Every Tuesday, Manchán Magan joins George Hook to fill him on on places far away or close to home, but always worth a visit. Tune in live today at 6.30pm, or listen back to the podcasts.
With a population of 2.7m on the south-westerns shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago stands as the financial and cultural capital of the vast hinterland known as the Rust Belt. It’s very wealthy, with pockets of entrenched poverty and isolation, a remnant of its racially segregated legacy. Chicago still has that old blue-collar, Midwest, meat-packing feel to it – but it’s also got amazing downtown skyscrapers, a beautiful waterfront area, a lot of nice restaurants and a vibrant art scene.
It’s a brawny, muscular sort of city, without the self-consciousness of New York. 33 sandy beaches on 26 miles of shoreline. The Can-Do attitude of Yanks is seen in the Chicago River. It used flow into the lake, and so would have polluted it eventually, so they reversed the flow of the river 100 years ago with what was a bigger engineering feat than the Panama Canal. This is why so few major cities are built on lakes, they invariably end up polluted. The Chicago River has recently been downgraded from toxic to polluted. A symbol for many aspects of America.
Chicago's skyline in winter [Flickr/Partha Chowdhury]
For me, Chicago is the last great American city. It isn’t prettied up and gentrified. NY and LA no longer represent their nation – they have become exotic mutants. Chicago, on the other hand, was established to serve as a crossroads, the main connection between East and Wild West frontier. It was on the sharp edge of civilisation and wilderness. It’s difficult to imagine now, but it’s vital to keep in mind if one wants to understand the city.
It’s pioneering edginess made it a crucible of innovation – things from skyscrapers to suburbs were first adopted here. Razed to the ground by a fire in 1871, it rose from the ashes to become a city of 2m by 1900. A staggering accomplishment – they were unstoppable, and reaching for the sky.
One of the best ways to take in the buildings is with the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s 90-minute river cruise.
While the Prohibition-era shoot outs between warring gangsters aren’t as common as Hollywood would have us believe, Chicago maintains an odd relationship with its criminal past. The Chicago History Museum, in the Lincoln Park neighbourhood, has a section on Gangland Chicago, with ingenious devices to hide booze: a row of fake cigars hiding test tubes or a walking stick with a handle that cloaks a small beaker. There are tours and pub crawls and discussions with experts. And The Untouchables Tour through the South Side, covers everything from the ‘St Valentine’s Day Massacre’ to the white marble steps made iconic from the Sean Connery-starring movie.
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, better known as ‘the Bean’ to locals, is a gleaming piece of public art designed by Anish Kapoor that debuted in 2006. But talking to anyone there for any length of time may be difficult; it is often overrun by tourists. Also worth a look is Jay Pritzker Pavilion Lawn - the outdoor amphitheatre designed by Frank Gehry.
For those seeking high culture, the Art Institute of Chicago, where American works range from Grant Wood’s American Gothic, the essence of the Midwest, to Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, the essence of urban loneliness. European masterpieces include Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. The collection of Asian art is stunning. It’s the second-largest art museum in the country, with a fabulous selection of impressionist and post-impressionist. The Modern Wing dazzles with natural light, packed with Picassos and Mirós on its third floor.
A woman takes in American Gothic [Art Institute of Chicago]
The Chicago Art Institute also has an exhibition dedicated to the Ireland, with Ireland: Crossroads of Art and Design, 1690-1840. 300 paintings, sculptures, and examples of furniture, as well as bookbinding, ceramics, glass, metalwork, musical instruments and textiles, The exhibition will not be travelling to Ireland and closes in early June. On view are James Gandon’s original drawings for his work on the Houses of Parliament in Dublin; a marble bust of Henry Grattan; a yew-wood crucifix from Lough Derg, Donegal, carved with the date 1776; a pair of earthenware wine cisterns made in Dublin 1750s earlier for Castle Leslie, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s snuffbox; and the silver mace once carried on ceremonial occasions through Athy.
How to get there: Aer Lingus €600 (Iberia & American Airlines €600 (8 hours)
Getting Around: Chicago has good elevated and underground rail connections, which extend to the airport. The Divvy bike sharing system has been in place for a little more than a year and it appears to be fantastic success.
Where to stay:
- The Drake Hotel (€200). A whiff of the past. Throughout the roaring 20s, it was high-society’s first choice in opulence. The Fountain Court, hosted Chicago's social elite daily for tea: Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, George Gershwin, and Charles Lindbergh sipping cocktails, listening to Herbie Kay in The Gold Coast Room. Newlyweds Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio would carve their iconic initials into the bar’s world famous wooden counter. On Dec 6th, 1933, the day after prohibition was repealed, Coq d’Or opened to thirsty patrons eager to purchase a 40-cents whiskey. In the 1940s it became a local hangout for reporters, politicians, and some mobsters.
- Palmer House Hilton (East Monroe Street, from €110). Close to all attractions, restored to its glittering 1925 glory. The birthplace of the chocolate brownie, still made to the original recipe. The first reference to the “brownie” appears in the Sears Roebuck Catalog published in Chicago in 1898. The hotel has a fine art-deco lobby, grand ballrooms, and vintage artefacts from Dickens, Wilde, Louis Armstrong and Liberace.
Where to shop: The stretch of North Michigan Avenue called the Magnificent Mile has Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s & Saks, Fifth Avenue. More unusual are the boutiques up and downstairs in the buildings on neighbouring Oak Street. Buzzing at weekends is arty Bucktown, where cool shops along North Damen Avenue such as Helen Yi (at number 1645) and P.45 (1643) feature rising young local designers. Wicker Park, the city’s hipster area, has vintage stores and small galleries.
