A Week in Chicago-land

Well, my biggest accomplishment of the past week has been successfully finding a wonderful apartment. Yesterday I signed the lease, paid the deposit and September rent! Other minor accomplishments include getting a vehicle sticker and parking permit for Chad's car and a library card!

With the bulk of my major tasks taken care of I've had a chance to get out and start exploring the city. ... First impressions: Chicago is BAD ASS!
It pretty much kills San Francisco on many fronts. Now, don't get me wrong, San Francisco is home to a disproportionate number of unique, open-minded, friendly individuals ready to go all out, have a blast and break all the rules. In that sense SF can't be beat, but in the sense of the city itself (not the people it holds) Chicago rules! So far every one I've met here has been super nice and really friendly BUT maybe a little less 'out there' then my SF crew. (love you guys! you are irreplaceable.)

Chicago, the city, has bigger, better and more museums than SF; better public transit, better public spaces, bigger buildings, more interesting architecture, older history, better beaches (yes, better then California!), and more green space than San Francisco.

So far is my favorite Millennium Park. It is a huge public park near the lake, right in the middle of down town with a large green space, gardens, several pieces of beautiful public sculpture and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion where FREE public concerts are held weekly. This past week I sat in the lawn watching a tribute to Sun Ra. Last Wednesday I attended a free modern dance performance showcasing internationally recognized dance companies from all over the world kicking off the Chicago Dancing Festival. I don't know much about dance, but I was thoroughly impressed both with the talent and with the fact that the city supports and fosters events of that nature.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion itself is an amazingly beautiful structure.
Designed by Frank Gehry "the Pavilion stands 120-feet high, with a billowing headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons that frame the stage opening and connect to an overhead trellis of crisscrossing steel pipes. The trellis supports the sound system, which spans the 4,000 fixed seats and the Great Lawn, which accommodates an additional 7,000 people.
This state-of-the-art sound system, the first of its kind in the country, was designed to mimic the acoustics of an indoor concert hall by distributing enhanced sound equally over both the fixed seats and the lawn."
- rad, totally rad

I've also had a chance to walk the streets of downtown Chicago, aka "The Loop," stroll along the river walk, visit The Museum of Science and Industry and spend an afternoon on the beach at Lake Michigan.

The Museum of Science and Industry resides in the last standing building from the Chicago World's Fair (aka Chicago Columbian Exhibition) held in 1893. The massive building holds an array of exhibits including the first German U-Boat captured by the US during the second world war, and ranging from space travel, to genetics, trains, coal mining, toy creation, glass blowing and more... It's kind of along the same lines of SF's exploratorium, but bigger and with more variety and information. I was there for over two hours and only saw about half of the museum's contents.

The Loop is another interesting area filled with historic buildings, fascinating architecture and impressively large skyscrapers. I walked past a Picasso sculpture, a Miro sculpture, a public fountain and countless interesting sites on my way to the Harold Washing Chicago Public Library (named after Chicago's first and only black mayor).

Right now I only have a few minor complaints about the city, the biggest one being the LACK OF CITY WIDE RECYCLING PLAN!! Dude! What kind of modern, green conscious metropolitan area does not encourage it's residents to recycle. It's very disappointing.
Other than that my negative observations have been minor: motorcyclists are not required to wear helmets - this freaks me out, but only on a very small level; and people here average on the chubby side to obscenely obese. Seeing so many overweight people walking around makes me sad for the future humanity.

Aside from those minor complaints I'm looking forward to exploring Chicago and all it has to offer. I've been dutifully reading my Rough Guide to Chicago and asking friends for advice on where to go and what to do.

I still have soo much more to see in this city and I look forward to Chad's return so we can take in the sites together....

And Friends, all visitors welcome once we get more settled in our new place... come! come!

xo ~ shayna