Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/821088
SPRING/SUMMER 2017 DREAMSCAPES 21 C hicago is vital. Chicago is in your face. Chicago is excessive. Its music transports you. Its food satisfies every palate. Its neighbourhoods are a mosaic of American life. Its arts, its sports, its architecture . . . they will all sweep you away in their exuberance. This is a city made for weekend breaks. So here are some rec- ommendations for taking America's pulse in Chicago. CHICAGO'S FRONT YARD Start at Millennium Park, the latest addition to Grant Park, Chicago's sweeping expanse of lakefront parks and public space that edges Lake Michigan. The green spaces pro- vide a transition to the skyscrapers of the Loop—Chicago's downtown neighbour- hood. The locals call this open space their front yard and it's the perfect place to begin your Chicago experience. The Bean has become the centrepiece of Millennium Park. More properly named Cloud Gate, it is a 10 x 20 x 12.8-metre curved ovoid sculpture of mirror-like steel and it reflects back the vis- itor surrounded by images of Chicago. From The Bean, you can walk to the Frank Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion for free summertime orchestral concerts or to the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink for a skate during winter months. The Art Institute of Chicago is here too—one of America's most renowned cultural institutions. Here you will find a quarter of a million works of art spanning five thousand years of artistic endeavour. It is particularly famous for its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impres- sionist paintings, from Monet to Van Gogh. Stretch your legs a little further, heading south through the park past the much loved Buckingham Fountain and Gardens, to arrive at Museum Campus. An impressive trio of attractions includes the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium. Each merits investigation, but the Field Museum is a treasure trove of EDITORIAL & PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROBINSON TOP: Cruising Chicago's waterways is a great way to appreciate the city's architectural wonders. ABOVE: Listen to soulful sounds at The Green Mill Jazz Club. CHICAGO the Pulse of America SARAH BERNHARDT, LEADING ACTRESS OF THE 19 TH CENTURY, COINED THE PHRASE "PULSE OF AMERICA" AND IT STILL RINGS TRUE TODAY.