Framedlight

Getting slightly footsore we made our way to Millennium Park. The citizens of Chicago are fortunate to have a green sward that runs 23 miles from the city's southerly end to it's northern suburbs, along the shore of Lake Michigan. Millennium Park is a part of this within the Loop area of the city. It was February and supposed to be cold. I had brought a heavy winter coat with me, but a lot of the time we were walking round with bare arms. Nevertheless the ice rink was running still. In the summer the park boasts flowers and fountains, although now it was all looking rather bare. But Chicago being Chicago, there are still things to look at. We went first to admire the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry and built 1999-2004. It is a beautiful arrangement of steel and home to the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. It is also used for more popular music and can accommodate a mere 11,000. One of the other attractions in the park is a giant...

We landed at O'Hare airport late on the Thursday night and Michael, Anne's son, drove us to his apartment in a northern suburb of Chicago. It is a pleasant residential area with older houses which are all individual. Mike's building dates from the early 20th century. He is on the 4th floor with no elevators and we always dreaded the moment we arrived back to climb the stairs after walking miles around the town. For the record here is a picture of Michael's building, rather nice I think you would agree. The next day we were anxious to get into the city. Michael has spent a lot of time walking the streets of Chicago and knows the architecture very well. He proved to be an expert guide. We walked down to his closest 'El' station. The El is Chicago's metro system, and is very effective and very cheap, we paid $28 for a week's unlimited travel. The trains mainly run on elevated sections. which is fascinating to watch in the centre of the city. Th...