The Windy City Chicago
The Windy City Chicago
Chicago has a special place in my heart and in my life because I landed at the O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois to arrive in the USA. After that, I visited Chicago many times while going to different cities. It was the centre point of my travelling in the country.
My first impression of the Chicago city was that it had so many high rise buildings. The skyscrapers of Chicago give the city its unique look and the winds blowing through its streets give a wonderful feeling. It is rightly called the windy city.
My first impression of the Chicago city was that it had so many high rise buildings. The skyscrapers of Chicago give the city its unique look and the winds blowing through its streets give a wonderful feeling. It is rightly called the windy city.
The Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1,450-foot (442.1 m) skyscraper in Chicago.
 |
| The Beautiful Chicago skyline. Picture was taken from Speed Dog boat cruise ride |
There are many attractions in Chicago. One of them is Seadog Cruises that run some thrilling speedboat and cruise boat rides. I took the Chicago Lakefront tour. It starts from Navy Pier Chicago and the host on board tell you interesting facts about the pier and Chicago lake-front while playing some cool music.
Going on for a car ride in Chicago is a different feeling, It's the windy city and during summer times the sun sets at around 8:30 PM which means there is daylight till 9 PM sometimes till 9:30 PM too.
As Chicago is a big city there is a lot of traffic in Chicago. The city does get its share of traffic jams but the traffic keeps moving at a snail's pace. This picture was taken from the 9th floor of a hotel.
A building construction going on in Chicago. They construct one storey on the top of the building using tower cranes and keep adding floors one by one. A tower crane machine is seen at the top of the building in this picture.
A Living Statue Artist is a street performer who poses as statue or mannequin sometimes standing for hours at a time in a single pose.
Chicago River Walk entrance and the two corn cob shaped buildings towards the left are Marina City Parking. The Marina City was the first building in the USA to be built with tower cranes. It was completed between 1964 and 1968 at a cost of $36 million.
Machesney Park, Illinois
I had an opportunity to live with the family of an American friend for a while in Machesney Park. It was a rare and amazing experience to observe a white American family leading their life the great American way. The house was kept spotlessly clean. Other than five family members there were 3 dogs, 2 cats and 1 rabbit in the house living with them.
The home office space and the dining area of the house. At the far end of the place, one can see the kitchen area. The woodwork is so beautiful. My friend was very fond of plants and there were many plants inside and outside the house. It had nicely maintained front and back yards too.
One of the cats sitting near the window in the dining area of the house.
 |
One of the dogs sitting in the doorway of the living room
|
 |
The dogs enjoying out on the deck in severe winter with some snow
|
The wooden backyard fence of the house. I painted this backyard fence. I also painted the front portion of the house, the car garage, the backyard arbour and deck of the house. People living in the USA prefer to do their own work, to clean the house, to do small time repairs in order to save money as its very expensive to hire labour to do such household jobs.
Halloween
 |
A funny eyeball shaped wax candle was gifted to me on Halloween
|
All Hallow's Eve commonly known as Halloween is a big time festival in the USA. It is observed on the night of 31st October, the eve of All Saints' Day, often celebrated by children dressing up in frightening masks and costumes and they go to neighbourhood asking for trick or treat. Usually, the neighbours treat these kids with many candies and chocolates.
The end of October also marks the beginning of Day light savings for the next six months. The clocks are set one hour ahead to save the day light which is believed to save time and money worth billions of dollars.
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday festival celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday of November every year. It marks the commencement of greater holiday season that goes on with Christmas and ends with the celebrations of New Year's Eve. Thanksgiving day originated as a harvest festival. On this day the families and friends gather to thank God for the blessings bestowed on the family and friends.
 |
| Food being prepared on a stove out in front of the garage for Thanksgiving lunch party using a stove and Blue Rhino propane gas cylinder |
 |
| Bread preparation in a tray to be baked in oven |
 |
| The dining table for Thanksgiving lunch |
The dining table was made ready with knives, forks, spoons and dishes for some people. A little less than a dozen members of the family and friends were invited for the lunch.
Christmas
It is the biggest festival for everyone. The Christmas tree and house are decorated outside and inside with lots of lights and other numerous decorations. On Christmas day everyone opens their gifts with lots of enthusiasm and cheerful energy. As I used to feel very cold I was gifted with an electric blanket, a bottle of Tequilla and 6 pairs of Docker socks to keep me warm during harsh and severe winter season.
It is the biggest festival for everyone. The Christmas tree and house are decorated outside and inside with lots of lights and other numerous decorations. On Christmas day everyone opens their gifts with lots of enthusiasm and cheerful energy. As I used to feel very cold I was gifted with an electric blanket, a bottle of Tequilla and 6 pairs of Docker socks to keep me warm during harsh and severe winter season.
 |
| A big Christmas tree decoration. A Grand preparation for Christmas |
Illinois gets a lot of snow. There was snow blizzard and it kept snowing for a while. I walked to this tree in the snow to take a photo from the bottom of the trunk.
 |
My footprints in freshly fallen snow in December 2008
|
 |
| Snow stuck on the trunk and branches of a tree |
 |
A snap shot of a snow covered mail box
|
A snap shot of the snow covered road, the neighbourhood houses across the street and the mail box of the house. The houses can have only certain designs of mail boxes approved by the city administration to keep the city uniformly beautiful.
 |
| Snow covered house |
I painted all the windows but one window at the top front of the house behind the dish antenna. I also painted the front porch of the house. These are some beautiful memories of my stay in Illinois connected to this house.
Here are some more pictures of the house taken during summer and winter time during my stay.
 |
A swing in front porch of the house
|
 |
The front porch and flowers in autumn
|
 |
A fish pond on a farmhouse near Rockford, Illinois
|
No comments:
Post a Comment