Our first taste came on the bus trip to Chicago
when we stopped for a tour of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Meyer May House in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. Moving on in a downpour that we’d thus far avoided, we
found the windy city wet and cold. Fortunately the weather improved for the day
in Oak Park where the focus was once again the work of Wright, including his
house and studio. Many of the houses in the area, which we saw on a
neighbourhood walk, were designed by him in his unique prairie style.
Our hotel, the Palmer House, with its high
interior domed lobby, is a jewel situated in the Loop, an area defined by the
elevated transit that surrounds the downtown area. We could walk from there in
our free time to many of the city’s highlights. Millenium Park, another
visionary creation of this city where outdoor art intrigues, was just a few
blocks away. As was the Art Institute of Chicago.
On such a short trip, one can only scratch the
surface, but with our architectural tour from a river cruise of the many styles
of buildings to walking in Millenium Park, to visiting the Art Institute, a
jazz club, the top of the Hancock Tower and a city tour that included Wrigley
Field, we had a stimulating introduction to a major cultural centre built where
the Chicago River entered Lake Michigan and now flows inland at the behest of
those who did not want the sewage to contaminate their drinking water.
Oh yes, and the food
was good, too! And the camaraderie.
