The Windy City Chicago
I have a special place for Chicago 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 center
point of my traveling 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.
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| The Beautiful Chicago skyline. Picture 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 lakefront while playing some cool music.
Chicago Harbour Lighthouse at the mouth of Chicago River on Lake Michigan was built in 1832.
Going on for a car ride in Chicago is a different feeling, Its the windy city and during summer times sunsets 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 gets 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.
Chicago at night is a beautiful city. The picture quality is not good but it gives you some idea about the look of the city at night.
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 corncob shaped buildings towards the left is 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 spotless 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 dining area of
the house.
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One of the dogs sitting in the doorway of the living room
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The dogs enjoying out on the
deck in severe winter with some snow
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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 arbor 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 labor to do such household jobs.
Halloween
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A funny eyeball shaped wax
candle was gifted to me on Halloween
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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 neighborhood asking for
trick or treat. Usually the neighbors 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 Years 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.
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| 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 |
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| Bread preparation in a tray to be baked in oven |
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| 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 open 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 open 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.
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| 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 bottom of the trunk.
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My footprints in freshly fallen
snow in December 2008
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| Snow stuck on the trunk and branches of a tree |
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A snap shot of a snow covered
mail box
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A snap shot of the snow
covered road, the neighborhood 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.
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| 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.
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A swing in front porch of the house
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The
front porch and flowers in autumn
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A fish
pond on a farmhouse near Rockford, Illinois
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