Chicago - cold and Christmassy

From the warm comfort of Santa Monica, watching the extreme storms in the midwest on the Weather Channel made us quite nervous about the flight to Chicago. But it seemed that the bad weather had moved further east by the time we were due to fly, and the American Airlines flight was more or less on time. However, we had forgotten how awful the check-in process at LAX is, and with Christmas on the way, and huge crowds travelling, this turned out to be the worst part of the day's journey. First world problem, huh!

The iconic Wrigley Building towers over the steel bridge of Michigan Ave and the Chicago River.

Chicago is known as the windy city, but for now it is the freezing conditions which best characterise it. Even the locals were complaining about how cold it is. At one sunset, the temperature was -14C, and with the wind chill factor, the TV News announced that it felt like -23C. Walking up the Magnificant Mile of Michigan Ave and the other interesting streets of this bustling city is excruciatingly painful when the wind is up, but delightfully brisk when it is still. Everyone is completely rugged up, some so that only their eyes were showing. Our good clothing kept us pretty warm, but we both suffered in the face and hands. Clare lashed out and bought a knee length coat from Macy's. Not surprisingly, it was the only one in the store not on special!

Seasonal decorations adorn Macy's in State Street.

It's really tough in this weather, but we gather that the present cold snap is exceptional. The road salting trucks are being kept busy, but while it's very cold, there hasn't been much actual precipitation. Some snow fell on Christmas Eve, maybe 20mm, and so we had a white Christmas. But it warmed up to a mere -1C on Christmas Day which seemed to cheer up the locals, but to us, it just turned the sidewalks slushy and slippery.

Freezing in front of illuminated Christmas Tree near River Esplanade.

The most distressing thing about this downtown area of Chicago is the homeless and beggers. There are several on every block and at every corner. Each carries a handwritten sign telling some sad story or another. There's old and young, male and female, some particularly pitiful becuse their children are with them. They are unfailing polite in their requests, even when rejected, and tend to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It must be horrendous for them to sit or stand on the pavement in this bitterly cold city. We saw some young people giving old clothes to these poor souls.

In the 3pm near dark, a Loop Train rumbles over Wabash St just south of the river.

Again, Bob put us into a hotel (Conrad, on N Rush St) which was spectacularly well located, right in the middle of shops and restaurants, and backing onto Michigan Avenue. From here, we could walk everywhere, including to our Christmas Lunch at the Drake Hotel. We discovered some great eating places within 100m of the hotel. We had a good Asian meal at P.J. Changs. Another was Seasons 52, specialising in healthy (but delicious) food with courses all less than a specific calorie level. The friendly waitress there, Tina, gave us some good tips which we followed up. We had one breakfast at the very popular Eggsperience, their specialty being self-evident. And she also told us about the brand new Eataly, apparently an import from New York, which is a huge barn of coordinated deli, eating, coffee and wine experiences - similar to the Fratelli Fresh concept, but much more complex and 10 times as big. Great Lavazza coffee and fresh croissants were had from there!

Lavazza Espresso appeals to the locals at Eataly.

Navy Pier marks the easterly extreme of Chicago as it reaches into Lake Michigan

Navy Pier is a now restored Navy facility complete with restaurants, convention facilities, a big ferris wheel and an Imax theatre. It's nice and warm inside, which is one reason we visited! There is a very interesting Stained Glass Museum inside, but the major interest for us is outside. The harbour around the pier suddenly froze up in the cold snap, and we were lucky enough to see an ice-breaker charging through the fresh ice to break it up and create some navigational paths.

Some contemporary examples from the Museaum of Stained Glass on Navy Pier.

The frozen edge of Lake Michigan just off Navy Pier.

Ice breaker attacking the freshly frozen surface of Chicago Harbour after a sudden cold snap.

Millenium Park is the publicly accessible focal point of a large urban renewal project just south of the Chicago River. This is a beautiful and modern open space, and would be very crowded in warmer weather. When we visited, the free ice-skating rink was quite busy (we refrained from giving it a go) and many people were taking selfies of their distorted reflections in the highly polished and geometrically intriguing Cloud Gate statue.

Disorted reflections of the city in the Cloud Gate in Millenium Park.

We had Christmas Dinner at the Drake Hotel, a special splurge we had planned and booked some weeks ago. The hotel and the dining room were nice olde world, the carollers were very good and a lot of fun, but, frankly, it was not worth the premium paid. The food was delicious and well presented, but the menu was limited and was certainly nothing special befitting the occasion. The items available would have been on their everyday menu. The decadent dessert buffet was quite disappointing. We think Americans enjoy their gastronomic celebration at Thanksgiving, and Christmas lunch is just another meal to them. Other patrons were quite delighted, and maybe we Aussies are just too spoiled and fussy? Maybe we were just missing our regular Christmas Dinner with all the special trimmings which were missing in this meal. The hotel public areas were beautifully decorated. Another large restaurant at the Drake was packed with well dressed people taking high tea. Again, we think this is a daily affair at the Drake.

The carollers at the Drake Hotel didn't know any Australian Christmas Carols, but sang "Rocking' Around the Christmas Tree" at our request.

After our Christmas lunch, we went to the movies and saw American Hustle, a great show requiring no little concentration and highly recommend by David & Margaret. The theatre was packed to the gills. Movie-going on Christmas Day is obviously a popular pastime in this cold climate.