Individual Eleven – The World's Cyberbrain

I spent ten days in Chicago, and what fantastic ten days they were! What I will do here is break my experiences up into different blog posts because of volume, so here is the first one.

Chicago is busy metropolis with such diversity, ethnically and culturally, that it makes a very interesting city to visit. There is plenty to do and beautiful safe havens; such as Millennium Park, Grant Park and a tranquil stroll along Lake Shore Drive. Of course, there is the shopping aspect along the Magnificent Mile.

First, I will start with the main city itself and the wonderful skyline.

Architecture
As you flick through the pictures below, you will see the varying styles of architectural design. There’s a lot of European influence here, many buildings reflect the intricate towers that are almost gothic like. In amongst all these though, are modern skyscrapers as far as the eye can see. I particularly like the curvature on some of these buildings, which break away from the standard oblong tower blocks.

John Hancock Observatory and Sears Tower (now known as Willis Tower)
If I had to choose which one was the better to view this great city, it would have to be the John Hancock Observatory. You can see the skyline much better from here; included in the price is a pleasant audio commentary by David Schwimmer from Friends fame. The Skywalk lets you experience the scenery around you (very windy!) and the feeling of just how high up you really are. Don’t look down if you suffer from vertigo! Unfortunately, the glass Skywalk for Sears Tower was closed so we had to settle for the 99th floor. By the way, The Windy City moniker has nothing to do with wind at all; as Mr Schwimmer pointed out, Chicago was nicknamed The Windy City because of the famous long-winded speeches from politicians.

Chicago River boat tour
The buildings are seen up close on this Architecture Boat Tour, and it was worth every penny. There is live commentary on board and as we were sailing through, we went past the hospital that was spectacularly blown to pieces by the Joker in Batman: The Dark Knight. The movie was filmed mostly in Chicago. The boat tour starts at Navy Pier and goes through all branches of the Chicago River.

Chicago at night
Wow is all I can say. The entire cityscape transforms into something quite spectacular; every building is lit up with a warm amber glow from the lights within. It makes for a nice walk, because there aren’t so many people clambering to get from A to B. You almost feel that you have the entire city to yourself. Particularly beautiful is the Chicago River, as the light from surrounding buildings reflects off the watery surface.

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