Views from Chicago

I was recently in Chicago for a conference, and this is a city I like for several reasons. It has skyscrapers and subways (and the aboveground L-train) and is very moderns, but it also shows its old history very well. There are an enourmous mixture of architectural styles, and bridges and train stations could fit into an early 1900s photo. In 1837 only 4000 people lived here, but only three years later 40 000 people had moved to this city/village. Today it is one of the major cities in the US. And it is still growing, as you can see: And skyscrapers are sometimes turned upside down (in a rain puddle):Downtown Chicago has some famous jazz and night clubs with a lot more jazz than the Stockholm Jazz Festival! This is the famous Chicago Theater (below), built in 1928. If you omit the skyscraper in the background, can't you imagine a gangster driving up in some black-polished 1930s car and getting out to get a drink and see some naked legs? This is in the area called The Loop since it is circled by a loop formed by the elevated subway train (which should be named 'superway' train. to be consistent).The Chicago River enters Lake Michigan in Chicago, which is an Indian name either meaning wild onion or 'strong and great'. In downtown, each street has a bridge and many of these are quite old. Below is the bridge carrying Dearborn Street across to the area called the "Magnificent Mile". I couldn't believe the color of the water, like glacial melt water, all milky and turquoise at the same time. Along the river is this famous building, Marina City, two circular buildings with 20 stories of space for cars below and 40 stories of apartments above. Each apartment has the shape of a cake slice, very unusual. I don't particularly like it, but it is interesting. It was designed in 1959 by Bertrand Goldberg, and must have been very futuristic at the time. Now I think it is just strange looking.
If you look below the building you see how it got its name, it has a marina for boats below it:
When you go down to the harbor and the piers, you really don't think you are at a lake. There is no land on the other side of the water, and sailboats and ships are everywhere. But the smell is wrong for the ocean - no salty, rotten seaweed smell here! They have light houses too.

And in the east, the sun raises up over Lake Michigan every morning. This photo is from my hotel room window.