Wednesday Wandering: Downtown Chicago

On a recent quick trip to Chicago we were faced with a challenge: how do we capture the essence of this city with only one day set aside for sightseeing? True to form, we had already planned a few meals to capture the flavors: deep dish pizza on arrival, reservations at a famous steak and seafood place, and peirogis and cabbage slaw from a deli in Ukrainian Village, all of which richly satisfied our taste buds.

In order to similarly satisfy our tourist curiosity we decided to focus on downtown: The Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park and a walk down the Magnificent Mile. Click on the links in this post to learn more about some of the places we enjoyed. Exploring the Art Institute was pure joy – almost as good as the deep dish pizza. We covered Impressionism and Modern American painting, seeing some classics and personal favorites. I got the audio tour, something I have started doing recently when I go to museums, allowing me to choose which paintings to hear about and which don’t interest me as much. Two special exhibits enriched our afternoon. I personally found the exhibit on Ethel Stein, Master Weaver to be tremendously inspiring. This 96 year-old artist began her body of work in her 60s. It is never to late to follow your passion. A huge exhibit on René Magritte’s mind-bending work was also wonderful. We left behind several other collections as the museum is too big to cover in one day.

Right outside the Art Institute is the beautiful and lively Millennium Park. Teaming with people but still offering the special pleasure of nature and fresh air, the park was brimming with wild flowers and meandering paths. There is something thrilling to me about a park in the heart of the city. I love the view of skyscrapers framing a landscape of greenery and flowers. Millennium Park plays with those two contrasts particularly well.

As we came out of the paths, a live band was playing in a concert area, and where the park met Michigan Ave, a huge mirrored sculpture called the Bean drew crowds of fun loving tourists checking out their distorted reflections.

Chicago is known for its exceptional architecture, and on the sunshiny mild summer day we were there the sky scrapers sparkled.

We were struck by the grace and beauty of the wide range of styles, including the Wrigley building. Wrigley, of Doublemint and Juicy Fruit gum fame, and Wrigley Field, was a name we saw everywhere.

The neo-gothic Tribune Tower is imposing and intriguing. It has stones and bricks from historic sites brought from around the world by journalists, embedded in its stone facing, with plaques stating which ones. The 60s era round buildings called Marina City caught our attention with several floors of an open parking garage, causing us to wonder how many cars had done a swan dive from there, ending up in the river. Apparently it has been in several movies, at least one of which did have a scene with a car flying out of the garage into the river. Ugh.

A friend suggested I visit the lovely Driehaus Museum, a well-kept secret that I am sharing with you as it is a special treat. It is a well-preserved palatial 19^th century home, furnished as it would have looked in its heyday. Lavish and brimming with marble and extravagance, the Driehaus Museum houses a spectacular collection of Tiffany glass lamps and other stained glass.