Went to Chicago for a long weekend from 24-26Th May. Summer is the perfect season to visit Chicago as the weather is very comfortable. Chicago weather is known for unexpected changes and severe temperature drops.
We were staying with our friends
Mrunmayee &
Gaurav. They had a nice apartment outside the city in Arlington Heights, very close to
O'Hare International Airport.
We started our Chicago trip with the obvious, DOWNTOWN. It was pretty windy and chilly that day. Arlington Heights was about an hour away from downtown with traffic. The Photograph below is outside Jay
Pritzker Pavilion in the Millennium park designed by renowned Architect Frank
Gehry. This structure holds various music concerts throughout the year. I have heard from people that the acoustics of this place is so good that even though it is open air, the sound does not go outside the lawn area. Don't know if that's true but that's what they say.
Next to the
Pritzker Pavilion is a jelly bean. The jelly bean is clean shiny bean shaped metal sculpture that sits in this big open area reflecting the entire city downtown. Like those convex/concave mirrors, you see yourself in various different shapes & sizes. Its fun.
After the Millennium Park, we started walking towards the Hancock tower. Chicago downtown is very beautiful. I felt like, if you put New york & Washington DC in a blender the mixture could be called as Chicago. Chicago river flows through the downtown surrounded with high rises. We walked about good 2-3 miles to get to Hancock tower. Did some shopping on the way, I bought a Chicago T-shirt and
Mrunmayee bought a pair of shoes.
The snaps below are from Hancock tower, 96Th floor - Signature Lounge. John Hancock is best remembered for his signature on the declaration of independence, in US. That's the reason the lounge is called Signature Lounge. The view from the Signature lounge was fabulous. We ordered some margaritas & wine and settled there till sundown. On one side from the lounge we could see lake Michigan almost like a sea and on the other side we could see entire Chicago downtown. One advise from me, when you visit Chicago, DO NOT go on top of the Sears towers or to the observatory on top of the Hancock tower. Instead, go to the Signature Lounge. It definitely is a better experience.
Next day, we dragged our non-architect friends to a 20Th century modern architecture icon building in Plano, Illinois. Visiting
Farnsworth house designed by the famous architect
Mies van
der Rohe was an experience. The building you have forever seen in the books, stepping into it was a overwhelming. We spent good 1-2 hours over there. The guide had been staying over there taking care of the house for years and was really passionate about the house and had good knowledge about the house.
The day after that we went around in a neighborhood in oak park by train. This neighborhood has Frank Lloyd Wright's house and studio on display and you can walk around the neighborhood looking at the various houses designed by him as well. We were fortunate enough to have seen the Unity temple from inside. One piece of advice, book your trips for the Frank Lloyd Wright house & studio walk way in advance. It gets full very fast.
The last day we spent at the Navy Pier by the lake Michigan, ate the best Italian food ever. Great deep dish pizza, lasagna. Deep dish pizza is Chicago's speciality. We sat in a huge
Ferris wheel, which gave a good view of the navy pier and the downtown. At the end of the Navy Pier, was a a beer garden with classic rock played by a live band. That was a great atmosphere, people dancing,
sipping beer, relaxing & enjoying. We sat there for a while but had to turn back as we had to catch flight for Dallas.
Next to the Pritzker Pavilion is a jelly bean. The jelly bean is clean shiny bean shaped metal sculpture that sits in this big open area reflecting the entire city downtown. Like those convex/concave mirrors, you see yourself in various different shapes & sizes. Its fun.
The snaps below are from Hancock tower, 96Th floor - Signature Lounge. John Hancock is best remembered for his signature on the declaration of independence, in US. That's the reason the lounge is called Signature Lounge. The view from the Signature lounge was fabulous. We ordered some margaritas & wine and settled there till sundown. On one side from the lounge we could see lake Michigan almost like a sea and on the other side we could see entire Chicago downtown. One advise from me, when you visit Chicago, DO NOT go on top of the Sears towers or to the observatory on top of the Hancock tower. Instead, go to the Signature Lounge. It definitely is a better experience.
The last day we spent at the Navy Pier by the lake Michigan, ate the best Italian food ever. Great deep dish pizza, lasagna. Deep dish pizza is Chicago's speciality. We sat in a huge Ferris wheel, which gave a good view of the navy pier and the downtown. At the end of the Navy Pier, was a a beer garden with classic rock played by a live band. That was a great atmosphere, people dancing, sipping beer, relaxing & enjoying. We sat there for a while but had to turn back as we had to catch flight for Dallas.
