Chicago

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I flew into O’Hare (Chicago) over three hours late. O’Hare is one of the busiest airports in the world (due to its central location in North America) and when the weather is bad many flights including mine are delayed.

My friend Geroge met me at the airport. I met George at Monash when he did a semester there as part of the Study Abroad program. George went to De Paul University in Chicago and now lives in a studio apartment not far from there. George graduated last year and now works in a proteomics lab at the University of Chicago.

Funny Frog
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The weather whilst I was in Chicago was fortunately unseasonally warm, with the temperatures ranging from -2 to 8 degrees most days whilst I was there. There had been a cold snap the week before I got there, with there being snow still mounded up on street corners.

The first night we went to a bar with George and his brother who knew the bar tender. We got jugs of beer for only $1 :)

Chicago is a very old city and has been big city for most of the 20^th century. The city of Chicago’s population has been in decline since the 1950s when it peaked at 3.6 million but it is still home to 2.8 million. It is the 3^rd largest city in the US and has a gross metropolitan product of over $390 billion.

Cloud Gate at Millenium Park, more commonly known as "The Bean" for obvious reasons.
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Coming to Chicago I noticed quite a significant cultural difference to that of the south in Tennessee. Chicago seems to be a very well established city both culturally and academically. Many of the people I met there were well educated and well traveled. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a city with so many older buildings. Passing through some parts of the city it is difficult to find a building that looks newer than 50 years old. It gives the city a certain style and sophistication that I haven’t really seen in most other places in the US.

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There is much to see in Chicago as I was only there for 3 nights I didn’t get to see everything.

Lincoln Park Zoo

George lives very close to Lincoln Park Zoo and this was one of the first places we went to. The pond at the zoo was frozen over so interestingly the geeze were able to walk right on the ice. As this zoo is in a very cold climate, many of the animals have to be kept inside. All the primates have enclosures that have a heated indoor section but they can still access the outside. The big cats were kept inside in pretty small enclosures, which I thought was a little cruel. We got to see two lions having a very impressive roaring contest (See Video).

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Lake Michigan

We then walked across to Lake Michigan which is the main lake that Chicago sits on. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes and Chicago gets all its drinking water from it. I don’t think Chicago will ever need to worry about going on water restrictions! In order to keep the water in the lake clean, engineers in the 1900s reversed the flow of the Chicago River that flows through the city. It used to run into lake Michigan but now lake Michigan runs into it and the river now feeds the Mississippi system to the south.

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Art Institute of Chicago

This is a truly world class museum and is packed full of really famous artwork. I even recognized some of the paintings which for me is pretty rare. I got to see lots of van Gough and Renoir just to name a couple. The museum also has lots of modern art. It was in this section that I almost got kicked out of the museum. There was a stupid artwork that was simply this bit of metal cable that came out of the wall near a ceiling and then came down to the floor before connecting back into the wall. I decided to test the sturdiness of the cable by giving it a gentle tap (some might say kick) with my foot. Unfortunately the security guards were not too impressed.

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Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum

Chicago has a really awesome aquarium. It has a massive indoor whale enclosure that houses 3 Beluga Whales, one of which is a baby only six months old.

Next to the aquarium is the Field Museum which is a museum specializing in natural history. My favorite exhibit there was “Sue” which is the largest the largest, most complete, and best preserved T. rex fossil yet discovered. Sue is not its real name but the name of the lady who discovered it. Scientists can’t even tell if it was a male or female.

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Chicago is famous for many things including it Jazz Music. I was fortunate enough to listen to some at “The Green Mill” which is a popular Jazz venue and was also frequented by Al Capone who was a famous Chicago underworld leader in the 1920s.

Whilst in the windy city I had to try a famous Chicago style pizza, which is a pizza with a really high crust around the edge and very thick toppings. It was delicious.

Another food Chicago is famous for is its wieners (hot dogs). We went to the “Weiner’s Circle” which would have to be the most interesting customer service experience I have ever had. Here customers yell and swear at the servers and they yell and swear right back at you. It is hilarious. You tell them to get fucked and they say the same. You can call them pretty much anything except niggers. Late at night you need to ask for a chocolate shake :P