Chicago: my kind of town

Dear students & readers of this blog,

Last Monday we were lucky enough to learn a lot of things about Chicago from a true Chicagoan who lives in Spain: Brian Enquist, from Pearson Longman.Unfortunately, many of you could not be there. So here is a short summary of Brian's really interesting talk.

Chicago is a city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and is the third most populous city in the United States, and the most populous city in the American Midwest with over 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area (also called "Chicagoland"), which extends into Indiana and Wisconsin, is the third-largest in the United States, after those of New York City and Los Angeles, with an estimated 9.8 million people.

The city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and transportation. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade.

Chicago's notability has found expression in numerous forms of popular culture, including novels, plays, films, songs, various types of journals (for example, sports, entertainment, business, trade, and academic), and the news media. The city has many nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best-known include: "Chi-town," "Windy City" and "Second City."

(source: wikipedia)

Many films have been shot here, some of which are: Transformers, The Blues Brothers, Home Alone, Risky Business, Batman or The Untouchables:

Chicago has a very characteristic skyline, dominated especially by to of the most famous skyscrapers in the world, HANCOCK TOWER and, above all, WILLIS TOWER (oh, wait! Maybe you know it by SEARS TOWER)

The Willis Tower (aka Sears)                                            John Hancock Tower

Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most important architects of the United States, and his first works can still be seen in Oak Park, in Chicago: the Prairie Houses

Chicago is unique, as it is full of art: some of the landmarks of the city are the Art Institute, or the Millenium Park, where you can find the Jay Pritzker Pavillion for some live music, or the famous statue of The Bean (see video below), not to mention the famous Crown Fountain or The Picasso, a statue offered by Pablo Picasso to the city of Chicago.

Chicago Art Institute

Let's take a stroll around downtown Chicago. Watch the documentary below:




Why is Chicago where it is? What has made Chicago be what it is? Click here for a brief history of the city.

Brian also talked about a poet, Carl Sandburgh, who wrote a famous poem about Chicago. Here it is:

CHICAGO

     HOG Butcher for the World,
     Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
     Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
     Stormy, husky, brawling,
     City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
     have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
     luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
     is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
     kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
     faces of women and children I have seen the marks
     of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
     sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
     and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
     so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
     job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
     little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
     as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
          Bareheaded,
          Shoveling,
          Wrecking,
          Planning,
          Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
     white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
     man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
     never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
     and under his ribs the heart of the people,
               Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
     Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
     Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
     Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Chicago is a melting pot, full of people from different nationalities: Polish, German, Italian, Irish, Mexican or Swedish. It is also THE CITY OF BLUES! Don't leave Chicago before going to one of its Blues bars!!

Here's one of the iconic blues songs you can hear everywhere you go in Chicago, when you go explore its vibrant nightlife: SWEET HOME CHICAGO, originally written by Robert Johnson:




Well, I hope you have found some good reasons to go to Chicago. And if you still need some, what about this one? FOOD!!! Have a slice of the typical Chicago style pizza.

Enjoy!!