Chicago Day Two - Look Up, Look Way Up!

I really wanted to take a boat ride - not just any boat ride.  This was a boat ride on the

Chicago River and its tributary canals for a tour highlighting the city's high towers. 

Monday's blue skies gave way to cold clouds with rain in the forecast.

Blair wasn't that enthusiastic - he would rather have stayed in bed - but once it

started raining it would limit our possibilities considerably. And cinephile that he

is, he wanted to check out the skyline for familiar movie settings. 

I have to say that Chicago's skyline has changed my attitude towards modern citiyscapes.  Even on a a grey day with flat, non-reflective light I was amazed by the sharp, crisp effect created by the human imagination - so beautiful that it was almost on the same scale as the towers of the Grand Canyon.

We scored a 'two for one' coupon ($38) for the twelve noon tour starting not far from the Lakeshore on a short branch of the river.  Judith was our guide...one of several dozen (hundreds?) docents or volunteer experts who know the names of just about every architect whoever practiced the art in Chicago.

She pointed out that the second tallest building in the world (right) is now called the Willis Tower.  People here still think of it as the Sears Tower.  The Willis outfit simply bought the naming rights!

 These towers (left) are Marina City and were designed by Bertram Goldberg - completed in 1964.  An apt description in Wikipedia compares them to giant corncobs.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_City
Blair loved them because he recognized them as the stars of an album cover by one of his favourite bands, Wilco.

 The building to the right is the Trump Tower.  I wish I could remember all the things Judith said about it. What I do remember is that every new development that goes up must provide public space at ground level - parks or boardwalks of some kind.  Of course the footprint of each of these vertical monsters is small, but every bit of public greenspace and waterfront has big impact.  Trump is only the 12th tallest building in the world right now. 

The gleaming glass giants somehow fit with the 19th and 20th century  stone towers.  The tallest building in the shot below is the clock tower of the Wrigley building.  The ornate carved features really set off the straight lines of the later buildings.

This place, built in the 1930s, was the largest one in the world, at the time of its construction. 

There's so much more to say.  But I don't know anything about architecture...I wish I'd recorded Judith's talk...then I'd have the references to google the background of each of these places.  

We were frozen after the ninety minute cruise.  We ended up at a restaurant for deep dish Chicago style pizza.  It's funny.  Deep dish - it has a big cake-like pie crust with high sides. The filling of tomato sauce and assorted other choices doesn't measure up to my favouritie Tomavino's Ambrosia pizza.  And we noticed that in Chcago, deep dish style is now mostly for tourists.  Best to try the thin slice pizzas (after a long wait) at Piece - back up at Wicker Park. 

But we didn't care.  we had to get rid of the chill from the river tour.  What better way than with a pizza from Gino's East.  Sorry no picture of the pizza.  What WERE we thinking?

I decided to ignore my growing ten pound bulge?  (Time for that in November:)