A few posts ago I wrote about how Winnipeg rocked. If Winnipeg rocks, then I don't really have any adjectives to describe how much we are loving Chicago. This is a city that does nearly everything big and gets it right. . Enormous green spaces crash into towering buildings, the lake runs into rivers that snake their way through the city offering wonderful urban river-walks, turning corners brings you face to face with a beautiful and creative piece of public art, old style towers from the 1800s stand majestically beside new and modern works of stunning architecture. The city has completely floored me. I have been on a Chicago high of excitement since we arrived yesterday afternoon.
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| The famous "bean" - Cloud Gate |
I am having some trouble writing this post as there is so much bumping around my head that I want to get down, but the energy from the city is making it a bit hard to focus. I'll keep at it though, as the energy of Chicago, which has swept through me, is the best inspiration for writing about this place.
I was putting Zaid to bed this evening when all of a sudden I hear faint bass beats wafting up from the streets below. They didn't seem to bother Zaid, but my curiosity was piqued. I recalled having walked by a stage advertising a free dance party during the summer this morning and put two and two together. After getting Zaid down (or at least I thought) I headed outside to see what was going on. There was a dance party, and it was awesome. There was probably 500-800 people and all of them were dancing. From young parents with their children to old couples in their 70s, from the stylings of the "Chicago Dancing Diva's" to the stylings of rhythm-less middle aged white people, from girls in tie-die shirts to guys in basketball jerseys, from Indians dancing Banghar, to me tapping my foot and bobbing my head, EVERYONE was dancing. The whole event was free and lasted about 2 hours. It was funded completely by the government, with no form of sponsorship anywhere. This is a city that does things right.
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| Revellers at the free dance party in Grant Park |
We've packed a ton into the last day and a half here: Affogato's on the 94th floor of the John Hancock center with a view of downtown Chicago to the south and a rainstorm coming in over the north; 2 hours this morning at the Field Museum of Natural History being shrunk to the size of bugs and seeing the Tsavo man-eaters; a long walk down Michigan Street and beautiful building after beautiful building; Deep-Dish Chicago Pizza at the famous Lou Malnati's; playing with light and reflections at the Cloud Gate Sculpture; turning the corner into a gigantic fountain set against Michigan Lake; stumbling across a sidewalk purse sale and successfully bargaining our way to a free wallet for Haifa.
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| View from Cafe on 94th floor of John Hancock Center |
We both had very high expectations for this city, and I was a bit worried that there was no way they could be met; I was wrong. This city has far exceeded even our outrageous expectations. I love this city, every moment has filled me with excitement, both for being here, and for our move to Toronto. As I have said before, Vancouver is not a city. It is a very large town in a beautiful setting, but it is not a city. I want to live in a city, and Chicago has stoked the flames of this desire for me. I cannot wait to get to Toronto and finally, after nearly 25 years, live in a city again.
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