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Why Chicago should be on your 2022 travel list

Chicago it is a mixture of several capitals. São Paulo, with its rich gastronomy; Rio de Janeiro, with a bustling coastline; New York, frenetic and with programs for all tastes.

A destination that has been home to names like Michelle and Barack Obama, Eddie Vedder, the blues legend Buddy Guy, among many others, it enchants with its diversity and makes any tourist always want more.

Tree-lined, young, gastronomic and cultural: reasons abound for the City of Winds, as it is affectionately nicknamed, to be on your wish list desire destinations.

Nature

Contrast between nature and iconic buildings. Walking around Chicago is a mix between looking up so as not to miss all the details of the wonderful skyscrapers and stopping every moment to contemplate its parks and open areas. There are more than 500 parks, very well maintained, around its 77 neighborhoods. No wonder the locals often say that it is “the city in a garden”.

Some are mandatory stops, such as the Millennium Park, located inside the Grant Park, public park in The Loop neighborhood. That’s where Chicago’s most famous postcard is located, the The Bean, or “the beans”, in Portuguese. The official name of the huge metallic sculpture by plastic artist Anish Kapoor is Cloud Gate and is always packed with tourists and locals. If you want to guarantee a photo with less people around, go early, between 7 am and 8 am, or after 9 pm.

The park also offers an ice skating rink during the winter, music festivals in the summer and many attractions for children. That’s where the famous Buckingham Fountain, inspired by the fountains scattered in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, in France, and the Crown Fountain, an interactive work designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, which reproduces videos of the faces of Chicago citizens and, through an outlet on the screen, water flows, giving the illusion that it is gushing out of these people’s mouths. In summer, the fountain is full of children who cool off there.

Another park on the must-see list is Lincoln Park, located on the edge of Lake Michigan. It has a zoo, stunning gardens, courts and even a golf course.

Stunning skyline and architecture

In terms of architecture, Chicago is a full plate. Unfortunately, a tragic fire in 1871 devastated the city, which was full of wooden buildings. That date is remembered daily there, since it was from there that Chicago became a reference in architecture.

After seeing much of its buildings destroyed, Chicago received a lot of incentive and investment to rebuild itself, and, given the opportunity to start from scratch, innovative architects like Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan developed what we know today as skyscraper buildings, with metal and resistant structures, which transformed Chicago into one of the cities with the most beautiful skyline of the world.

To appreciate this beauty from above, it is worth visiting the Skydeck Chicago, which is housed in the iconic Willis Tower, the second tallest building in America at 110 floors and over 500 meters tall. THE Skydeck it is located on the 103rd floor and has some “terraces” made entirely of glass, including the floor. You can literally have Chicago at your feet!

Even for those who are afraid of heights and do not venture into the glass boxes that project out of the building, it is worth visiting the place for the stunning view. In addition, before going up to the main attraction, there is a small museum on the ground floor with the history, facts and curiosities about the city’s culture.

THE 360 Observatory, on Michigan Ave., is also another must-see place to take in the skydeck. The difference is that it offers an additional attraction (payable separately from your ticket), which is a mobile electronic glass platform that slowly “projects” those on top out of the building. This is on the 94th floor of the Hancock Building. It makes your stomach flutter!

For those who visit both, we recommend going at different times (day and night), to have different experiences and views.

If your trip is in the summer, it’s also worth making a boat tour by the Chicago River to appreciate its enormous buildings. THE Architecture Tour It has a specialized guide who explains each important point and its history. In winter, it is also possible to take this tour, but the wind is so cold that it is impossible to stay outside the boat.

Another way to discover the architectural gems is the Chicago Architecture Center, which offers guided tours of the most famous buildings and also has an exclusive space at its headquarters with a detailed and surprising 3D model of the central region.

Museums, theaters and a rich cultural life

THE cultural scene Chicago is vibrant, and it would be impossible to see all of its museums, galleries and theaters even if you lived there for a year. It’s hard to choose which ones you can’t miss, but on a first visit, going to Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is almost mandatory.

The museum houses 300,000 pieces of art, including some of the most revered masterpieces in the world and the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art on the planet outside the Louvre, with countless works by artists including Monet, Cassatt, Renoir, Degas and more masters of the genre.

I o Chicago Cultural Center occupies an entire city block, in an impressive historic building, and is home to the largest Tiffany stained glass dome in the world. THE Field Museum, the Natural History Museum, tells the story of humanity in all eras, from the age of the dinosaurs.

As kids As they walk along, they come across “Máximo”, the skeleton of a titanosaur, the largest dinosaur ever discovered, and “Sue”, the largest and most complete skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex in the world. In addition to them, there is also a replica of a three-story Egyptian tomb, mummies from ancient Egypt, fossils, stuffed animals, precious stones, traditional Chinese clothing and many other pieces on display.

By the way, if you have little ones, be sure to visit the Shedd Aquarium, one of the largest oceanariums in the world; The Adler Planetarium, with interactive environments where it is even possible to go around the moon; it’s the The Children’s Museum no Navy Pier.

With more than 250 theaters spread across its neighborhoods, plus numerous other public and private spaces that frequently convert into stages, Chicago has five Tony Award-winning theaters, the nation’s largest touring Broadway organization, and more international premieres than any other theater. another city. Therefore, it goes without saying that this is another tour that deserves to be on any itinerary.

go to Chicago Theater, for example, is an unforgettable experience, since the space, built in 1921, was the first cinema in the country. Its French Baroque architecture would already be worth a visit, but the place is home to great attractions, such as Cirque du Soleil and Broadway works such as red Mill, in addition to concerts by famous artists.

Gastronomy

A city that takes its art of eating well. There are more than 7 thousand restaurants, more than 20 Michelin-starred houses, gastronomic markets such as Eataly and Time Out, regions focused on gastronomy such as Fulton Market and Randolph Row, as well as neighborhoods with their typical cuisines, such as Pilsen, where lives a large Mexican community and, consequently, is full of good typical restaurants.

The fact is that it has two gastronomic items that are representative of the city and any tourist cannot return home without tasting it.

A Deep Dish Pizza, also known as Chicago Pizza, is a version of the round one that looks more like a pie, tall and well stuffed with cheese. Italians would never accept that it was called pizza, but there is no denying that it is very tasty. Among the various places that offer the “delicacy”, Lou Malnati’s, opened in 1971, is among the most famous, followed by Giordano’s.

The American hot dog is famous for being just bread and sausage, but Chicago also has its signature version of the snack, which gets other items. a typical Chicago hot dog consists of bread, sausage, mustard, onion, tomato, sport pepper (a type of green pepper) relish (American condiment with cucumber), pickles and celery salt (celery salt). No ketchup! Among the numerous places to eat this typical sandwich, Portillo’s and Gene & Jude’s always appear on the list of the best.


Reference: CNN Brasil

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