Downtown Chicago – walking the classic tourist sights (Throwback post)

 

Cloud Gate, Chicago

Not having a lot of free time to see the sights, we used a self-guided walking tour booklet by Metrowalkz , which included route maps for different areas of the city and gave good background on the main sights. The routes were interesting, scenic and felt very safe.

Millennium Park, Chicago

One of our highlights was Millennium Park, a large (25 acre) open space amidst the tall buildings. It includes the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an impressive outdoor venue designed by Frank Gehry

Millennium Park, Chicago

Cloud Gate, Chicago

Millennium Park, Chicago

Cloud Gate, Chicago

The most arresting thing that we saw there, however, was the Cloud Gate (by Anish Kapoor). Also known by locals as ‘the bean’, it’s a flowing sculpture that’s highly reflective in all directions, like a hall of mirrors.

Cloud Gate, Chicago

It’s fun to play with taking various pictures of yourself and the surrounding buildings, including from right under the sculpture. Of course everyone wants to play in the same way, so it’s best to avoid going there at peak times if you want some of the reflections to yourself without waiting for too long.

Cloud Gate, Chicago

Cloud Gate, Chicago

Another stand-out place that we visited was the Art Institute of Chicago. Travelling a lot, we often find it often too easy to get a bit bored by museums and galleries, but this rose above most of them. Maybe it partly depends on what you like. But if you like Impressionism, then you’d love the many very recognisable works on show, including loads of Monet haystacks. There was also a very large temporary Picasso exhibition, which one of us liked a lot, the other not so much.

Willis Tower, Chicago

We also rose above the sights in another way, in The Signature Lounge on the 96th floor, 875 N Michigan Ave (the John Hancock Centre). Visit this stylish bar as an alternative to the 103rd floor view from the Willis (formerly the Sears) Tower, and for the entrance fee saved you can buy a cocktail or a couple of beers.

Willis Tower, Chicago

Willis Tower, Chicago

view from Willis Tower, Chicago

view from Willis Tower, Chicago



Tribune Building, Chicago

The neo-gothic Tribune Tower is a peculiar building, as the outside includes 120 labelled stones from various world structures, including the Berlin Wall, Westminster Abbey, and the Coliseum. It is unclear whether all of these were acquired openly and honestly, but it is interesting to see what’s there.






Tribune Building, Chicago

Tribune Building, Chicago

Tribune Building, Chicago

Tribune Building, Chicago



Chicago Cultural Centre

The Chicago Cultural Centre, dating from 1897, is also worth a look. Originally the city’s central library, which was established with a donation of 8000 books after the Great Chicago Fire of 1870 destroyed the old public reading rooms, it has a Greek/Roman style.




Tiffany dome, Chicago Cultural Centre

But we especially liked the restored 38-foot Tiffany stained-glass dome, containing 30000 pieces of glass – the world’s largest Tiffany stained-glass dome.

Healy-Millet dome, Chicago Cultural Centre

There is also the nearly as impressive, 40-foot Healy-Millet stained glass dome.

The Centre hosts many free arts events and exhibitions, so make sure it’s not closed for a show if you just want to pop in to look around.

Chicago Cultural Centre

Chicago Cultural Centre

Chicago Cultural Centre







Houston - dinosaurs, butterflys and art (Throwback post)

Of course we didn't just drink and listen to music in Houston.  We were staying in the rather lovely Museum district, which logically enough is where the museums and galleries are.

We got along to the Museum of Natural Science and the Museum of Fine Arts for their free entry on Thursdays.

At the Science museum we had to pay to go into the butterfly house, but that was well worth it to see the multitude of beautiful butterflies in a great setting.







We also had to pay to get into the special exhibit, which was a showing of works by Faberge.  They were quite fabulous, with some of the famous eggs, and a large selection of his other pieces.

The museum itself, free after 3pm was excellent.  It had an amazing paleontology section, with a huge range of fossils and fossil replicas.  The great thing about it, aside from the sheer quantity of pieces, was the way that it was exhibited.

It was laid out in an interesting and easy to follow way, with the skeletons forming little tableaux, such as one dinosaur attacking the other, but alongside it would be a photographic representation of what this would have looked like with the landscape and the animals.

I really enjoyed it, and genuinely took an interest in reading the information, and that is often not the case.

We finished up with the fine arts, spending quite a bit of time in the Picasso exhibition.

Picasso is more Nic's thing than mine, but I was interested to seem broader range of work than I had expected, and there were even a  few that I actually quite liked.

The other visit was to the Rothko Chapel as we had heard it was a major thing to see.  Apparently the chapel, built by the Menils, was specifically designed to take a number of huge pieces of art by Mark Rothko, and is a multi-denominational chapel dedicated to peaceful meditation.

Were we impressed?  No. Definitely not.  For a start, I'm afraid I just don't appreciate art when it is something I could do myself.

These huge paintings were basically just grey/black with a hint of purple edging.  They supposedly have subtleties and nuances of colour, but it is entirely lost on me; I thought they looked dull, dreary, and demonstrated no discernible talent.

But perhaps I could have forgiven the disappointing art had the chapel itself made me feel peaceful and meditative.  It didn't.

It feels like a concrete bunker.  It is cold, and when we were there we noticed a distinct odor of urine.  We tried our hardest to be reflective and to understand what other people see in the place, but to no avail; we couldn't get out of there fast enough.

The one thing we did like there was the mirror pond outside, with the broken obelisk sculpture in memory of Dr Martin Luther king Jr.  That was far nicer, and with the reflecting water and the trees surrounding it, far more conducive to meditation and contemplation.

Near to the Chapel was the Menin Collection, which had some interesting art and installations.  The one that stood out for us was an installation about a collection being made in Benin for the 'poor white westerners, because we don't look after our own'.  As you can imagine, the general opinion was that this was the wrong way around, as it should be the rich west giving to the poor of africa.

Most locals initially were reluctant to give, especially those who seemed best off, but in fact they all did.  Some were actually shocked to hear that there was such a thing as a poor white person.  We found it fascinating, a little sad that the view of rich white westerners is so entrenched, and just a little humbling that people who had so little we prepared to give some to us.

Overall we were more impressed with Houston than people's reactions led us to expect.  We were a bit disappointed that it was too much of a hassle to make the journey out to the space centre on public transport, as we both secretly wanted to say 'Houston, we have a problem' but that is not unusual for the States and we will go there another time when we can take a car.

Houston is never likely to be a top destination, but is a great place for a few days and the Museum of Natural Science was excellent.