boat, lakeshore cruise or sightseeing bus).
Skyline Lake Tours offer breathtaking views of Chicago city’s famous skyscrapers from an amazing vantage point on Lake Michigan. These tours depart from South docks at Navy Pier, Chicago’s #1 tourist attraction. The river cruise however depart from Navy Pier Park, you need to walk along N Streeter Drive(outside the entrance of Navy Pier), go to jetty near Lakefront Trails to take the boat for river cruise.
Note: Opposite the jetty is the DuSable Park, an urban park where currently awaiting redevelopment. One of the project adjacent to the park is Chicago Spike. It was reported in wikipedia article, that soil tests performed at the location of DuSable Park in December 2000 showed contamination of radioactive thorium. From 1904 through 1936, the Lindsay Light Company processed ores which contained thorium to manufacture thorium impregnated gas mantles. It was suspected that after the plant closed, contaminated soil was dumped on the location of the proposed park.In March 2003, the Chicago Park District stated that the thorium clean-up on that land was incomplete.[11] It has been reported that Shelbourne Development will soon be taking soil samples to determine the severity of the radioactive contamination.(source: wikipedia)
Chicago River Cruise
We joined Shoreline on an exciting journey as we tour the Chicago River and its architectural landmarks. Shoreline's experienced and entertaining guides recount the dramatic story of Chicago's rise from the Great Fire of 1871 to become the home of the skyscraper and the cradle of modern American architecture. Along the route are buildings by world-famous architects including Mies van der Rohe, Helmut Jahn and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Lake Michigan Shoreline Cruises depart from the Navy Pier docks.
The Chicago River Cruise is the best part of the Chicago attraction, the boat passes through bridges and buildings along the river. We can see the beautiful skyscrapers including the Willis Tower. This is the climax of the Chicago tour. Compared to the Lake Michigan shoreline cruise, the Chicago River Cruise is much better, as it is also Chicago River Architecture tour where you can see the beautiful buildings along the river, and going under the bridges along the way. There are people in the bridge, at the sail boats, restaurants & cafe along the river, waving hands to you. The Michigan Lake shoreline cruise is dull and the view of the attractions are far from the boat. If you have done Chicago City walking tour, the familiar buildings will provided you with the thrills of recognize them, locate them. The magnificent view from the river is different from the view from the city tour. If you come to Chicago, Chicago River Cruise is a must.
Museum of Stained Glass Windows
If you like stained glass, this is the museum you must visit. The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier, is the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to stained glass windows. This permanent display of 150 stained glass windows is housed in an 800-ft.-long series of galleries along the lower level terraces of Festival Hall. It showcases both secular and religious windows and is divided by artistic theme into four categories: Victorian, Prairie, Modern and Contemporary.
Navy Park is true tourist destination, not only bring your camera, but also more American dollars, as this the place that will attract every dollars you have in your pocket. A true tourist attraction, nothing to do with Chicago....have a nice day, tourists.....and your money.
Oliver Park & Ohio Street Beach
Leaving the Navy Pier, we went to the Navy Pier Park to have some photo. After that we walk to Park Drive and straight to East Ohio Street at the entrance of Pfc Milton Olive Park, which we did not enter. We have a rest at the bench at the park enjoying the sunshine and resting our tired legs for a while. Opposite the park is the small beach front of Lake Michigan. It is called Ohio Street Beach, the beach fronting the street!. A small beach in Olive Park located just north of Ohio Street (400N), east of Lake Shore Drive. It faces north, rather than the usual east, because it formed on its own in a bay created by the Jardine Water Purification Plant which juts out into the Lake. The beach lead to Lakefront Trail, which is along N Lakeshore Drive. The beach however is not crowded. There are many runners and cyclist enjoying their summer time here.
The video was taken at Ohio Street Beach, the name Navy Pier Beach is wrong. It is however close to Navy Pier, but located nearer to Oliver Park entrance. You can sit at the benches at Oliver Park and enjoy the view of the beach, as well as the city, east of Chicago downtown or Near North Side. The beach is within the city and fronting the street. Watch up for the background, the skyscrapers of the city. No wonder the kid just have fun at the beach....
From there, we crossed the street to begin our journey to Hancock building and start shopping at Magnificent Miles. For those planning to come to Chicago, remember the Chicago River Cruise, you can take it at the Loop, not necessary to come all the way to Navy Pier.
Related websites & articles:
1. Navy Pier official website - http://navypier.com/
The Chicago City’s 29 miles of lakefront paths are just one reason Chicago is one of the world’s most walkable and beautiful cities. The lakefront paths or trails are along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, one of the lakes in Great Lake. One of the top tourist destination in Chicago is Navy Pier. It is located at 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, at the lakefront of Lake Michigan.
Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot (1,010 m) long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is 50 acres of parks, promenades, gardens, shops, eateries and attractions. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $89.7 million today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and city planner Daniel Burnham and his associates. As Municipal Pier #2 (Municipal Pier #1 was never built), Navy Pier was planned and built to serve as a mixed-purpose piece of public infrastructure. Its primary purpose was as a cargo facility for lake freighters, and warehouses were built up and down the pier. However, the pier was also designed to provide docking space for passenger excursion steamers, and in the pre-air conditioning era parts of the pier, especially its outermost tip, were designed to serve as cool places for public gathering and entertainment. The pier even had its own streetcar.
Located on Lake Michigan, just East of Chicago's Downtown, Navy Pier has been a Chicago landmark since it first opened in 1916. Originally designed as both a shipping and recreational facility, the Pier also served as a military training site during two world wars, a venue for concerts and exhibitions, and the temporary home for a once-fledgling University of Illinois' Chicago campus.
As the Pier fell into disuse during much of the 1970s and 1980s, the State of Illinois and Chicago embarked on a joint plan whereby, in 1989, ownership of the Pier was transferred to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the same body which oversees Chicago's McCormick Place. The Authority moved swiftly to redesign Navy Pier into one of the country's most unique recreation and exposition facilities.
Today, Navy Pier is Chicago's number one tourist attraction
Navy Pier attractions include sightseeing tours from companies such as Seadog I, II, IV, and Extreme, Shoreline Sightseeing cruises and Water Taxi service, and the Tall Ship Windy. There are also dinner cruises by the Spirit of Chicago, The Odyssey, and the Mystic Blue Cruise line. Other attractions include rides like the Ferris Wheel along with many seasonal festivals for Halloween and Christmas. The pier has fireworks on Wednesday and Saturday nights during the summer and Friday and Saturday nights during the fall.
The popular Strictly Sail boat show and Chicago Flower and Garden Show are held at the Pier as well as many other fairs and expositions throughout the year. Also a part of Navy Pier is the Childrens' Museum with many different exhibits and activities for both children and adults to enjoy while visiting the museum. The pier also has an IMAX theater, and the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, many of which were salvaged from Chicago mansions.
An anchor from the naval vessel USS Chicago (CA-136) is on display at the far end of the pier. Is it the only landmark related to the Navy?....and the name of Navy Pier. Preferably the whole naval vessel is display here to reflect the name of Navy Pier, like the one at Fisherman Wharf(San Francisco),and San Diego harbor.
(extracted from wikipedia and Navy Pier's websites)
View Larger Map
It is easy going to Navy Pier from the Loop or downtown; there are bus service direct to Navy Pier.
Seagulls at Navy Pier and Navy Pier Park
A lot of seagulls at Navy Pier, a brave birds that is not afraid of human. They come very close to the tourist and visitors, looking for food. Just beside the Navy Pier, fronting the park, there is a long stretch of narrow land mass, bordered with tires, which is the nesting ground for seagulls. You can see the seagulls, big or small, flying all over the place. Some in the sky flying, some walking, some playing with other seagulls. If you are taking Lake Michigan shoreline cruise, you can come close to the nesting ground.
While waiting for the Lake Michigan shoreline cruise, we have a chance to talk with one old lady from mainland China, who was visiting with her granddaughter at the Navy Pier. She was staying at the Condominium nearby, with her daughter's family. Despite not knowing a single word of English, she enjoyed the time in USA. Where she is more relax, compare to mainland China. Her husband however was not used to life in USA. She is happy because of her granddaughter, the joy of playing with the child.
Lake Michigan shoreline cruise
River cruise and Lake Michigan cruise - exploring the city’s astonishing architecture during a guided tour (on foot or aboard a Chicago River boat, lakeshore cruise or sightseeing bus).
Skyline Lake Tours offer breathtaking views of Chicago city’s famous skyscrapers from an amazing vantage point on Lake Michigan. These tours depart from South docks at Navy Pier, Chicago’s #1 tourist attraction. The river cruise however depart from Navy Pier Park, you need to walk along N Streeter Drive(outside the entrance of Navy Pier), go to jetty near Lakefront Trails to take the boat for river cruise.
Note: Opposite the jetty is the DuSable Park, an urban park where currently awaiting redevelopment. One of the project adjacent to the park is Chicago Spike. It was reported in wikipedia article, that soil tests performed at the location of DuSable Park in December 2000 showed contamination of radioactive thorium. From 1904 through 1936, the Lindsay Light Company processed ores which contained thorium to manufacture thorium impregnated gas mantles. It was suspected that after the plant closed, contaminated soil was dumped on the location of the proposed park.In March 2003, the Chicago Park District stated that the thorium clean-up on that land was incomplete.[11] It has been reported that Shelbourne Development will soon be taking soil samples to determine the severity of the radioactive contamination.(source: wikipedia)
Chicago River Cruise
We joined Shoreline on an exciting journey as we tour the Chicago River and its architectural landmarks. Shoreline's experienced and entertaining guides recount the dramatic story of Chicago's rise from the Great Fire of 1871 to become the home of the skyscraper and the cradle of modern American architecture. Along the route are buildings by world-famous architects including Mies van der Rohe, Helmut Jahn and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Lake Michigan Shoreline Cruises depart from the Navy Pier docks.
The Chicago River Cruise is the best part of the Chicago attraction, the boat passes through bridges and buildings along the river. We can see the beautiful skyscrapers including the Willis Tower. This is the climax of the Chicago tour. Compared to the Lake Michigan shoreline cruise, the Chicago River Cruise is much better, as it is also Chicago River Architecture tour where you can see the beautiful buildings along the river, and going under the bridges along the way. There are people in the bridge, at the sail boats, restaurants & cafe along the river, waving hands to you. The Michigan Lake shoreline cruise is dull and the view of the attractions are far from the boat. If you have done Chicago City walking tour, the familiar buildings will provided you with the thrills of recognize them, locate them. The magnificent view from the river is different from the view from the city tour. If you come to Chicago, Chicago River Cruise is a must.
Museum of Stained Glass Windows
If you like stained glass, this is the museum you must visit. The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier, is the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to stained glass windows. This permanent display of 150 stained glass windows is housed in an 800-ft.-long series of galleries along the lower level terraces of Festival Hall. It showcases both secular and religious windows and is divided by artistic theme into four categories: Victorian, Prairie, Modern and Contemporary.
Navy Park is true tourist destination, not only bring your camera, but also more American dollars, as this the place that will attract every dollars you have in your pocket. A true tourist attraction, nothing to do with Chicago....have a nice day, tourists.....and your money.
Oliver Park & Ohio Street Beach
Leaving the Navy Pier, we went to the Navy Pier Park to have some photo. After that we walk to Park Drive and straight to East Ohio Street at the entrance of Pfc Milton Olive Park, which we did not enter. We have a rest at the bench at the park enjoying the sunshine and resting our tired legs for a while. Opposite the park is the small beach front of Lake Michigan. It is called Ohio Street Beach, the beach fronting the street!. A small beach in Olive Park located just north of Ohio Street (400N), east of Lake Shore Drive. It faces north, rather than the usual east, because it formed on its own in a bay created by the Jardine Water Purification Plant which juts out into the Lake. The beach lead to Lakefront Trail, which is along N Lakeshore Drive. The beach however is not crowded. There are many runners and cyclist enjoying their summer time here.
The video was taken at Ohio Street Beach, the name Navy Pier Beach is wrong. It is however close to Navy Pier, but located nearer to Oliver Park entrance. You can sit at the benches at Oliver Park and enjoy the view of the beach, as well as the city, east of Chicago downtown or Near North Side. The beach is within the city and fronting the street. Watch up for the background, the skyscrapers of the city. No wonder the kid just have fun at the beach....
From there, we crossed the street to begin our journey to Hancock building and start shopping at Magnificent Miles. For those planning to come to Chicago, remember the Chicago River Cruise, you can take it at the Loop, not necessary to come all the way to Navy Pier.
Related websites & articles:
1. Navy Pier official website - http://navypier.com/
Chicago - Architecture & The Public Art
18-5-2010(Tuesday) Chicago
Today is city tour, exploring the city’s astonishing architecture by walking around the city. The Loop of the downtown, Chicago city. The city of Chicago, Illinois features prominent buildings in a variety of styles by many important architects. Since most buildings within the downtown area were destroyed (the most famous exception being the Water Tower) by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The first skyscraper was for many years thought to be the Home Insurance Building built in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Chicago is considered to be the birthplace of the skyscraper. Note: However more recent evidence points to New York's Equitable Life Assurance Building built in 1870 preceding the Chicago building by 15 years and was the first office building built using a skeletal frame.
The tallest building in Chicago is the 108-story Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which rises 1,451 feet (442 m) in the Chicago Loop and was completed in 1974. It also stands as the tallest building in the United States, and the fifth-tallest building in the world. In addition, the Willis Tower has the second most floors of any completed building in the world, and stands as the world's second tallest completed skyscraper when measuring to pinnacle height, rising 1,730 feet (527 m) with the addition of its western antenna. The second-, third- and fourth-tallest buildings in Chicago are the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the Aon Center and the John Hancock Center, respectively. As of June 2008, the John Hancock Center, with 49 floors of condominiums,holds the world record for the highest residence. In addition, Chicago has the distinction of being the only city in the world with more than one completed building containing at least 100 floors.
The skyscraper
The structural definition of the word skyscraper was refined later by architectural historians, based on engineering developments of the 1880s that had enabled construction of tall multi-storey buildings. This definition was based on the steel skeleton—-as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicago's Monadnock Building. Philadelphia's City Hall, completed in 1901, still holds claim as the world's tallest load-bearing masonry structure at 167 m (548 ft). The steel frame developed in stages of increasing self-sufficiency, with several buildings in Chicago and New York advancing the technology that allowed the steel frame to carry a building on its own. The history of skyscrapers in Chicago began with the 1885 completion of the Home Insurance Building, which is often regarded as the first steel-framed skyscraper in the world.The building was originally constructed with a height of 138 feet (42 m) and 10 stories, and was later expanded to a height of 180 feet (55 m) and 12 stories before being demolished in 1931.
Chicago School
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. They were among the first to promote the new technologies of steel-frame construction in commercial buildings, and developed a spatial aesthetic which co-evolved with, and then came to influence, parallel developments in European Modernism.
Some of the distinguishing features of the Chicago School are the use of steel-frame buildings with masonry cladding (usually terra cotta), allowing large plate-glass window areas and limiting the amount of exterior ornamentation. Sometimes elements of neoclassical architecture are used in Chicago School skyscrapers. Many Chicago School skyscrapers contain the three parts of a classical column. The first floor functions as the base, the middle stories, usually with little ornamental detail, act as the shaft of the column, and the last floor or so represent the capital, with more ornamental detail and capped with a cornice.
The "Chicago window" originated in this school. It is a three-part window consisting of a large fixed center panel flanked by two smaller double-hung sash windows. The arrangement of windows on the facade typically creates a grid pattern, with some projecting out from the facade forming bay windows. The Chicago window combined the functions of light-gathering and natural ventilation; a single central pane was usually fixed, while the two surrounding panes were operable. These windows were often deployed in bays, known as oriel windows, that projected out over the street.
The Home Insurance Building, which some regarded as the first skyscraper in the world, was built in Chicago in 1885 and was demolished in 1931.
Second Chicago School
A "Second Chicago School" later emerged in the 1940s and 1970s which pioneered new building technologies and structural systems such as the tube-frame structure.In the 1940s, a "Second Chicago School" emerged from the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his efforts of education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. It got it's purest expression firstly with the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments (1951) and their technological achievements. This was supported and enlarged in the 1960s due to the ideas of structural engineer Fazlur Khan. Fazlur Khan realized that the rigid steel frame structure that had "dominated tall building design and construction so long was not the only system fitting for tall buildings", marking "the beginning of a new era of skyscraper revolution in terms of multiple structural systems." His central innovation in skyscraper design and construction was the idea of the "tube" structural system, including the "framed tube", "trussed tube", and "bundled tube". These systems allowed far greater economic efficiency, and also allowed efficient skyscrapers to take on various shapes, no longer needing to be box-shaped.
He introduced a new structural system of framed tubes in skyscraper design and construction. The Bangladeshi engineer Fazlur Khan defined the framed tube structure as "a three dimensional space structure composed of three, four, or possibly more frames, braced frames, or shear walls, joined at or near their edges to form a vertical tube-like structural system capable of resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation." Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube. Horizontal loads, for example wind, are supported by the structure as a whole. About half the exterior surface is available for windows. Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space. Where larger openings like garage doors are required, the tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders used to maintain structural integrity
Over the next fifteen years, many towers were built by Khan and the "Second Chicago School", including the massive 442-meter (1,451-foot) Willis Tower. The first building to apply the tube-frame construction was the DeWitt-Chestnut Apartment Building which Khan designed and was completed in Chicago by 1963. This laid the foundations for the tube structures of many other later skyscrapers, including his own John Hancock Center and Sears Tower, and can been seen in the construction of the World Trade Center, Petronas Towers(Malaysia), Jin Mao Building 金茂大厦(Shanghai,China), and most other supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s.
View Larger Map
If you appreciate the beauty of Chicago skyscrapers, you must remember "Chicago seven": James Ingo Freed, Tom Beeby, Larry Booth, Stuart Cohen, James Nagle, Stanley Tigerman, and Ben Weese. The architects who have constructed landmark buildings of varying styles in Chicago.
Willis Tower may has lost its title as world tallest building, but Chicago is still the City of Skyscrapers. It has two buildings under construction that are planned to exceed 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height: the 2,000-foot (610 m) Chicago Spire, and the 1,362-foot (415 m) Waterview Tower.
"What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line."
—Louis Sullivan's The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896)
Public Art
Looking for the public art subjects of Chicago in the street, it is like treasure hunt. It is fun, it is interesting, and it help you to tour the city, the L(Loop) and the downtown, without you realized it. Some family member complain on the walk, but the appreciation of public art work and the architecture, the soul of Chicago City is crucial to understand Chicago. Be based on the article, Loop Art Tour in the website of Wikitravel to trace the public art in Chicago. We missed some art work, but the effort to trace the public art is fulfilling...
1. Art Institute of Chicago
Hold Calder's whimsical Flying Dragon and Sir Henry Moore's pondering Large Interior Form in your mind — you'll see two monumental echoes of these two statues farther on. The other statue on hand is David Smith's Cubi VII
2. Millennium Park
Crown Fountain (Jaume Plensa) comes into view, and makes an impression! These two mini-skyscrapers project faces of Chicagoans, who occasionally spew water through their "mouths" into the large black granite fountain between them.
Cloud Gate (Anish Kapoor). Better known as the Bean, it's a kidney-shaped structure of smooth stainless steel weighing 110 tons. It's the favorite sculpture of Millennium Park's throngs of visitors, as it reflects the surrounding skyscrapers (and tourists) like a funhouse mirror.
Pritzker Pavilion (Frank Gehry). Its giant steel trellis performs an important function besides aesthetic appeal; it supports much of the stage's sound and lighting systems. At the eastern edge of the pavilion (and of Millennium Park), take the long, winding BP Bridge over Columbus Drive
3. Aon Center Plaza
The plaza is pleasant enough and there are two Sounding Sculptures (Henry Bertoia) at the southeast and southwest corners. These "musical sculptures" are inspired by the image of Midwestern wheat fields swaying in the breeze. These wheat stalks are hollow and made of thin copper, so when the wind blows (and it always blows in the Windy City), the rods produce a strange metallic music. Follow the plaza around to the west of the tower past some smaller statues and Richard Hunt's Winged Form (his more spectacular Freeform is yet to come)
4. Thompson Center
Continue a couple blocks to State Street and turn left. The giant Chicago sign on the left is one of Chicago's most famous landmarks, at the Chicago Theater. Walk past the theater and then turn right on to Randolph Street. Two blocks more and you will be before one of Chicago's most distinctive buildings, the Thompson Center (named for an Illinois governor). In the plaza on Randolph stands one of Chicago's most famous statues, Jean Dubuffet's Monument with Standing Beast. It's a strange sculpture of white, organic shapes, with thick black outlines, and usually a host of kids running in and out of it.
Make a point of wandering past the curved glass walls of the Thompson Center into its enormous atrium. The building is often compared to a spaceship, but few spaceships can claim the collection of public art that the Thompson Center has. Once you've finished inside, head back out to Randolph, turn right and head to the corner at LaSalle Street. Look across LaSalle and look up. Up on the State of Illinois Building is Richard Hunt's three ton, 2.5 story-tall, flame-like Freeform sculpture.
5. Daley Center
Two blocks down Washington and you are at the Daley Center and Chicago's most famous work of art, the Chicago Picasso. Resembling an elephant, a sphinx, or whatever your mind comes up with, the Chicago Picasso was the first monumental public art downtown (donated by the artist) and sparked the spate of public art acquisitions that you are now enjoying. It was "controversial," however, when it first arrived for its "abstract" "non-traditional" design. But the reactionary grumps have bit their tongues (after having removed their foots from their mouths) and the statue is celebrated today by a city that loves art. Kids, in particular, enjoy sliding down the statue's base.
Turn around and look across Washington Street for Joan Miro's Chicago, a strange surrealist, anthropomorphic figure. The fork on its head is said to represent a star.
Go down Dearborn Street one block and take a left onto Madison Avenue to make a quick venture into Three First National Plaza (70 W Madison St). The atrium is attractive and full of plants, complemented by one very large Sir Henry Moore statue, Large Upright Internal/External Form. Henry Moore's titles are purposefully devoid of descriptive content. He argued: All art should have a certain mystery and should make demands on the spectator. Giving a sculpture or a drawing too explicit a title takes away part of that mystery so that the spectator moves on to the next object, making no effort to ponder the meaning of what he has just seen.
6. Chase Plaza
Head back to Dearborn and continue south. Dominating the next block is the curved Chase Tower and the large plaza at its feet. Courtesy of the Russian-Jewish painter Marc Chagall, this plaza has become a must-see attraction for art lovers in Chicago. The Four Seasons is a 70 foot long mosaic/mural featuring light-hearted surrealist depictions of Chicago. After you have finished here continue south on Dearborn Street.
7. Federal Plaza
Two blocks down Dearborn from Chase Plaza is Federal Plaza, a full city block planned by renowned modernist architect Mies Van der Rohe. In the center of the plaza is the second Alexander Calder statue of the day, The Flamingo. Whimsical and constructivist (meaning: constructed of big industrial materials bolted together) are not words that usually belong side by side, but both Calder statues of the day nonetheless fit this description. The giant "Calder-red" flamingo poses a graceful, curving counterpoint to the hard edges and straight lines of the surrounding skyscrapers that reflect the statue in their windows.
Head south across Adams Street and then head around to the backside of the building on the left. Behind this building and on the side of another is Sol Lewitt's monumental, yet very understated Lines in Four Directions. The sculpture consists of four giant panels covered in long strips of aluminum painted white, facing in four directions (hence the title). Similar to David Smith's Cubi VII back at the Art Institute, the emphasis here is on how one work of art can change depending on its environment and the position of the viewer. Depending on where you are standing, and the day's lighting, different patterns will emerge as the light hits the differently aligned aluminum strips.
8. CBoT
The Metcalfe Federal Building's lobby on the left at the intersection of Jackson and Clark contains another larger than life statue. Frank Stella has created a whole series of Moby Dick related abstract sculptures; this one is named after a specific chapter, The Town-Ho's Story. It's a terrific mess of 13,000 lbs. of steel and aluminum. The link to Melville's novel is not very clear, but the sculpture is impressive and purposefully abrasive.
The next block of Jackson Boulevard is the gigantic Art Deco Chicago Board of Trade Building (CBoT). The main lobby itself is a work of art, and a good quick stop along the way. From here turn up LaSalle Street. Turn left at Adams Street and cross the intersection to stop in the building at 190 South LaSalle Street to admire its beautiful lobby. The high vaulted ceiling is covered with $1 million of gold leaf, but lest you strain your neck, focus your attentions on the large bronze statue at the end of the room, Chicago Fugue (Sir Anthony Caro). The statue is a cubist jumble of musical instrument-like shapes: a keyboard, organ pedals, cymbals, and any others you may "find" in it. The lobby's leather couches are another good reason to come in here, by the way.
9. Sears Tower
Universe is the last of the day's sculptures by Alexander Calder, and unlike the other "stabiles," this sculpture is fully "mobile." Held to represent the effect of the Big Bang at the origin of the universe, the work is comprised of rotating shapes meant to resemble heavenly bodies.
(Extract from http://wikitravel.org/en/Loop_Art_Tour)
I do not know about other visitors of Chicago, to know Chicago we need to understand her spirit, her soul; that is the character of the city. Hop in and hop off, going after tourist attractions may be the agenda of some, that is typical tourist. Others come all the way just for shopping at Magnificent Miles; others follow the food track, some go for sport, and many come for musical festival, the blues, the jazz and the gospel music. I go for the skycrappers and people, I want to feel the tempo of the living Chicago. Be it be art, food, music, sport, market, back alley, trains, river, lake ..... the living Chicago. That is the soul and spirit of Chicago.....
It is pity I have not much time to know Chicago, just merely a feel of its samples. Chicago...may be I have begin to feel her heart beats....
(draft -to continue)
(to continue)
Related articles:
1. List of tallest buildings in Chicago, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Chicago
2. Skyscraper, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyscraper
Today is city tour, exploring the city’s astonishing architecture by walking around the city. The Loop of the downtown, Chicago city. The city of Chicago, Illinois features prominent buildings in a variety of styles by many important architects. Since most buildings within the downtown area were destroyed (the most famous exception being the Water Tower) by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The first skyscraper was for many years thought to be the Home Insurance Building built in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Chicago is considered to be the birthplace of the skyscraper. Note: However more recent evidence points to New York's Equitable Life Assurance Building built in 1870 preceding the Chicago building by 15 years and was the first office building built using a skeletal frame.
The tallest building in Chicago is the 108-story Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which rises 1,451 feet (442 m) in the Chicago Loop and was completed in 1974. It also stands as the tallest building in the United States, and the fifth-tallest building in the world. In addition, the Willis Tower has the second most floors of any completed building in the world, and stands as the world's second tallest completed skyscraper when measuring to pinnacle height, rising 1,730 feet (527 m) with the addition of its western antenna. The second-, third- and fourth-tallest buildings in Chicago are the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the Aon Center and the John Hancock Center, respectively. As of June 2008, the John Hancock Center, with 49 floors of condominiums,holds the world record for the highest residence. In addition, Chicago has the distinction of being the only city in the world with more than one completed building containing at least 100 floors.
The skyscraper
The structural definition of the word skyscraper was refined later by architectural historians, based on engineering developments of the 1880s that had enabled construction of tall multi-storey buildings. This definition was based on the steel skeleton—-as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicago's Monadnock Building. Philadelphia's City Hall, completed in 1901, still holds claim as the world's tallest load-bearing masonry structure at 167 m (548 ft). The steel frame developed in stages of increasing self-sufficiency, with several buildings in Chicago and New York advancing the technology that allowed the steel frame to carry a building on its own. The history of skyscrapers in Chicago began with the 1885 completion of the Home Insurance Building, which is often regarded as the first steel-framed skyscraper in the world.The building was originally constructed with a height of 138 feet (42 m) and 10 stories, and was later expanded to a height of 180 feet (55 m) and 12 stories before being demolished in 1931.
Chicago School
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. They were among the first to promote the new technologies of steel-frame construction in commercial buildings, and developed a spatial aesthetic which co-evolved with, and then came to influence, parallel developments in European Modernism.
Some of the distinguishing features of the Chicago School are the use of steel-frame buildings with masonry cladding (usually terra cotta), allowing large plate-glass window areas and limiting the amount of exterior ornamentation. Sometimes elements of neoclassical architecture are used in Chicago School skyscrapers. Many Chicago School skyscrapers contain the three parts of a classical column. The first floor functions as the base, the middle stories, usually with little ornamental detail, act as the shaft of the column, and the last floor or so represent the capital, with more ornamental detail and capped with a cornice.
The "Chicago window" originated in this school. It is a three-part window consisting of a large fixed center panel flanked by two smaller double-hung sash windows. The arrangement of windows on the facade typically creates a grid pattern, with some projecting out from the facade forming bay windows. The Chicago window combined the functions of light-gathering and natural ventilation; a single central pane was usually fixed, while the two surrounding panes were operable. These windows were often deployed in bays, known as oriel windows, that projected out over the street.
The Home Insurance Building, which some regarded as the first skyscraper in the world, was built in Chicago in 1885 and was demolished in 1931.
Second Chicago School
A "Second Chicago School" later emerged in the 1940s and 1970s which pioneered new building technologies and structural systems such as the tube-frame structure.In the 1940s, a "Second Chicago School" emerged from the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his efforts of education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. It got it's purest expression firstly with the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments (1951) and their technological achievements. This was supported and enlarged in the 1960s due to the ideas of structural engineer Fazlur Khan. Fazlur Khan realized that the rigid steel frame structure that had "dominated tall building design and construction so long was not the only system fitting for tall buildings", marking "the beginning of a new era of skyscraper revolution in terms of multiple structural systems." His central innovation in skyscraper design and construction was the idea of the "tube" structural system, including the "framed tube", "trussed tube", and "bundled tube". These systems allowed far greater economic efficiency, and also allowed efficient skyscrapers to take on various shapes, no longer needing to be box-shaped.
He introduced a new structural system of framed tubes in skyscraper design and construction. The Bangladeshi engineer Fazlur Khan defined the framed tube structure as "a three dimensional space structure composed of three, four, or possibly more frames, braced frames, or shear walls, joined at or near their edges to form a vertical tube-like structural system capable of resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation." Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube. Horizontal loads, for example wind, are supported by the structure as a whole. About half the exterior surface is available for windows. Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space. Where larger openings like garage doors are required, the tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders used to maintain structural integrity
Over the next fifteen years, many towers were built by Khan and the "Second Chicago School", including the massive 442-meter (1,451-foot) Willis Tower. The first building to apply the tube-frame construction was the DeWitt-Chestnut Apartment Building which Khan designed and was completed in Chicago by 1963. This laid the foundations for the tube structures of many other later skyscrapers, including his own John Hancock Center and Sears Tower, and can been seen in the construction of the World Trade Center, Petronas Towers(Malaysia), Jin Mao Building 金茂大厦(Shanghai,China), and most other supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s.
View Larger Map
If you appreciate the beauty of Chicago skyscrapers, you must remember "Chicago seven": James Ingo Freed, Tom Beeby, Larry Booth, Stuart Cohen, James Nagle, Stanley Tigerman, and Ben Weese. The architects who have constructed landmark buildings of varying styles in Chicago.
Willis Tower may has lost its title as world tallest building, but Chicago is still the City of Skyscrapers. It has two buildings under construction that are planned to exceed 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height: the 2,000-foot (610 m) Chicago Spire, and the 1,362-foot (415 m) Waterview Tower.
"What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line."
—Louis Sullivan's The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896)
Public Art
Looking for the public art subjects of Chicago in the street, it is like treasure hunt. It is fun, it is interesting, and it help you to tour the city, the L(Loop) and the downtown, without you realized it. Some family member complain on the walk, but the appreciation of public art work and the architecture, the soul of Chicago City is crucial to understand Chicago. Be based on the article, Loop Art Tour in the website of Wikitravel to trace the public art in Chicago. We missed some art work, but the effort to trace the public art is fulfilling...
1. Art Institute of Chicago
Hold Calder's whimsical Flying Dragon and Sir Henry Moore's pondering Large Interior Form in your mind — you'll see two monumental echoes of these two statues farther on. The other statue on hand is David Smith's Cubi VII
2. Millennium Park
Crown Fountain (Jaume Plensa) comes into view, and makes an impression! These two mini-skyscrapers project faces of Chicagoans, who occasionally spew water through their "mouths" into the large black granite fountain between them.
Cloud Gate (Anish Kapoor). Better known as the Bean, it's a kidney-shaped structure of smooth stainless steel weighing 110 tons. It's the favorite sculpture of Millennium Park's throngs of visitors, as it reflects the surrounding skyscrapers (and tourists) like a funhouse mirror.
Pritzker Pavilion (Frank Gehry). Its giant steel trellis performs an important function besides aesthetic appeal; it supports much of the stage's sound and lighting systems. At the eastern edge of the pavilion (and of Millennium Park), take the long, winding BP Bridge over Columbus Drive
3. Aon Center Plaza
The plaza is pleasant enough and there are two Sounding Sculptures (Henry Bertoia) at the southeast and southwest corners. These "musical sculptures" are inspired by the image of Midwestern wheat fields swaying in the breeze. These wheat stalks are hollow and made of thin copper, so when the wind blows (and it always blows in the Windy City), the rods produce a strange metallic music. Follow the plaza around to the west of the tower past some smaller statues and Richard Hunt's Winged Form (his more spectacular Freeform is yet to come)
4. Thompson Center
Continue a couple blocks to State Street and turn left. The giant Chicago sign on the left is one of Chicago's most famous landmarks, at the Chicago Theater. Walk past the theater and then turn right on to Randolph Street. Two blocks more and you will be before one of Chicago's most distinctive buildings, the Thompson Center (named for an Illinois governor). In the plaza on Randolph stands one of Chicago's most famous statues, Jean Dubuffet's Monument with Standing Beast. It's a strange sculpture of white, organic shapes, with thick black outlines, and usually a host of kids running in and out of it.
Make a point of wandering past the curved glass walls of the Thompson Center into its enormous atrium. The building is often compared to a spaceship, but few spaceships can claim the collection of public art that the Thompson Center has. Once you've finished inside, head back out to Randolph, turn right and head to the corner at LaSalle Street. Look across LaSalle and look up. Up on the State of Illinois Building is Richard Hunt's three ton, 2.5 story-tall, flame-like Freeform sculpture.
5. Daley Center
Two blocks down Washington and you are at the Daley Center and Chicago's most famous work of art, the Chicago Picasso. Resembling an elephant, a sphinx, or whatever your mind comes up with, the Chicago Picasso was the first monumental public art downtown (donated by the artist) and sparked the spate of public art acquisitions that you are now enjoying. It was "controversial," however, when it first arrived for its "abstract" "non-traditional" design. But the reactionary grumps have bit their tongues (after having removed their foots from their mouths) and the statue is celebrated today by a city that loves art. Kids, in particular, enjoy sliding down the statue's base.
Turn around and look across Washington Street for Joan Miro's Chicago, a strange surrealist, anthropomorphic figure. The fork on its head is said to represent a star.
Go down Dearborn Street one block and take a left onto Madison Avenue to make a quick venture into Three First National Plaza (70 W Madison St). The atrium is attractive and full of plants, complemented by one very large Sir Henry Moore statue, Large Upright Internal/External Form. Henry Moore's titles are purposefully devoid of descriptive content. He argued: All art should have a certain mystery and should make demands on the spectator. Giving a sculpture or a drawing too explicit a title takes away part of that mystery so that the spectator moves on to the next object, making no effort to ponder the meaning of what he has just seen.
6. Chase Plaza
Head back to Dearborn and continue south. Dominating the next block is the curved Chase Tower and the large plaza at its feet. Courtesy of the Russian-Jewish painter Marc Chagall, this plaza has become a must-see attraction for art lovers in Chicago. The Four Seasons is a 70 foot long mosaic/mural featuring light-hearted surrealist depictions of Chicago. After you have finished here continue south on Dearborn Street.
7. Federal Plaza
Two blocks down Dearborn from Chase Plaza is Federal Plaza, a full city block planned by renowned modernist architect Mies Van der Rohe. In the center of the plaza is the second Alexander Calder statue of the day, The Flamingo. Whimsical and constructivist (meaning: constructed of big industrial materials bolted together) are not words that usually belong side by side, but both Calder statues of the day nonetheless fit this description. The giant "Calder-red" flamingo poses a graceful, curving counterpoint to the hard edges and straight lines of the surrounding skyscrapers that reflect the statue in their windows.
Head south across Adams Street and then head around to the backside of the building on the left. Behind this building and on the side of another is Sol Lewitt's monumental, yet very understated Lines in Four Directions. The sculpture consists of four giant panels covered in long strips of aluminum painted white, facing in four directions (hence the title). Similar to David Smith's Cubi VII back at the Art Institute, the emphasis here is on how one work of art can change depending on its environment and the position of the viewer. Depending on where you are standing, and the day's lighting, different patterns will emerge as the light hits the differently aligned aluminum strips.
8. CBoT
The Metcalfe Federal Building's lobby on the left at the intersection of Jackson and Clark contains another larger than life statue. Frank Stella has created a whole series of Moby Dick related abstract sculptures; this one is named after a specific chapter, The Town-Ho's Story. It's a terrific mess of 13,000 lbs. of steel and aluminum. The link to Melville's novel is not very clear, but the sculpture is impressive and purposefully abrasive.
The next block of Jackson Boulevard is the gigantic Art Deco Chicago Board of Trade Building (CBoT). The main lobby itself is a work of art, and a good quick stop along the way. From here turn up LaSalle Street. Turn left at Adams Street and cross the intersection to stop in the building at 190 South LaSalle Street to admire its beautiful lobby. The high vaulted ceiling is covered with $1 million of gold leaf, but lest you strain your neck, focus your attentions on the large bronze statue at the end of the room, Chicago Fugue (Sir Anthony Caro). The statue is a cubist jumble of musical instrument-like shapes: a keyboard, organ pedals, cymbals, and any others you may "find" in it. The lobby's leather couches are another good reason to come in here, by the way.
9. Sears Tower
Universe is the last of the day's sculptures by Alexander Calder, and unlike the other "stabiles," this sculpture is fully "mobile." Held to represent the effect of the Big Bang at the origin of the universe, the work is comprised of rotating shapes meant to resemble heavenly bodies.
(Extract from http://wikitravel.org/en/Loop_Art_Tour)
I do not know about other visitors of Chicago, to know Chicago we need to understand her spirit, her soul; that is the character of the city. Hop in and hop off, going after tourist attractions may be the agenda of some, that is typical tourist. Others come all the way just for shopping at Magnificent Miles; others follow the food track, some go for sport, and many come for musical festival, the blues, the jazz and the gospel music. I go for the skycrappers and people, I want to feel the tempo of the living Chicago. Be it be art, food, music, sport, market, back alley, trains, river, lake ..... the living Chicago. That is the soul and spirit of Chicago.....
It is pity I have not much time to know Chicago, just merely a feel of its samples. Chicago...may be I have begin to feel her heart beats....
(draft -to continue)
(to continue)
Related articles:
1. List of tallest buildings in Chicago, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Chicago
2. Skyscraper, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyscraper
Chicago - Parks & Museums
18-5-2010(Tuesday) Chicago
When Chicago was incorporated in 1837, it chose the motto Urbs in Horto, a Latin phrase which translates into English as "City in a Garden". Today, the Chicago Park District consists of 552 parks with over 7,300 acres (3,000 ha) of municipal parkland. There are 33 sand Chicago beaches, a plethora of museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons, and 10 bird and wildlife gardens. Lincoln Park, the largest of the city's parks, covers 1,200 acres (490 ha) and has over 20 million visitors each year, making it second only to Central Park in New York City in number of visitors. With berths for more than 5,000 boats, the Chicago Park District operates the nation's largest municipal harbor system; even larger than systems in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, or Miami. In addition to ongoing beautification and renewal projects for the existing parks, a number of new parks have been added in recent years, such as the Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown, DuSable Park on the Near North Side, and most notably, Millennium Park in the Chicago Loop(source: wikipedia). Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park, visited by over 20 million visitors each year, it is second only to Central Park in New York City. Lincoln Park covered area of 1200 acres, Chicago's largest city park. Located north of The Loop, this is one of the more distinctive parks in terms of geography, because while it is centrally located in the Lincoln Park community area it spans many different neighborhoods throughout the north side as it is nestled between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan. Wah, very big park...
Indeed Chicago is the city of parks, we have no leisure time to visit all the parks, be it small or big. Millennium Park is our choice, because of many interesting attractions and being top tourist attraction in Chicago after Navy Pier. It is also because it is part of greater Grant Park. Grant Park is 319 acres,located in The Loop; Home to Buckingham Fountain, this downtown park is also a favorite site of major festivals including the Taste of Chicago, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Lollapolooza and others. Millennium Park is north of Grant Park, 24.5 acres, also north of the Art Institute of Chicago. We can visit the two parks at one go, but a lot of walking is needed.
Chicago has many cultural institutions and museums, large and small. Most of them required entrance fee. Many of them are of international standard. It is impossible to visit all the museums and cultural institutions within the short span of time. There is always the question of time constraint, and a smart traveler need to be selective in their choice,according to their interest. The tip is visit one big museum and one small museum. We decided to visit The Field Museum of Natural History at Museum Campus.
View Larger Map
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Chicago Loop community area of Chicago within Cook County, Illinois, United States.It is a prominent civic center of the city's Lake Michigan lakefront. Completed in 2004, it covers a 24.5-acre (99,000 m2) section of northern Grant Park, previously occupied by Illinois Central railyards and parking lots. The park, which is bounded by Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive, features a variety of public art. Today, Millennium Park trails only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction.
Millennium Park is a portion of the larger Grant Park, the "front lawn" of downtown Chicago. One of the larger public parks in metropolitan Chicago, it is a showcase for postmodern architecture. It features the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, Peristyle at Wrigley Square, Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, AT&T Plaza, Chase Promenade and Trees in Millennium Park. The park is successful as a public art venue in part due to the grand scale of each piece and the open spaces for display. There are four major artistic highlights: Cloud Gate(The Bean), Crown Fountain, Lurie Garden and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.
Millennium Park is often considered the largest roof garden in the world, having been constructed on top of a railroad yard and large parking garages. Of its 24.5 acres (99,000 m2) of land, Millennium Park contains 12.04 acres (48,700 m2) of permeable area. The park has a very rigorous cleaning schedule with many areas being swept, wiped down or cleaned multiple times a day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park
Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain
Grant Park (originally named Lake Park) is a large park (319 acres or 1.29 km²) in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The park's most notable features are Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain and the Art Institute of Chicago. Grant Park is frequently referred to as the city's front yard. It is bordered on the north by Randolph Street, on the south by Roosevelt Road, on the west by Michigan Avenue and on the east by Lake Shore Drive.
The Buckingham Fountain is considered to be Chicago's front door, since it resides in Grant Park, the city's front yard. The fountain, located at Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway, was designed with sculptures by Jacques Lambert. It was donated to the city by Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, while each sea horse symbolizes a state bordering the lake. The statues were created by the French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. The design of the fountain was based on the Bassin de Latome and modeled after Latona Fountain at Versailles. The fountain used to be known as the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain. Kate Buckingham also established the Buckingham Fountain Endowment Fund with an initial investment of $300,000 to pay for maintenance on the fountain. Buckingham Fountain was dedicated on August 26, 1927.
The fountain runs from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day from mid-April to mid-October. During a water display that runs for 20 minutes every hour on the hour, the center jet shoots up to 150 feet (46 m). in the air. At dusk, a light and music show coincides with the water display. The last show of the night begins at 10:00 p.m. Each display last for 20 mintues.
The fountain contains 1,500,000 U.S. gallons (5,700,000 L) of water. During a display, more than 14,000 U.S. gallons per minute (0.88 m3/s) are pushed through its 193 jets.
The fountain's pumps are controlled by a Honeywell computer, which was previously located in Atlanta, Georgia until the 1994 renovation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Fountain
Note: Buckingham Fountain was the official starting point of U.S. Route 66.
Museum Campus
In 1998, the city officially opened the Museum Campus, a 10-acre (4.0 ha) lakefront park, surrounding three of the city's main museums, each of which is of national importance: the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park, which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts.
We need not enter all the attraction in Museum Campus, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, and Shedd Aquarium were bypassed by us. We only selected The Field Museum of Natural History. We spend few hours inside the museum, and nearly complete the exhibition. That is the reason to be selective, the museum is great and there is no regret on the selection. All the institutions in Campus Museum are with entrance fee charged, to save cost it is better to buy Chicago Pass, if you have the time and wish to visit all three in one go. By the way, a walk around Museum Campus is also interesting, as it is beside Lake Michigan.
The Field Museum of Natural History
Leaving Museum Campus, our next agenda is go to Chinatown, a desire to eat rice as dinner today, as we have missed the Chinese food after nearly a week in USA. We are exploring the route to the place, either by bus or train. But the bus is either going north or south. Walking from the Grant Park, crossing the bridge with railway track down below, there is a bus stop, but the special sculptures at the southwest corner of the park attracted our attention. It is called the Agora sculptures. Agora is an installation of over 100 headless, armless sculptures designed by the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. The art pieces were brought to Grant Park in 2006.
"Agora" 106 iron cast figures, each about 9 feet tall, shell like, frozen in walking movement. They are permanently displayed in Chicago Grant Park along the Michigan Av. and Roosevelt Rd. The figures are similar in general shape, but different in details. Models for each figure were made by hand, by myself and my three assistants. The surfaces of figures are like a tree bark or wrinkled face expressing a different individuality of each sculpture. The figures were cast during two years 2004-2006 in the huge industrial foundry in Srem near city of Poznan (Poland). Then transported to USA. The installation took place in October /November 2006.
The artist,Magdalena Abakanowicz lives and works in Warsaw. She has been Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan, Poland (1965 - 1990) and Visiting Professor at the U.C.L.A. (1984).
Magdalena Abakanowicz for many years has dealt with the issue of "the countless". She says: "I feel overwhelmed by quantity where counting no longer makes sense. By unrepeatability within such quantity. A crowd of people or birds, insect or leaves, is a mysterious assemblage of variants of a certain prototype, a riddle of nature abhorrent to exact repetition or inability to produce it, just as a human hand can not repeat its own gesture".
Each of her figures is an individuality, with its own expression, with specific details of skin. Organic, with the imprint of the artist's fingers. Their surface is natural like tree bark or animal fur or wrinkled skin. Like all her sculptures also these works are unique objects.
(source: from the website of the artist Magdalena Abakanowicz http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/)
Note: The meaning of Agora, is ancient Greek meeting place. But as you walk across the park, please beware of the landmine, the dog shit. The west loop of Grant Park is the park for dog lovers. The Agora here may be the meeting place for the dog lovers.
We decided to go Chinatown by train, as the train station is now nearby. It is also because we have yet to try the train in Chicago city. This is another popular transportation in Chicago city. It is called "L" in Chicago. Being in the train station is another excitement, the station as well as the train, and the surrounding reminded you of old Chicago...please figure why?...
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Chinatown, Chicago
"Chinatown" on the near South Side. Chicago's Chinatown is among the most active Chinatowns in the world. It even has its own stop on the CTA Red Line. It's on the South Side near Bridgeport, birthplace of the Irish political power-brokers who have run Chicago government for most of the last century. The Chinatown neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, is on the near South Side (located in the Armour Square community area), centered on Cermak and Wentworth Avenues, and is an example of an American Chinatown, or ethnic-Chinese neighborhood. By the 2000 Census, Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas has 68,021 Chinese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Chicago
Note: Some new areas sometimes called "New Chinatown", on the North Side around Argyle Street, which attracts a larger number of people of Southeast Asian heritage.
When you walking down from the elevated train station in Chinatown, turning right you can see a familiar Nine Dragon Wall, you know you are in Chinatown.
Dinner at Chinatown at Wentworth Ave, Chinatown's main street. The restaurant serving is big based on Asian standard. Despite ordering for 2 people, the food is more than enough for 3 people. Luckily the restaurant allow take away for the remaining, which is the norm for the restaurant in USA now. It is food wastage if allow to be thrown away. Despite of the fact there are many street people and hungry people in the street of USA, there are many leftover in the restaurant that were throw away each day. The reason is they need to maintain the quality of the food and compliance with high food hygiene standard of the law.
Another ugly side is the bill, a minimum fixed tips need to be paid, instead of variable rate, depending on the type and satisfaction of service given. The consumer should have the right to tip based on the service given. The bill is in addition to the tax paid. The reason for tipping is that the wages of restaurant worker is low. Tipping is not only in restaurant, you need to tip taxi driver, tour guide etc. Food in restaurant is expensive in USA. No wonder cost of living is expensive in USA. Many ordinary American survived with fast food, processed food or frozen food.
The quality of the Chinese food is average, but Chinese food here seems to be popular among the American. The bill may be high(to tourist perception), food not to our Asian standard, but it met our objective. We have some time to stroll at the street in Chinatown, and talk with the old residents and the shop owners. There used to be a Malaysian restaurant(Penang) in Chinatown, a popular one; but had moved elsewhere after it was burnt down. Finally we need to leave Chinatown, as the time is late, and really dark now, it may not be safe to travel by train to the loop later than 10p.m.
But the business for restaurants in Chinatown has just begin. Sad to say, we have not much time for Chinatown, should have come on the day time.
How to get there
The Chicago Transit Authority operates both an elevated train and four bus routes that service the area. The north–south-running Red Line, the CTA's busiest transit route, stops regularly at the Cermak–Chinatown station located in the heart of Chinatown near the corner of Cermak Road and S Wentworth Avenue. Running north–south, the #24 bus route runs on Wentworth Avenue on the eastside of Chinatown, while the #44 route runs on Canal Street on the westside. The #21 runs east–west on Cermak Road, and the #62 runs diagonally southwest–northeast on Archer Avenue.
There is a taxicab stand on Wentworth Avenue, and a water taxi service also runs along the Chicago River from Michigan Avenue to Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown during the summer months.
We arrived at hotel safely, encounter some street people at the Union Station and along the street. Tired feet, and a lot of walking; but will be having a good sleep tonight.
Chicago is beautiful city, it has its soul which is unique. It is the city of culture; parks and museum.....tomorrow we are going to know her further and deeper...
(still need to be updated/improved on, a draft copy)
When Chicago was incorporated in 1837, it chose the motto Urbs in Horto, a Latin phrase which translates into English as "City in a Garden". Today, the Chicago Park District consists of 552 parks with over 7,300 acres (3,000 ha) of municipal parkland. There are 33 sand Chicago beaches, a plethora of museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons, and 10 bird and wildlife gardens. Lincoln Park, the largest of the city's parks, covers 1,200 acres (490 ha) and has over 20 million visitors each year, making it second only to Central Park in New York City in number of visitors. With berths for more than 5,000 boats, the Chicago Park District operates the nation's largest municipal harbor system; even larger than systems in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, or Miami. In addition to ongoing beautification and renewal projects for the existing parks, a number of new parks have been added in recent years, such as the Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown, DuSable Park on the Near North Side, and most notably, Millennium Park in the Chicago Loop(source: wikipedia). Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park, visited by over 20 million visitors each year, it is second only to Central Park in New York City. Lincoln Park covered area of 1200 acres, Chicago's largest city park. Located north of The Loop, this is one of the more distinctive parks in terms of geography, because while it is centrally located in the Lincoln Park community area it spans many different neighborhoods throughout the north side as it is nestled between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan. Wah, very big park...
Indeed Chicago is the city of parks, we have no leisure time to visit all the parks, be it small or big. Millennium Park is our choice, because of many interesting attractions and being top tourist attraction in Chicago after Navy Pier. It is also because it is part of greater Grant Park. Grant Park is 319 acres,located in The Loop; Home to Buckingham Fountain, this downtown park is also a favorite site of major festivals including the Taste of Chicago, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Lollapolooza and others. Millennium Park is north of Grant Park, 24.5 acres, also north of the Art Institute of Chicago. We can visit the two parks at one go, but a lot of walking is needed.
Chicago has many cultural institutions and museums, large and small. Most of them required entrance fee. Many of them are of international standard. It is impossible to visit all the museums and cultural institutions within the short span of time. There is always the question of time constraint, and a smart traveler need to be selective in their choice,according to their interest. The tip is visit one big museum and one small museum. We decided to visit The Field Museum of Natural History at Museum Campus.
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Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Chicago Loop community area of Chicago within Cook County, Illinois, United States.It is a prominent civic center of the city's Lake Michigan lakefront. Completed in 2004, it covers a 24.5-acre (99,000 m2) section of northern Grant Park, previously occupied by Illinois Central railyards and parking lots. The park, which is bounded by Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive, features a variety of public art. Today, Millennium Park trails only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction.
Millennium Park is a portion of the larger Grant Park, the "front lawn" of downtown Chicago. One of the larger public parks in metropolitan Chicago, it is a showcase for postmodern architecture. It features the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, Peristyle at Wrigley Square, Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, AT&T Plaza, Chase Promenade and Trees in Millennium Park. The park is successful as a public art venue in part due to the grand scale of each piece and the open spaces for display. There are four major artistic highlights: Cloud Gate(The Bean), Crown Fountain, Lurie Garden and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.
Millennium Park is often considered the largest roof garden in the world, having been constructed on top of a railroad yard and large parking garages. Of its 24.5 acres (99,000 m2) of land, Millennium Park contains 12.04 acres (48,700 m2) of permeable area. The park has a very rigorous cleaning schedule with many areas being swept, wiped down or cleaned multiple times a day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park
Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain
Grant Park (originally named Lake Park) is a large park (319 acres or 1.29 km²) in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The park's most notable features are Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain and the Art Institute of Chicago. Grant Park is frequently referred to as the city's front yard. It is bordered on the north by Randolph Street, on the south by Roosevelt Road, on the west by Michigan Avenue and on the east by Lake Shore Drive.
The Buckingham Fountain is considered to be Chicago's front door, since it resides in Grant Park, the city's front yard. The fountain, located at Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway, was designed with sculptures by Jacques Lambert. It was donated to the city by Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, while each sea horse symbolizes a state bordering the lake. The statues were created by the French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. The design of the fountain was based on the Bassin de Latome and modeled after Latona Fountain at Versailles. The fountain used to be known as the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain. Kate Buckingham also established the Buckingham Fountain Endowment Fund with an initial investment of $300,000 to pay for maintenance on the fountain. Buckingham Fountain was dedicated on August 26, 1927.
The fountain runs from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day from mid-April to mid-October. During a water display that runs for 20 minutes every hour on the hour, the center jet shoots up to 150 feet (46 m). in the air. At dusk, a light and music show coincides with the water display. The last show of the night begins at 10:00 p.m. Each display last for 20 mintues.
The fountain contains 1,500,000 U.S. gallons (5,700,000 L) of water. During a display, more than 14,000 U.S. gallons per minute (0.88 m3/s) are pushed through its 193 jets.
The fountain's pumps are controlled by a Honeywell computer, which was previously located in Atlanta, Georgia until the 1994 renovation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Fountain
Note: Buckingham Fountain was the official starting point of U.S. Route 66.
Museum Campus
In 1998, the city officially opened the Museum Campus, a 10-acre (4.0 ha) lakefront park, surrounding three of the city's main museums, each of which is of national importance: the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park, which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts.
We need not enter all the attraction in Museum Campus, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, and Shedd Aquarium were bypassed by us. We only selected The Field Museum of Natural History. We spend few hours inside the museum, and nearly complete the exhibition. That is the reason to be selective, the museum is great and there is no regret on the selection. All the institutions in Campus Museum are with entrance fee charged, to save cost it is better to buy Chicago Pass, if you have the time and wish to visit all three in one go. By the way, a walk around Museum Campus is also interesting, as it is beside Lake Michigan.
The Field Museum of Natural History
Leaving Museum Campus, our next agenda is go to Chinatown, a desire to eat rice as dinner today, as we have missed the Chinese food after nearly a week in USA. We are exploring the route to the place, either by bus or train. But the bus is either going north or south. Walking from the Grant Park, crossing the bridge with railway track down below, there is a bus stop, but the special sculptures at the southwest corner of the park attracted our attention. It is called the Agora sculptures. Agora is an installation of over 100 headless, armless sculptures designed by the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. The art pieces were brought to Grant Park in 2006.
"Agora" 106 iron cast figures, each about 9 feet tall, shell like, frozen in walking movement. They are permanently displayed in Chicago Grant Park along the Michigan Av. and Roosevelt Rd. The figures are similar in general shape, but different in details. Models for each figure were made by hand, by myself and my three assistants. The surfaces of figures are like a tree bark or wrinkled face expressing a different individuality of each sculpture. The figures were cast during two years 2004-2006 in the huge industrial foundry in Srem near city of Poznan (Poland). Then transported to USA. The installation took place in October /November 2006.
The artist,Magdalena Abakanowicz lives and works in Warsaw. She has been Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan, Poland (1965 - 1990) and Visiting Professor at the U.C.L.A. (1984).
Magdalena Abakanowicz for many years has dealt with the issue of "the countless". She says: "I feel overwhelmed by quantity where counting no longer makes sense. By unrepeatability within such quantity. A crowd of people or birds, insect or leaves, is a mysterious assemblage of variants of a certain prototype, a riddle of nature abhorrent to exact repetition or inability to produce it, just as a human hand can not repeat its own gesture".
Each of her figures is an individuality, with its own expression, with specific details of skin. Organic, with the imprint of the artist's fingers. Their surface is natural like tree bark or animal fur or wrinkled skin. Like all her sculptures also these works are unique objects.
(source: from the website of the artist Magdalena Abakanowicz http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/)
Note: The meaning of Agora, is ancient Greek meeting place. But as you walk across the park, please beware of the landmine, the dog shit. The west loop of Grant Park is the park for dog lovers. The Agora here may be the meeting place for the dog lovers.
We decided to go Chinatown by train, as the train station is now nearby. It is also because we have yet to try the train in Chicago city. This is another popular transportation in Chicago city. It is called "L" in Chicago. Being in the train station is another excitement, the station as well as the train, and the surrounding reminded you of old Chicago...please figure why?...
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Chinatown, Chicago
"Chinatown" on the near South Side. Chicago's Chinatown is among the most active Chinatowns in the world. It even has its own stop on the CTA Red Line. It's on the South Side near Bridgeport, birthplace of the Irish political power-brokers who have run Chicago government for most of the last century. The Chinatown neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, is on the near South Side (located in the Armour Square community area), centered on Cermak and Wentworth Avenues, and is an example of an American Chinatown, or ethnic-Chinese neighborhood. By the 2000 Census, Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas has 68,021 Chinese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Chicago
Note: Some new areas sometimes called "New Chinatown", on the North Side around Argyle Street, which attracts a larger number of people of Southeast Asian heritage.
When you walking down from the elevated train station in Chinatown, turning right you can see a familiar Nine Dragon Wall, you know you are in Chinatown.
Dinner at Chinatown at Wentworth Ave, Chinatown's main street. The restaurant serving is big based on Asian standard. Despite ordering for 2 people, the food is more than enough for 3 people. Luckily the restaurant allow take away for the remaining, which is the norm for the restaurant in USA now. It is food wastage if allow to be thrown away. Despite of the fact there are many street people and hungry people in the street of USA, there are many leftover in the restaurant that were throw away each day. The reason is they need to maintain the quality of the food and compliance with high food hygiene standard of the law.
Another ugly side is the bill, a minimum fixed tips need to be paid, instead of variable rate, depending on the type and satisfaction of service given. The consumer should have the right to tip based on the service given. The bill is in addition to the tax paid. The reason for tipping is that the wages of restaurant worker is low. Tipping is not only in restaurant, you need to tip taxi driver, tour guide etc. Food in restaurant is expensive in USA. No wonder cost of living is expensive in USA. Many ordinary American survived with fast food, processed food or frozen food.
The quality of the Chinese food is average, but Chinese food here seems to be popular among the American. The bill may be high(to tourist perception), food not to our Asian standard, but it met our objective. We have some time to stroll at the street in Chinatown, and talk with the old residents and the shop owners. There used to be a Malaysian restaurant(Penang) in Chinatown, a popular one; but had moved elsewhere after it was burnt down. Finally we need to leave Chinatown, as the time is late, and really dark now, it may not be safe to travel by train to the loop later than 10p.m.
But the business for restaurants in Chinatown has just begin. Sad to say, we have not much time for Chinatown, should have come on the day time.
How to get there
The Chicago Transit Authority operates both an elevated train and four bus routes that service the area. The north–south-running Red Line, the CTA's busiest transit route, stops regularly at the Cermak–Chinatown station located in the heart of Chinatown near the corner of Cermak Road and S Wentworth Avenue. Running north–south, the #24 bus route runs on Wentworth Avenue on the eastside of Chinatown, while the #44 route runs on Canal Street on the westside. The #21 runs east–west on Cermak Road, and the #62 runs diagonally southwest–northeast on Archer Avenue.
There is a taxicab stand on Wentworth Avenue, and a water taxi service also runs along the Chicago River from Michigan Avenue to Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown during the summer months.
We arrived at hotel safely, encounter some street people at the Union Station and along the street. Tired feet, and a lot of walking; but will be having a good sleep tonight.
Chicago is beautiful city, it has its soul which is unique. It is the city of culture; parks and museum.....tomorrow we are going to know her further and deeper...
(still need to be updated/improved on, a draft copy)
Chicago- Willis Tower
17-5-2010(Monday) Chicago
Immediately after check-in into the hotel,the first thing in my mind is to get into Willis Tower, which is nearby. The hotel is located at West Adam Street, 3 blocks away to Willis Tower. After South La Salle Street, South Wells St, and South Franklin St, Willis Tower is right at the corner of South Wacker Drive. The arrival at Willis Tower in time will enable us to watch both the day view and night view of Chicago city from the tower.
There are two places to enjoy the birds-eye view of Chicago City, one is from the 103rd floor of Skydeck Chicago in the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and the other is from the 94th floor of Hancock Observatory. Hancock building is at 875, N. Michigan Ave., 94th Floor, Chicago. We selected Willis Tower instead of Hancock Observatory, mainly because Willis Tower is the global icon, and it is significant in our family history. My mother-in-law had visited the building, and she had talk so much about the building. Both buildings are fee based, you need to pay for the entrance. The admission for Willis Tower is US$15-95 per adult. If you cannot wait for the long queuing, the fast pass is US$30 per adult. To beat the tourist crowd during the day time, the best time to visit is after 5 p.m., you can enjoy the view better without the crowd at non-peak hours.
Willis Tower
Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1974(some said 1973), it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, from its construction in 1974 until 1998 (when the Petronas Towers was built). Currently, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.
Standing at 1,450 feet and 110 stories high, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the western hemisphere. Offering more than 3.8 million square feet of office and retail space, Willis Tower is the ideal business location in Chicago.
The change in name
Although Sears' naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009 London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building's naming rights as part of the agreement. On July 16, 2009, at 10:00 am Central Time, the building was officially renamed Willis Tower. Some people however are not in favor of the name change.
The location
The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. The location is bounded by Wacker Drive, Adams Street, Franklin Street and Jackson Boulevard. The Property’s location at Adams Street and Wacker Drive is ideal for both corporate users and financial services firms. Wacker Drive is recognized as the West Loop’s primary artery and is home to many major corporate users including UBS and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Property is also located two blocks west of LaSalle Street, which is recognized as the center of Chicago’s financial district. Willis Tower offers superior access to transportation as well as proximity to Chicago’s office demand generators(City Hall, Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, etc.).
The Property is situated on a square-shaped site bounded by South Wacker Drive to the west, Adams Street to the north, Franklin Street to the east, and Jackson Boulevard to the south. The site size is approximately 2.96 acres of land. The Property consists of three lower levels and a 110-story high-rise tower. The lower levels occupy nearly the entire site footprint and include a private 160-stall parking garage, retail spaces, a loading dock, storage, elevator, plumbing and electrical rooms. Secure access to the executive parking garage is via Franklin Street while secure access to the loading dock is via lower Wacker Drive. The building tower rises 110 stories (including the penthouse roof) above the three lower levels, and occupies a footprint of approximately 50,625 square feet. The main lobby of Willis Tower contains one entrance on the east side of the building and one entrance on the west side of the building. The west entrance is accessed directly from South Wacker Drive, leading directly into the large, three-story lobby. The east entrance is accessed directly from Franklin Street.
The Skydeck
Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower opened as The Sears Tower Skydeck observation deck on June 22, 1974. It is located on the 103rd floor of the tower. It is 1,353 feet (412 m) above ground and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Chicago. Tourists can experience how the building sways on a windy day. They can see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin on a clear day. It takes about 60 seconds to soar to the top in either of two special, Schindler Group elevators. The Skydeck competes with the John Hancock Center's observation floor a mile and a half away, which is 323 feet (98 m) lower. 1.3 million tourists visit the Skydeck annually. You’ll see the best view and best overview of Chicago. At 1,353 feet (412 meters), the Skydeck is the highest observatory in Chicago.
The view is amazing! You can see 40 – 50 miles (65 - 80 kilometers) on a clear day. Imagine seeing Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, just by walking around the Skydeck. And there is finer view of Chicago architecture from the tower.
If you want to know what time the sun will set on the day of your visit, you can get the best of both views and plan on arriving to the Skydeck 30-45 minutes prior to your sunset time! Go to www.sunrisesunset.com for the Chicago sunset calendar. We are able to see the sunset view as well as night view of Chicago city.
The Ledge - glass box balconies
In January 2009, the Skydeck began a major renovation including the installation of glass balconies extending approximately four feet over Wacker Drive from the 103rd floor. The all-glass boxes allow visitors to look through the floor to the street 1,353 feet (412 m) below. The boxes, which can bear five short tons of weight (about 4.5 metric tons), opened to the public on July 2, 2009. The glass box balconies is called The Ledge. The Ledge brings an exhilarating new experience to the Skydeck. At 1,353 feet up, The Ledge’s glass boxes extend out 4.3 feet from the skyscraper’s Skydeck on the 103rd floor, providing never-before-seen views of the city. There are 4 boxes of glass balconies, one of them will be occupied by the official photographer of the operator of the Ledge.
Skydeck was the most exciting attraction in the building, other than the night view of Chicago. For person with height phobia or fear of height, it is even a bold step to put the foot on the floor of glass balconies, called the Ledge. To look down from the glass balconies is another courageous move, once you are standing on the glass floor. There are moment of yelling, shouting and excitement; as tourists trying to move into the glass balconies. Finally even to take a photo is another excitement moment ...... . forgetting that you are actually standing 1,353 ft above the street below.
The consolation of the night will be the photo taken with the night view of Chicago city as background, a proof that you are man and woman with guts and courage, that you have overcome the fear of height. Willis Tower, despite the name change from Sear Tower, is still the global icon...
Note: A second Skydeck on the 99th floor is used when the 103rd floor is closed. The tourist entrance can be found on the south side of the building along Jackson Boulevard.
This is video about lightning strike Sear Tower. Some said it is fake, but whatever it is, the effect is cool....
You will not be regret that you are here. Even Willis Tower is not the highest building in the world, it is the icon of Chicago city, the historical building that is famous as Sear Tower. Personally it was also the building that the late mother in law frequently mentioned, it is the object of her story of USA tour. It added meaning to the family members and grandchildren, that grandma had been here in early 80s, not long after the building was completed.
There will be more story of Willis Tower, and grandmother's Sear Tower when we returned to Malaysia. It is the journey of three generations.... Mother, daughter, and grandchildren....The Willis Tower. What a significant building to the family, and the story will continue........
Union Station, Chicago
After the visit of Willis Tower, we went to Union Station and have a look and personal experience of the Chicago's public transport. Chicago is one of the transportation hub of USA, the city is also one of the largest hubs of passenger rail service in the nation. Many Amtrak long distance services originate from Union Station. Such services terminate in New York, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C.The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) coordinates the operation of the three service boards: CTA, Metra, and Pace. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) handles public transportation in the city of Chicago and a few adjacent suburbs outside of the Chicago city limits. The CTA operates an extensive network of buses and a rapid transit elevated and subway system known as the Chicago 'L' (for "elevated"), with lines designated by colors. These rapid transit lines also serve both Midway and O'Hare Airports. The CTA's rail lines consist of the Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Brown, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines. Both the Red and Blue lines offer 24 hour service which makes Chicago one of the few cities in the world (and one of only three cities in the United States of America) to offer rail service every day of the year for 24 hours around the clock. A new subway/elevated line, the Circle Line, is also in the planning stages by the CTA. Metra, the nation's second-most used passenger regional rail network, operates an 11-line commuter rail service in Chicago and its suburbs. The Metra Electric Line shares its trackage with Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's South Shore Line, which provides commuter service between South Bend and Chicago. Pace provides bus and paratransit service in over 200 surrounding suburbs with some extensions into the city as well. A 2005 study found that one quarter of commuters used public transit.(source: wikipedia)
Now you know Chicago is more than Blues and Jazz.....
Tip on picture taking at Willis Tower
When shooting towards the windows, use the “backlight” function on your camera (if available). Turn off your flash and use a polarizer filter, if you want to see what’s out the window behind your subject.
Related articles & websites:
1. http://www.willistower.com/driving.html
2. http://www.theskydeck.com/theledge.asp
3. http://www.nbcchicago.com/around-town/archive/New-Sears-Tower-Ledge-Will-Suspend-You-in-Midair.html
Immediately after check-in into the hotel,the first thing in my mind is to get into Willis Tower, which is nearby. The hotel is located at West Adam Street, 3 blocks away to Willis Tower. After South La Salle Street, South Wells St, and South Franklin St, Willis Tower is right at the corner of South Wacker Drive. The arrival at Willis Tower in time will enable us to watch both the day view and night view of Chicago city from the tower.
There are two places to enjoy the birds-eye view of Chicago City, one is from the 103rd floor of Skydeck Chicago in the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and the other is from the 94th floor of Hancock Observatory. Hancock building is at 875, N. Michigan Ave., 94th Floor, Chicago. We selected Willis Tower instead of Hancock Observatory, mainly because Willis Tower is the global icon, and it is significant in our family history. My mother-in-law had visited the building, and she had talk so much about the building. Both buildings are fee based, you need to pay for the entrance. The admission for Willis Tower is US$15-95 per adult. If you cannot wait for the long queuing, the fast pass is US$30 per adult. To beat the tourist crowd during the day time, the best time to visit is after 5 p.m., you can enjoy the view better without the crowd at non-peak hours.
Willis Tower
Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1974(some said 1973), it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, from its construction in 1974 until 1998 (when the Petronas Towers was built). Currently, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.
Standing at 1,450 feet and 110 stories high, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the western hemisphere. Offering more than 3.8 million square feet of office and retail space, Willis Tower is the ideal business location in Chicago.
The change in name
Although Sears' naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009 London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building's naming rights as part of the agreement. On July 16, 2009, at 10:00 am Central Time, the building was officially renamed Willis Tower. Some people however are not in favor of the name change.
The location
The building's official address is 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. The location is bounded by Wacker Drive, Adams Street, Franklin Street and Jackson Boulevard. The Property’s location at Adams Street and Wacker Drive is ideal for both corporate users and financial services firms. Wacker Drive is recognized as the West Loop’s primary artery and is home to many major corporate users including UBS and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Property is also located two blocks west of LaSalle Street, which is recognized as the center of Chicago’s financial district. Willis Tower offers superior access to transportation as well as proximity to Chicago’s office demand generators(City Hall, Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, etc.).
The Property is situated on a square-shaped site bounded by South Wacker Drive to the west, Adams Street to the north, Franklin Street to the east, and Jackson Boulevard to the south. The site size is approximately 2.96 acres of land. The Property consists of three lower levels and a 110-story high-rise tower. The lower levels occupy nearly the entire site footprint and include a private 160-stall parking garage, retail spaces, a loading dock, storage, elevator, plumbing and electrical rooms. Secure access to the executive parking garage is via Franklin Street while secure access to the loading dock is via lower Wacker Drive. The building tower rises 110 stories (including the penthouse roof) above the three lower levels, and occupies a footprint of approximately 50,625 square feet. The main lobby of Willis Tower contains one entrance on the east side of the building and one entrance on the west side of the building. The west entrance is accessed directly from South Wacker Drive, leading directly into the large, three-story lobby. The east entrance is accessed directly from Franklin Street.
The Skydeck
Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower opened as The Sears Tower Skydeck observation deck on June 22, 1974. It is located on the 103rd floor of the tower. It is 1,353 feet (412 m) above ground and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Chicago. Tourists can experience how the building sways on a windy day. They can see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin on a clear day. It takes about 60 seconds to soar to the top in either of two special, Schindler Group elevators. The Skydeck competes with the John Hancock Center's observation floor a mile and a half away, which is 323 feet (98 m) lower. 1.3 million tourists visit the Skydeck annually. You’ll see the best view and best overview of Chicago. At 1,353 feet (412 meters), the Skydeck is the highest observatory in Chicago.
The view is amazing! You can see 40 – 50 miles (65 - 80 kilometers) on a clear day. Imagine seeing Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, just by walking around the Skydeck. And there is finer view of Chicago architecture from the tower.
If you want to know what time the sun will set on the day of your visit, you can get the best of both views and plan on arriving to the Skydeck 30-45 minutes prior to your sunset time! Go to www.sunrisesunset.com for the Chicago sunset calendar. We are able to see the sunset view as well as night view of Chicago city.
The Ledge - glass box balconies
In January 2009, the Skydeck began a major renovation including the installation of glass balconies extending approximately four feet over Wacker Drive from the 103rd floor. The all-glass boxes allow visitors to look through the floor to the street 1,353 feet (412 m) below. The boxes, which can bear five short tons of weight (about 4.5 metric tons), opened to the public on July 2, 2009. The glass box balconies is called The Ledge. The Ledge brings an exhilarating new experience to the Skydeck. At 1,353 feet up, The Ledge’s glass boxes extend out 4.3 feet from the skyscraper’s Skydeck on the 103rd floor, providing never-before-seen views of the city. There are 4 boxes of glass balconies, one of them will be occupied by the official photographer of the operator of the Ledge.
Skydeck was the most exciting attraction in the building, other than the night view of Chicago. For person with height phobia or fear of height, it is even a bold step to put the foot on the floor of glass balconies, called the Ledge. To look down from the glass balconies is another courageous move, once you are standing on the glass floor. There are moment of yelling, shouting and excitement; as tourists trying to move into the glass balconies. Finally even to take a photo is another excitement moment ...... . forgetting that you are actually standing 1,353 ft above the street below.
The consolation of the night will be the photo taken with the night view of Chicago city as background, a proof that you are man and woman with guts and courage, that you have overcome the fear of height. Willis Tower, despite the name change from Sear Tower, is still the global icon...
Note: A second Skydeck on the 99th floor is used when the 103rd floor is closed. The tourist entrance can be found on the south side of the building along Jackson Boulevard.
This is video about lightning strike Sear Tower. Some said it is fake, but whatever it is, the effect is cool....
You will not be regret that you are here. Even Willis Tower is not the highest building in the world, it is the icon of Chicago city, the historical building that is famous as Sear Tower. Personally it was also the building that the late mother in law frequently mentioned, it is the object of her story of USA tour. It added meaning to the family members and grandchildren, that grandma had been here in early 80s, not long after the building was completed.
There will be more story of Willis Tower, and grandmother's Sear Tower when we returned to Malaysia. It is the journey of three generations.... Mother, daughter, and grandchildren....The Willis Tower. What a significant building to the family, and the story will continue........
Union Station, Chicago
After the visit of Willis Tower, we went to Union Station and have a look and personal experience of the Chicago's public transport. Chicago is one of the transportation hub of USA, the city is also one of the largest hubs of passenger rail service in the nation. Many Amtrak long distance services originate from Union Station. Such services terminate in New York, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C.The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) coordinates the operation of the three service boards: CTA, Metra, and Pace. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) handles public transportation in the city of Chicago and a few adjacent suburbs outside of the Chicago city limits. The CTA operates an extensive network of buses and a rapid transit elevated and subway system known as the Chicago 'L' (for "elevated"), with lines designated by colors. These rapid transit lines also serve both Midway and O'Hare Airports. The CTA's rail lines consist of the Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Brown, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines. Both the Red and Blue lines offer 24 hour service which makes Chicago one of the few cities in the world (and one of only three cities in the United States of America) to offer rail service every day of the year for 24 hours around the clock. A new subway/elevated line, the Circle Line, is also in the planning stages by the CTA. Metra, the nation's second-most used passenger regional rail network, operates an 11-line commuter rail service in Chicago and its suburbs. The Metra Electric Line shares its trackage with Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's South Shore Line, which provides commuter service between South Bend and Chicago. Pace provides bus and paratransit service in over 200 surrounding suburbs with some extensions into the city as well. A 2005 study found that one quarter of commuters used public transit.(source: wikipedia)
Now you know Chicago is more than Blues and Jazz.....
Tip on picture taking at Willis Tower
When shooting towards the windows, use the “backlight” function on your camera (if available). Turn off your flash and use a polarizer filter, if you want to see what’s out the window behind your subject.
Related articles & websites:
1. http://www.willistower.com/driving.html
2. http://www.theskydeck.com/theledge.asp
3. http://www.nbcchicago.com/around-town/archive/New-Sears-Tower-Ledge-Will-Suspend-You-in-Midair.html
Chicago - The Windy City
Chicago is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the United States, with over 2.8 million living within the city limits. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland", is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million people spread across the U.S. states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Chicago is primarily located within Cook County, with the exception of a small northwestern portion of the city at O'Hare International Airport that is located within DuPage County.
Chicago was founded in 1833, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land following the Treaty of Chicago. The city became a major transportation and telecommunications hub in North America. Today, the city retains its status as a major hub, both for industry and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world. In 2008[update], the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors.
View Larger Map
In modern times, the city has taken on an additional dimension as a center for business and finance and is listed as one of the world's top ten Global Financial Centers. Chicago is a stronghold of the Democratic Party and has been home to many influential politicians, including the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Chicago as an "alpha world city" due to Chicago's important role in the global economic system.
Globally recognized, Chicago has numerous nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best known include: "Chi-town", "Windy City", "Second City", and the "City of Big Shoulders". Chicago has also been called "the most American of big cities"
(source: wikipedia)
Chicago, Broadway, Blue & Jazz.....
17-5-2010(Monday) Des Moines to Chicago
Ben's friend, a Korean took us to the bus stop at Des Moines city. We left Mr Bruce house early, saying goodbye to Becky.
The Korean friend took us to Capital building again, to have the tour of the inside of the building.
We met many Malaysian families at the bus stop, they also take the same bus to Chicago. They are the family who come all the way to attend the graduation ceremony and take opportunity to tour USA.
Left Des Moines early morning by Megabus, which provide service from Des Moines to Chicago and Iowa City. The bus stop is located on the north side of Walnut Street just east of 4th Street. Fares from $1 and up, if booked early it will be cheaper.
Megabus is from Megabus.com, which is the first, low-cost, express bus service to offer city-to-city travel for as low as $1 via the Internet. Since launching in April 2006, megabus.com has served more than 4 million passengers throughout 28 major cities in the Midwest and Northeast. The bus company has providing low-cost and reliable bus services serving 28 cities from two hubs at New York and Chicago. Their luxury double deckers bus was new and clean, which also offer free wi-fi, panoramic windows and a green alternative way to travel. We traveled in comfort with ample space for relax, under the care of driver, who is professional. Megabus is a welcome alternative to Greyhound, which buses are normally old, and look dirty. The new bus company will provide healthy competition to the Greyhound and other intercity bus companies. My friend Loh HK is still have fond memory of his travel with Greyhound bus during his university days in USA. He had traveled USA by Greyhound bus in late 70s or early 80s. He said the bus was for the poors and students, hoping that Megabus will provide another different target market, higher segment group. The bus travel is part of the plan for multi-mode transport for the USA tour. We want to look at the life of normal ordinary US citizen, and not life projected by the Hollywood movie, especially life of ordinary people after the financial crisis.
Iowa state is practically a flat plain, looking out from window, there are farms...
The bus stopped at Iowa City , which give me opportunity to explore a while the old capital of Iowa State. The bus continued the journey after Iowa City, there is not much attraction outside the window, except the farmland, and the architecture of the residential houses at the small town the bus passed through. The bus trip is comfortable, the passenger either sleep or playing with their computer. You can also hear a professional, either a project manager or Art director, giving instruction to her staff in the bus by her hand phone, there are people who are doing their work or university student doing their assignment by using their laptop. Is the American using public transport instead of car for their business trip to save cost?...
The first Impression of Chicago City
It was raining when we arrived at Chicago. The first impression of Chicago was not that good. The passengers waiting at the bus stop(at S Canal Street), near Union Station, most of them are blacks. The surrounding railway track looked old and atmosphere at the surrounding looked rough and heavy, especially for the first time visitor. It was unlike when I arrived at Chicago airport on my first entry to USA earlier. Note: The impression changed later after we begin our exploration in the city. Chicago is the city I liked.....
After unloading the luggage from the bus, it was time to search for the location of the hotel. It was in downtown of Chicago at W Adam St, walking distance from the bus stop. Crossing the Chicago River, it is just 4 blocks away. The weather was cold with strong winds, and rain. But the rain was not heavy, we still can walk to the hotel. The Club Quarters Hotel, Central Loop is located at 111, W Adam Street, inside the Loop, and walking distance to Willis Tower(Sear Tower). In fact we have passed the Willis Tower while walking to hotel, we are in such a hurry, Willis Tower was overlooked by us without notice. Immediately after hotel check-in, we waste no time and walk to Willis Tower. Our objective is to arrive in time for the sunset view of Chicago city, and continue with the night view when the city is brighten with lighting. The night view of the city is magnificent.
The first night in Chicago, looking out of hotel window to the street, we do not know what to expect from the city. A city famous for its industrial look and gangland, as projected by the Hollywood film.
This is what I read prior to departure from Malaysia:
"Despite a big decline in the crime rate from the 1970's and '80's, Chicago is still a big city with big city problems. There are run-down areas within a few blocks of some well-traveled places such as near the United Center and US Cellular Field. The majority of the city's violent crimes occur within a relatively small number of neighborhoods well off the beaten path in the South and West Sides, but given the chance nature of crime, you should exercise the usual precautions wherever you go. And just because a neighborhood has a bad reputation, you might still have a perfectly good time there, as long as it falls within your comfort level.
Take caution in the Loop at night — after working hours, the Loop gets quiet and dark in a hurry west of State Street, but you'll be fine near hotels, and close to Michigan Avenue and the lake. When disembarking a crowded CTA train, especially in the downtown-area subways, be wary of purse snatchers.".
And I am now at the Loop, Downtown of Chicago city......what do you expected?... first time visitor to Chicago city, all on your own....
Chicago is not only Broadway, Blue and Jazz; it is much more than that.....
(to be continued...)
Reference and related articles/websites:
1. http://www.choosechicago.com/Pages/default.aspx
2. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501928-chicago_vacations-i-action-pictures-tgphotoid-?fromiy=1#video
3. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en.html
Chicago was founded in 1833, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land following the Treaty of Chicago. The city became a major transportation and telecommunications hub in North America. Today, the city retains its status as a major hub, both for industry and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world. In 2008[update], the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors.
View Larger Map
In modern times, the city has taken on an additional dimension as a center for business and finance and is listed as one of the world's top ten Global Financial Centers. Chicago is a stronghold of the Democratic Party and has been home to many influential politicians, including the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Chicago as an "alpha world city" due to Chicago's important role in the global economic system.
Globally recognized, Chicago has numerous nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best known include: "Chi-town", "Windy City", "Second City", and the "City of Big Shoulders". Chicago has also been called "the most American of big cities"
(source: wikipedia)
Chicago, Broadway, Blue & Jazz.....
17-5-2010(Monday) Des Moines to Chicago
Ben's friend, a Korean took us to the bus stop at Des Moines city. We left Mr Bruce house early, saying goodbye to Becky.
The Korean friend took us to Capital building again, to have the tour of the inside of the building.
We met many Malaysian families at the bus stop, they also take the same bus to Chicago. They are the family who come all the way to attend the graduation ceremony and take opportunity to tour USA.
Left Des Moines early morning by Megabus, which provide service from Des Moines to Chicago and Iowa City. The bus stop is located on the north side of Walnut Street just east of 4th Street. Fares from $1 and up, if booked early it will be cheaper.
Megabus is from Megabus.com, which is the first, low-cost, express bus service to offer city-to-city travel for as low as $1 via the Internet. Since launching in April 2006, megabus.com has served more than 4 million passengers throughout 28 major cities in the Midwest and Northeast. The bus company has providing low-cost and reliable bus services serving 28 cities from two hubs at New York and Chicago. Their luxury double deckers bus was new and clean, which also offer free wi-fi, panoramic windows and a green alternative way to travel. We traveled in comfort with ample space for relax, under the care of driver, who is professional. Megabus is a welcome alternative to Greyhound, which buses are normally old, and look dirty. The new bus company will provide healthy competition to the Greyhound and other intercity bus companies. My friend Loh HK is still have fond memory of his travel with Greyhound bus during his university days in USA. He had traveled USA by Greyhound bus in late 70s or early 80s. He said the bus was for the poors and students, hoping that Megabus will provide another different target market, higher segment group. The bus travel is part of the plan for multi-mode transport for the USA tour. We want to look at the life of normal ordinary US citizen, and not life projected by the Hollywood movie, especially life of ordinary people after the financial crisis.
Iowa state is practically a flat plain, looking out from window, there are farms...
The bus stopped at Iowa City , which give me opportunity to explore a while the old capital of Iowa State. The bus continued the journey after Iowa City, there is not much attraction outside the window, except the farmland, and the architecture of the residential houses at the small town the bus passed through. The bus trip is comfortable, the passenger either sleep or playing with their computer. You can also hear a professional, either a project manager or Art director, giving instruction to her staff in the bus by her hand phone, there are people who are doing their work or university student doing their assignment by using their laptop. Is the American using public transport instead of car for their business trip to save cost?...
The first Impression of Chicago City
It was raining when we arrived at Chicago. The first impression of Chicago was not that good. The passengers waiting at the bus stop(at S Canal Street), near Union Station, most of them are blacks. The surrounding railway track looked old and atmosphere at the surrounding looked rough and heavy, especially for the first time visitor. It was unlike when I arrived at Chicago airport on my first entry to USA earlier. Note: The impression changed later after we begin our exploration in the city. Chicago is the city I liked.....
After unloading the luggage from the bus, it was time to search for the location of the hotel. It was in downtown of Chicago at W Adam St, walking distance from the bus stop. Crossing the Chicago River, it is just 4 blocks away. The weather was cold with strong winds, and rain. But the rain was not heavy, we still can walk to the hotel. The Club Quarters Hotel, Central Loop is located at 111, W Adam Street, inside the Loop, and walking distance to Willis Tower(Sear Tower). In fact we have passed the Willis Tower while walking to hotel, we are in such a hurry, Willis Tower was overlooked by us without notice. Immediately after hotel check-in, we waste no time and walk to Willis Tower. Our objective is to arrive in time for the sunset view of Chicago city, and continue with the night view when the city is brighten with lighting. The night view of the city is magnificent.
The first night in Chicago, looking out of hotel window to the street, we do not know what to expect from the city. A city famous for its industrial look and gangland, as projected by the Hollywood film.
This is what I read prior to departure from Malaysia:
"Despite a big decline in the crime rate from the 1970's and '80's, Chicago is still a big city with big city problems. There are run-down areas within a few blocks of some well-traveled places such as near the United Center and US Cellular Field. The majority of the city's violent crimes occur within a relatively small number of neighborhoods well off the beaten path in the South and West Sides, but given the chance nature of crime, you should exercise the usual precautions wherever you go. And just because a neighborhood has a bad reputation, you might still have a perfectly good time there, as long as it falls within your comfort level.
Take caution in the Loop at night — after working hours, the Loop gets quiet and dark in a hurry west of State Street, but you'll be fine near hotels, and close to Michigan Avenue and the lake. When disembarking a crowded CTA train, especially in the downtown-area subways, be wary of purse snatchers.".
And I am now at the Loop, Downtown of Chicago city......what do you expected?... first time visitor to Chicago city, all on your own....
Chicago is not only Broadway, Blue and Jazz; it is much more than that.....
(to be continued...)
Reference and related articles/websites:
1. http://www.choosechicago.com/Pages/default.aspx
2. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501928-chicago_vacations-i-action-pictures-tgphotoid-?fromiy=1#video
3. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en.html
World Refugee Day
Yesterday 20-6-2010 was World Refugee Day. A day before, 19-6-2010 was the 65th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma.
World leaders and thousands of supporters honored Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on her 65th birthday, June 19 according to exiled media Democratic Voice of Burma. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Burma for nearly 15 years. Burma under Junta has been one of the largest exporter of refugee and source of IDP in Asia. Let us remember Burma and Aung San on World Refugee Day 2010, a call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and return to democracy for Burma.
As World Refugee Day gets under way, UNHCR appeals for the displaced
News Stories, 20 June 2010
GENEVA, June 20 (UNHCR) – As millions of people around the globe were marking World Refugee Day on Sunday, UNHCR chief António Guterres called on the international community to do more for the forcibly displaced.
High Commissioner made his call during a press conference in Syria – broadcast on a live video link – where he met earlier in the day with President Bashar Assad and other top leaders. Syria hosts about 1 million mainly Iraqi refugees, according to the government.
"I appeal to the international community to do more to host refugees," Guterres said just two days after the UN refugee agency announced that 100,000 Iraqi refugees have been referred for resettlement from the Middle East to third countries since 2007, a major milestone for one of the world's largest refugee populations.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, also made an appeal on behalf of refugees in a special World Refugee Day (WRD) message. "Refugees have been deprived of their homes, but they must not be deprived of their futures," he said, while calling for working with host governments to deliver services and for intensified efforts to resolve conflicts so that refugees can return home.
With "Home," as this year's global theme, UNHCR and its partners, including governments, donors, non-governmental organizations, goodwill ambassadors and refugees themselves, have been taking part over the past week in awareness-raising, cultural, educational, environmental and sport activities, especially football tournaments in this year of the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Special messages from Guterres and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, who met Colombian refugees in northern Ecuador last week, have been broadcast around the world. Jolie, Guterres and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took part in a global live event on Friday linking four countries.
.........
UNHCR's main event in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur literally stopped traffic at KL Sentral, the largest train station in Southeast Asia. Huge crowds came to watch and take part in the activities, including a simulated refugee experience in a maze-like structure. Visitors faced the same difficult choices as refugees fleeing persecution or violence as they tried to find a way out.
The event included other reality experiences aimed at raising awareness about the life of a refugee. There was also a handicrafts bazaar and cultural performances. Local celebrities and performers lent their support to the event.
By Leo Dobbs in Geneva
(extract from http://www.unhcr.org/4c1e47006.html)
Personally I remember my refugee friends in Burma/Thai border, especially the children .....this is another Refugee Day, 65th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, another year has gone, and no sign of returning to democracy in their homeland. The date for returning to their home land is still unknown. What happen to the international voices and their political power? the degree of their concern is lesser than Tibet or Iraq? or will it be facing the same fate as like Nagaland or East Timor? Burma has no strategic oil deposit, nor political advantage to be used for international political game?.....
Poor Burma.....How long must they wait ....
Ironically during my visit to USA, I have opportunity to meet some ex-Vietnamese refugee in USA. Most of them have built their life in the new country, many will not return to their home country. They have been staying in their host country(now their home country) longer than their original home country, Vietnam.
Will the tribal refugee in Burma/Thai border having the opportunity as the former Vietnamese refugee? or forever remain as IDP?......
Nobody know, only God know....
World leaders and thousands of supporters honored Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on her 65th birthday, June 19 according to exiled media Democratic Voice of Burma. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Burma for nearly 15 years. Burma under Junta has been one of the largest exporter of refugee and source of IDP in Asia. Let us remember Burma and Aung San on World Refugee Day 2010, a call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and return to democracy for Burma.
As World Refugee Day gets under way, UNHCR appeals for the displaced
News Stories, 20 June 2010
GENEVA, June 20 (UNHCR) – As millions of people around the globe were marking World Refugee Day on Sunday, UNHCR chief António Guterres called on the international community to do more for the forcibly displaced.
High Commissioner made his call during a press conference in Syria – broadcast on a live video link – where he met earlier in the day with President Bashar Assad and other top leaders. Syria hosts about 1 million mainly Iraqi refugees, according to the government.
"I appeal to the international community to do more to host refugees," Guterres said just two days after the UN refugee agency announced that 100,000 Iraqi refugees have been referred for resettlement from the Middle East to third countries since 2007, a major milestone for one of the world's largest refugee populations.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, also made an appeal on behalf of refugees in a special World Refugee Day (WRD) message. "Refugees have been deprived of their homes, but they must not be deprived of their futures," he said, while calling for working with host governments to deliver services and for intensified efforts to resolve conflicts so that refugees can return home.
With "Home," as this year's global theme, UNHCR and its partners, including governments, donors, non-governmental organizations, goodwill ambassadors and refugees themselves, have been taking part over the past week in awareness-raising, cultural, educational, environmental and sport activities, especially football tournaments in this year of the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Special messages from Guterres and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, who met Colombian refugees in northern Ecuador last week, have been broadcast around the world. Jolie, Guterres and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took part in a global live event on Friday linking four countries.
.........
UNHCR's main event in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur literally stopped traffic at KL Sentral, the largest train station in Southeast Asia. Huge crowds came to watch and take part in the activities, including a simulated refugee experience in a maze-like structure. Visitors faced the same difficult choices as refugees fleeing persecution or violence as they tried to find a way out.
The event included other reality experiences aimed at raising awareness about the life of a refugee. There was also a handicrafts bazaar and cultural performances. Local celebrities and performers lent their support to the event.
By Leo Dobbs in Geneva
(extract from http://www.unhcr.org/4c1e47006.html)
Personally I remember my refugee friends in Burma/Thai border, especially the children .....this is another Refugee Day, 65th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, another year has gone, and no sign of returning to democracy in their homeland. The date for returning to their home land is still unknown. What happen to the international voices and their political power? the degree of their concern is lesser than Tibet or Iraq? or will it be facing the same fate as like Nagaland or East Timor? Burma has no strategic oil deposit, nor political advantage to be used for international political game?.....
Poor Burma.....How long must they wait ....
Ironically during my visit to USA, I have opportunity to meet some ex-Vietnamese refugee in USA. Most of them have built their life in the new country, many will not return to their home country. They have been staying in their host country(now their home country) longer than their original home country, Vietnam.
Will the tribal refugee in Burma/Thai border having the opportunity as the former Vietnamese refugee? or forever remain as IDP?......
Nobody know, only God know....
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