First day exploring Chicago

After a tiring first day of travel I woke in the windy city looking from my bed to this view(below). I soon got dressed and headed down stairs for a stereotypical(in my mind) American breakfast, I had scrambled eggs with jack and cheddar cheese, shaved chicken, crispy bacon and orange juice made 100% of different concentrates, it sure tasted weird but I assume it was healthier then Coke. Following breakfast we explored the south side of the Chicago River specifically S State St.(the main road) used for shopping and the main "city jobs". After we visited all the main shops on S State St. we had lunch at Pret A Manger, a food store/cafe that my parents visited frequently while they lived in England, my Mother got a small mochaccino, I got a fruit/berry salad and my Father got a nothing. To our suprise the small mocha my mum ordered turned out to be not so big, only slightly taller than Dad's cellphone! After this morning snack we went to Sears/Willis Tower to enjoy the 360 degree view experience but the line ended up being way too long for our satisfaction. Instead, we went accross the road to a small park where we had our lunch. For lunch I had a caesar salad, mum had a tomato and cheese sandwhich and dad had a sandwhich aswell, next we moved to the Chicago Public Library which I found very grand and big, this is also where we met our walking tour guide Margaret Hicks. Margaret has a background in comedy as well as a history in the Second-City. During our tour we saw and learnt a lot about Chicago's history, architecture and also how local life works, the tour went at an easy pace so it was easy to keep up and forget about the walking. I also liked the tour in the way that she explained the city's architecture and also the symbols and flags placed around the city. Overall I really enjoyed the tour and all the sights/places I got to see because of it. Here are the photos we took preceeding and during the day so far.

View from our room (notice the Trump Tower).

Same view. It's similar to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - done by the same architect

Buildings opposite to our's know as the corn cobs for an obvious reason.

Underneath the famous elevated train system.

Photo of the famous elevated train system.

The famous Chicago Theatre on S State Street.

Macy's Store.

The famous Macy's Clock.

That's my dad's phone(approx. 15cm/6inches tall) next to Mum's 'small' coffee.

We saw the Chicago Correctional Center when we were walking to the Public Library.

The exercise yard was up the top.  A couple of years ago, two men escape through the tiny windows and slid down sheets and towels they had tied together.  Sometimes the old cliches are still effective.

 

Chicago Public Library Roof.  The building looks old but was only built in 1988.  It's a steel building in disguise as a brick building.  Those of us in the know call this the post-modernist age of architecture

Chicago Public Library outside wall.  The decorations are corn husks forming the main garland, a face blowing (as Chicago is the windy city) and a smaller circle on the left with a Y in the middle representing the three parts of the Chicago river and the three main parts of Chicago

Piece of art in the middle of Chicago's government building district, to jazz up the buildings built in the modernist architectural era.

Wall art inside of the Marquette Building.  The mosaics are tiffany mother of pearl and depic the diary stories of the missionery Father Jacques Marquette who was the first european citizen of Chicago.

Marquette Building.

Palmer House Hilton Grand Ballroom ceiling art.  Potter Palmer was the rich financier who built Chicago and the main State Street after the Chicago fire.  When he showed his confidence in staying and investing in Chicago again, so did others

Palmer House Hilton Grand Ballroom ceiling art.

Following the tour we went to the Garret's Popcorn Shop opposite the S State Street Target to try the highly reccomended Chicago Mix, a mixture of cheese flavoured popcorn and caramel flavoured popcorn, although recomended (and people really do queue around the street for a serving on this) it's not really my cup of tea.  Following this popcorn excursion we went to millenium park to see the famous Bean, when we arrived at the millenium park we saw the waterfall fall art which was a suprisingly good addition to the main attraction.  



Water Fountain Feature.

The Bean.

The Bean.

The Bean.

Would I say the Bean was worth seeing? I guess. I mean all it is is a big mirrored bean, a massive bean at that.  Officially I think it's called Cloud gate, and I can see that how it's supposed to be a cloud, but really it's a bean, I think the bean is a good thing to visit if you don't have a whole lot planned. It is also a good thing to say that you've seen when you get back to wherever you came from.   The photos reflecting the people and the buildings are quite clever though. 

Me with the Bean.

After we left the millenium park we went back to the hotel. Thunderstorms were coming as it had been a very hot day.  Just as we were going to head out the door, it absolutely poured down.  We stood, we looked, we turned around and went back inside to our hotel instead.  Instead, we went to the Wow Bao for dinner which served hot chinese buns, soups etc. etc. After the rain had stopped we headed out for late night shopping.  It was better doing it in the evening with the locals than in the crowded daytime.  However tomorrow, that's exactly what I think we will be doing.  Eventually, we made it back to our hotel and headed up to the room for a well deserved rest and sleep.