Have you ever visited Chicago and the towns of Indiana lining up Lake Michigan? The colors of the lake change and are truly mesmerizing. The amazing blue color that shows up in rainy fall days is poetic indeed. The lake runs along numerous parks in Chicago. The view is stunning.
Taking a walk or riding the bike along the lakeshore reveals hidden treasures like perfumed pine trees and ducks gazing along the grass. The Promontory Point in Hyde Park runs a gorgeous view of the Chicago skyline.
Veronica was riding her blue Free Spirit bike when she encountered the bridge on the Chicago river lifted. All traffic had stopped. The lace design of the bottom of the Chicago bridge was up in the air.
Chicago bridges, along with many EL or elevated subway stops among other streets, are named after American presidents like Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, etc. The DuSable bridge takes you to the Water Tower area via the Magnificent Mile, a well known shopping center of Chicago.
DuSable was a Haitian immigrant who founded the city. His wife was Native American. Veronica loves how Chicago means stinky onion in her Native American language. Vero's mom loved to eat onions. Onions and garlic add taste to food, and the culinary scene in Chicago is marvelous. Chicago deserves a joyful exploration of its ethnic foods.
The DuSable Museum on the South Side of Chicago in the Hyde Park neighborhood near the University of Chicago celebrates annually Gwendolyn Brooks, the laureate poet of Chicago who celebrated Chicago in all its faces, including the young gangsters in her poem, "We Cool."
The EL that crosses on some bridges connects the vibrant neighborhoods of Chicago where linguistic and cultural diversity thrives. The pink line of the EL connects you to the Spanish speaking neighborhoods of Little Village and Cicero, the city where Al Capone resided.
The red line takes you to Argyle on the North Side where Vietnamese and other Asians populate a neighborhood named as Asia on Argyle. Chinatown just a few stops of the red line to the south takes you to a vibrant Chinese community which sings in Cantonese and some Mandarin and smells the aromas of Mongolian beef and other delicacies.
Politics play a significant role in the life of Chicago. Veronica was attracted to Chicago because it reminded her of Beijing. Both are cities of politics versus Shanghai and New York where commerce thrives and dominates the scene. Veronica never visited Shanghai, and New York somehow turns Vero off and reminds her of her misadventures there when she graduated from college.
Politics with the corruption that comes with it oftentimes take charge in Chicago. Chicago is the adopted hometown of Barrack Obama, the forty fourth president of the United States. The Trump Tower and Hotel dominates the Chicago river and it is property of President Trump, the forty fifth president of this country.
The Wrigley building stands next to the Tribune one in the vicinity of the Trump Tower where one could enjoy a panoramic view of the city from its bar lounge. Chicago has two major newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Suntimes. The Suntimes building is seen down the river near the Merchandise Mart by the Wolf Point West, where Vero participated in a group show of Chicago Artists Coalition. An impressive clock tells time on the Wrigley building. Its architecture reminds us of European buildings found in France and Germany where heavy ornamentation of the exterior is favored.
Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, who favors Chicago to Paris, he held a meeting two summers ago with mayors of other cities traversed by a river like Paris, France run by the Seine. They discussed sustainability and environmental protection of life in the river. Numerous stunning bridges connect the banks of the Seine, a city where Veronica spent a summer.
Chicago is sister city with many cities around the world.
The Chicago History Museum has a whole room dedicated to the Chicago bridges, their architecture and mobility. It is worthwhile to celebrate and visit that museum with rooms devoted to the prairie natural life, the architecture and art, the meat industry, the trains linking Chicago to other major cities, and the movable bridges that made Chicago a great transportation hub linking Lake Michigan to the Chicago River and then the Mississippi River. Veronica trained there to be a docent, and she was a facilitator for visitors in the galleries of the recently built Hellenic Museum in Greek town near the University of Illinois at Chicago.
