So why is Chicago known as the “windy city”?

It has nothing to do with the weather!  In 1890 bidding took place in the USA for the Columbian Exposition (also known as the World Fair) of 1893.  The “puff and bluster” of the politicians from Chicago (who successfully beat New York City, St Louis and Washington DC) were the cause of the phrase “windy city” although the accolade was allegedly not used until 40 years later in the Chicago Tribune.

There are other similar stories and variations on the story, together with popular myths that the phrase was given to Chicago by The New York Sun editor, Charles Dana, but it appears that this is simply myth.

One of the most ionic non-skycraper buildings in Chicago is the Chicago Tribune Building, seen here from across the river.  I’ll publish more photos from the river in due course.

Well, we have been back home from Chicago for a week, but I still wanted to catch up with the themes and photos that we have to create an experience here.

So, the Willis Tower – formerly known as the Sears Tower – is currently the tallest building in the western hemisphere and (I believe) is the fourth tallest building in the world.  One of the buildings that we kept on taking pictures of was the Trump Tower.  That had been intended to be the tallest building in the world when it was being built, but as 9/11 played out in the States, they decided to keep its profile lower than some of the nearer buildings.  It is a shame as it is a wonderful (if slightly moody) and photogenic (see the Batman film that used it when it was nearly complete) skyscraper.

Anyway, back to the Willis Tower.  As a tourist, we were able to go up to the 103rd floor where the views are spectacular.  AND there are four “ledges” where you can stand in a glass “cubicle” with nothing but glass between you and the ground, 103 floors below.  Whilst we were there one of the four of these was out of action due to cracks in the glass.  Did it phase us at all?  You be the judge!

So the next few pictures give an idea of where we were.  Some views after that!

The picture above shows what the glass “shelf” was like – taken from the “shelf” that we were on!

… and straight down 103 floors, with skyscrapers below!

Right, then, what were the views like up here?

On previous holidays I have tried to … and succeeded in … writing a blog pretty much every day, showing where we have been with the aid of a few pictures.  This year, the first week of our holiday has gone by so quickly, I’ve neglected to write at all!

That is not because there is nothing to write about or pictures to show; looking back now I am struggling to decide which pictures are the ones that I should use and which to keep for a later occasion.  So I am just going to plunge into it and hopefully won’t repeat any pictures later

Chicago is, of course, best known for its skyscrapers.  And Chicago style pizza, but I haven’t had any of that yet; also for being a “windy” city, which has nothing to do with the weather – I will explain in a future blog.

In fact skyscrapers were “invented” here, from an architectural point of view, with the techniques used for building up into the sky around the world based on work developed here.  One of the best views that you can get of the skyline is from Lake Michigan; here is one taken from a water taxi.

The view is very different when you are close up, looking along the streets.

One of the things that struck me most when walking through the centre (or center!) of “downtown” Chicago is that although towering buildings are surrounding you, the gaps between them is much wider than I have been used to in London.  This makes the city seem more relaxed and the height of the skyscrapers does not make it feel in any way claustrophobic.  I’ll find an excuse to slip some more skyscraper pictures into a future blog.

That “spread out” feeling is even greater out of the centre of Chicago; here are a couple of pictures showing what it is like in a suburb, both quiet side street and a main street.

So to round off this first glimpse of Chicago, here is a picture of one of the towers that we kept on arriving in front of and photographing – the Trump tower (which you can probably guess from the picture).

All this is in …

Welcome from Chicago!

For previous readers of my blog, you will realise that I like to post pictures of the various methods of travel that we have used.  This year is no exception.

I didn’t manage to get a picture of the taxi that took us to the station as it dropped us off at 05:00 Saturday morning as it was still dark.  However, here are pictures of the City Hopper that took us from Norwich to Amsterdam and (for those who are really interested) the Boeing 747-300 that took us from Amsterdam to Chicago.

Most of the journey was really smooth and enjoyable.  I have to say that all of the airport staff and especially the KLM staff were really wonderful and helpful, starting right at the beginning of the day when, following us being unable to check in online due to “immigration issues” and then not managing to scan my passport at the self-service check in at the airport, somebody was on hand to guide us through it successfully.

The second hiccough was once we were onboard the Chicago flight at Amsterdam, when we first heard over the tannoy “is there anybody onboard who speaks Swahili” followed a little later by the announcement that two passengers would not be travelling as they were feeling unwell; the real delay was as their luggage was found and removed from the plane.  My suspicious nature puts two and two together and wondered whether they were unwell or whether they were told that they were unwell based on where they were travelling from and to!

Anyway, by the time we arrived in Chicago, setter down with Heidi, Christian, Elsie and the two dogs Gracie and Gilligan and later had a meal, we had been up for over 24 hours.  I should really have given the post a different title though, as by crossing time zones, the day was in reality 30 hours!