There's
a recent song, with the words “I love this city” in the chorus -
I think it's about Detroit actually, but we would definitely apply it
to Chicago. Reg only booked Chicago on a last minute whim, as we
were going to Boston and the train stops here on the way. We're glad
he did! We think of all the cities we've visited, we probably like
this one the best, although San Francisco has to be a close
contender. Why do we like it so much?
It's
clean, and vibrant, and has the beautiful lake shoreline; the weather
is pleasantly warm, not “oven” temperature; we've met some great
people here, and not just in the hostel; and we really like the
hostel as a place to stay.
Chicago
is renowned for its interesting architecture, for being the centre of
the American railroad freight system, and for being a city, which
when faced with disaster (the great Chicago fire in 1871 practically
wiped out the city), gets up, dusts itself off, and starts again.
It's also a city which fights for justice, and for what it wants and
doesn't want, and I guess we like that about it too.
This
morning, after breakfast, we join others in the hostel for a free
walking tour of some parts of the city. Our guide, Tom Judge, is
definitely older than Reg and I but almost certainly a lot fitter
than I am - he enjoys canoeing, which must require a reasonable level
of agility. In his working life Tom was the editor of a railway
publication, and his father, brothers and cousins all have a long
history of working for the railways (so at the end of our tour, Reg
and I have a good discussion with Tom about Amtrak trains). Tom
reiterates what others have told us; that because the majority of
the train track in America is owned by the freight train companies (a
lot of which are Canadian), freight trains get priority on the
tracks. So often the passenger trains are kept waiting, to let a
freight train through. Which is fine if you are passengers like us,
not in a hurry; but if you have a connection to catch, it can be a
problem (although Amtrak do their best to hold up connecting trains –
which I guess only exacerbates the problem, really).
Back to
the walking tour. Tom has a fairly large backpack with him and says
he has in it several spare hats, sunglasses, umbrellas and sunscreen,
if anyone should be short of anything. I think this is a lovely,
caring touch, and a few people do take advantage of his hats and
umbrellas along the way, as it becomes really warm.
Tom
tells us about Chicago's famous “L” trains (elevated train
system, which I've mentioned in an earlier blogpost); the first train
ran in 1892.
Tom
explains quite a lot about the history of the city, and in particular
the varied architecture, which ranges from interesting old buildings
(though all are post-”the Great Fire”) to much newer ones. But
first Tom tells us about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It started
in a barn of the O'Leary family home; the media reported it as being
caused by a cow kicking over a lantern, but years later a journalist
confessed that he'd made that up to make the story more interesting.
Other speculation was that gamblers were using the barn and they
started it, but the cause has never been proven.
The fire
burned for 36 hours and covered an area of 4 miles by ¾
mile; some people jumped into Lake Michigan, which borders the city,
to save themselves. 18,000 buildings were destroyed, and 100,000
people, one third of the total population of Chicago, were made
homeless. Several factors exacerbated the fire; the fact that most
of the city was built of wood, the city was in a drought at the time,
and burning timber destroyed the main water hydrant in the city,
leaving firefighters powerless to fight the fire. Winds took burning
timbers across the Lake to the other side of the city. Prisoners had
to be set free from the jail so that they wouldn't perish. Between
200 – 300 people died in the fire. Interestingly, the Chicago Fire
Academy now has their headquarters on the exact spot of the source of
the fire.
America
thought that the fire would be the end of Chicago, but the people
were determined to rebuild their city, and they were helped greatly
by outside investors who recognised that Chicago still had a great
future as the most important town in mid-west America. A positive
aftermath of the fire was that the city was rebuilt in a very ordered
way. Chicago had grown up as a higgeldy-piggeldy boom town; the fire
gave planners and architects the opportunity to re-plan the city –
and not to use wood building materials.
This led
to some very different and innovative commercial buildings being
erected in the heart of the city; young architects flocked to the
city for the opportunity to make a name for themselves, and Chicago
gained a reputation for having very forward-looking architecture.
Reg comments that it reminds him very much of the innovative
architecture we saw in Singapore. America's first skyscraper was
built in Chicago, the 10-storey “Home Insurance Building”,
constructed in 1884.
For some
time Chicago boasted the tallest building in the world, the Seers
Tower (now officially the Willis building, but everyone still calls
it by its former name). It's 442 metres high (1451 feet), with a
pinnacle, or broadcasting antennae, on the top which isn't included
in the official height. For anyone interested, the tallest building
in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 829.8 metres (2722
feet) high.
Chicago's
second tallest structure, the Hancock Building, has a restaurant at
the top; because tall buildings have to allow for “sway”, the
wine has to be kept at a lower level, so that good wines won't be
ruined by the movement of the building, For those of you who know
how I love to report on toilet facilities (f.a.o. Kirsty) – the
ladies' restrooms in the Hancock building sky-restaurant have been
voted the 2nd best in America – with floor to ceiling
windows in them.
The
“Crane Communications” building is one of the most innovative;
tall and thin, it's roof is a flat, slanting diamond shape.
(Architects have voted it the building they would most like to pull
down, but I Iike it). There's another building with a gold roof
shaped like the cork of a champagne bottle; the architect, who
designed and built it during the prohibition (of alcohol) 1920 –
1933, had a wicked sense of humour. Interestingly, most of the
skyscraper buildings are owned, as might be expected, by insurance
companies and banks.
The
Metropolitan Correctional Centre ( a remand prison) stands tall and
thin, with 6” wide slit windows. Tom tells us that it's reputed
that the wives and girlfriends of the prisoners give “x-rated
entertainment” from the parking lot opposite.
Tom
relates a lot more about the city than I can report here; he explains
how Chicago is a transportation hub of America, and is one of the top
5 container-handling cities in the world, because of its freight-rail
links.
Chicago
is renowned for its music and music festivals, particularly jazz and
blues music; a wide roadway near the lake called Columbus drive is
often closed for special events. Since 1930, Chicago has had a long
history of free concerts in the park.
With all
these features, plus it's proliferation of theatres, music venues,
and museums, including it's wonderful Art Institute, the beautiful
lakeside, good transportation links and warm summers, Chicago is
definitely a brilliant city to visit, and to live in. Once again, we
wish we had more time here.
At the
end of the walking tour we are tired. We have lunch in a the lovely
coffee shop near our hostel; we have tickets to go to the top of
Seers Tower, but we walk towards it and see that the lake mists are
covering the top of it, so there won't be a view of the city. We
realise we need some chill out time, so go back to the hostel for a
sleep.
Later in
the afternoon, we spend time talking to 2 young Italian women doctors
who've come to Chicago for a conference; and later, we have a long
conversation with a young Swiss lad called Jonus, who's been to
language school in the USA to improve his English,
and who
is now travelling through some of America before he returns home to
Switzerland.
We pop
out for a late pizza, then sleep! Tomorrow we leave Chicago, so have
to check out of our hostel in the morning, but our train to Boston is
not until 9.30 pm; we hope to go to the top of Seers tower, and to
cycle along the side of Lake Michigan – which Chicagoans call
simply “the Lake”.
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