The attraction of Chicago
When my girlfriend and I planned our trip to the east of the USA, the focus was on Niagara Falls, along with New York and Washington. But we really wanted to visit one of the notorious roller coaster parks – Cedar Point in the village of Sandusky, around four hours’ drive from Niagara Falls, was a good idea. This opened up another opportunity that we did not miss: Chicago!
Known from film and television
From the amusement park Cedar Point (which I will introduce to you in another post) it is again only four and a half hours by car to get to the city on Lake Michigan. Chicago is known from numerous series (including Emergency Room , Married … with Children , The Good Wife ) and through various views of the city on television really made me want to explore personally.
Chicago, “the Windy City”
The skyscrapers not only form impressive street canyons, but also one of the most beautiful skylines in the USA, as you can see from my lead picture. The location directly on the huge Lake Michigan not only gives Chicago quality of life, but also often generates strong winds – hence the nickname “Windy City”.
Three days as a tight margin
Due to the tight schedule in the other cities, my girlfriend and I only stayed in Chicago for three days, which is a very short period of time. This meant we had to focus on the most important points in the city that we both were interested in. I will now present these to you below in my personal order!
FURTHER STOPS ON THIS JOURNEY
The stay in Chicago was part of a two-week trip through the USA. My girlfriend and I also visited New York, Washington and Niagara Falls, the travel reports can be found below or will follow soon!
Travel report to Washington, DC: Washington, DC: The calm capital
Niagara Falls Travel Report: Niagara Falls – The Shared Natural Wonder
Itinerary: Vienna -> New York ( flight Austrian Airlines ) // New York -> Washington, DC ( flight JetBlue ) // Washington, DC -> Buffalo Niagara ( flight United ) // Buffalo Niagara -> Chicago ( rental car ) // Chicago -> New York ( JetBlue flight ) // New York -> Vienna ( Austrian Airlines flight )
1) 360 CHICAGO (JOHN HANCOCK OBSERVATORY)
What’s the best way to soak up the atmosphere of a metropolis? Right, from above! The skyline of Chicago is certainly one of the most beautiful in the USA – and this is really evident from the 360 Chicago viewing platform ( 875 N Michigan Avenue ) , for example . By the way, the attraction used to be called the John Hancock Observatory and was named after the name of the skyscraper. With the elevator you can quickly get to the 94th floor and look in all directions from a height of 300 meters.
2) BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN
” Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage, … ” When you stand in front of the Buckingham Fountain , many of you will certainly immediately see the TV series “A terribly nice family” (English “Married … with Children “) and their theme song by Frank Sinatra in the head. So it happened to me and it was a strangely touching feeling to actually see this place with my own eyes! The large fountain, whose official name is actually Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain , is in Grant Park (see also point 4)
3) CLOUD GATE (THE BEAN) AND CROWN FOUNTAIN
A small part of the huge Grant Park (see point 4) is the Millennium Park , in which there are two interesting objects that seem to have built in real tourist magnets. The 100-tonne sculpture Cloud Gate by British artist Anish Kapoor resembles a giant bean and is therefore often referred to simply as ” The Bean “. The work of art consists of 168 stainless steel plates, which are seamlessly welded together and highly polished. This creates fascinating reflections of the people and the skyline on the surface. You can imagine that something like that always attracts the masses – so if you want to see it in peace, you better come early in the morning.