One day spent in Chicago does not an expert make. My friend and I drove the two hours to The Windy City the day after I arrived in the Midwest (I was still very tired) and parked in a lot that charges a flat $13 for between 1 and 24 hours of parking. Because this is illogical, my first impression of Chicago was not good. But it got better.
On our way out of the parking garage, we passed through the magical mirrored hall, a hallway that, through its structural elements, seemed to be blocked off by a huge mirror. This is an optical illusion. Can you see it?
Outside of the garage was a beautiful city filled with a beautiful garden...
...a beautiful art project that also functioned as a way to keep adults and children cool and entertained...
...a beautiful pier with views of beautiful sailboats...
...and beautiful views of the city (see below and the first photo in this post)...
...a beautiful urban beach with water that can freeze any appendage off in two seconds or less (won't let me upload photo)...beautiful buildings and beautiful shops for beautiful and rich people. The weather there was unique. Always sunny but, depending on where in the city one was, it was either warm or cool enough for a sweater, even in the middle of the day.
While we were there, we didn't have time for much more than walking around, going to a few shops, eating some deep dish pizza that didn't seem very deep and going to the Museum of Contemporary Art where we saw a Wolfgang Tillmans photo exhibit (think uncircumcised penises), some Warhols (yawn!) and a fabulous exhibit by Chicago cartoonist Chris Ware. In the gift store - also known as mecca - I bought a beautiful book of his that is an exact copy of a sketchbook of his that contains a ton of cool characters and ideas and kooky and kinky cartoons.
I love what I've seen of Chicago so far, which is a lot more than I can say for the Bloomington/Normal area. I'd like to take another trip there to look at the different little neighborhoods, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'm already thinking of a separate trip to Chicago another year, and I'm ecstatic about the Minneapolis/St. Paul trip I'll be starting tomorrow.
Next: Bloomington/Normal
3 comments:
I imagine you've moved on from Chicago by now. But isn't it a magnificent city? I like it almost more than every other city I've spent time in. Only San Francisco beats it, as far as I'm concerned.
I haven't spent much time in Minneapolis/St. Paul so you'll have to post something about your visit there.
Minneapolis rocked. I will be writing a lot about it when I get a chance to breathe!
I have only been to chicago once in January when it was -18, I have had no interest in going back.
Post a Comment