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Chicago Tour

From 4th Feb 2007 - Till date

I will keep on updating this page as and when the new experience happen.

I am writing this after so many days since due to the work priorities hopefully I will come up with some new pieces accumulated on this page for Bhramanti.

One reason among the one why Chicago is great due to Swami Vivekanand the most inspirational religious personalities from India. At The World's Parliament of Religions Chicago, 11th September 1893, he gave famous religious speeches on Hinduism at "Chicago's Parliament of Religions in 1893" http://www.sriramakrishna.org/chicago.htm

My Exploration :

Cears Tower, tallest among chicago high riseThis was my first experience of visiting Chicago and second time visit to US. I was shocked as soon arrived here in Chicago on 4th Feb. Sunday evening due to the Cold. It was -30 C. 1st time ever experienced such cold in spite of having extreme condition in high altitude experience. It was horrible but I generally like the extremities so practically I enjoyed the cold here in chicago.

Actually I was supposed to land up on Saturday but due to ticket unavailability I came her eon sunday 4th Feb.. On top of that since couldn't able to get the Jacket for cold I went joined the client office without any jacket on me. My boss too got shocked and blasted on me to get the one ASAP.

For me it's same environment like Frankfurt/Liverpool/Philadelphia but my work restricted me to see only one route that is to and from my house to office road till now (almost 2 and half month since from my arrival).

Shamrock Shuffle:

25th March 2007

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15th April 2007

Lincoln Park Zoo:

After continuous 3 weekend work, this time in the midst of dual mind to go or not, we 4 animals(Sumit, Mayur, Siddharth & myself) of the Presidential Tower zoo, decided to visit the lincoln park. The sunny day and 3 new cameras eagerly waited for long in the apartment since from the day of purchase. Some more camera were supposed to arrive but last LoncolnParkmoment rush we had enough one. The Zoo is not far from the City center, 10 bucks for a Taxi, happily we four animals went inside the Taxi forgetting all pending office work/ phone calls etc.

The zoo is open till 5PM. Today due to sunny days lots of crowd visited this place. It has 1200 animal species including Reptiles & Amphibians, Birds, Mammals. The unique one is leaf cutter ants (The 50 Million-Year Old Farmers), Polar Bear, Lions, Girraf, Zebra

LincolnParkSoon after the arrival we all were welcomed by a roar of a Lion and no doubt all crowd diverted to the lions section to catch the moment in the camera/lively view. We visited other animals like Wild Cat, Monkey, Girraf as well the Reptile & Aquarium Section. It took almost 3 hrs though we had fast lookup around the flower sections. But since everyone hungry we decided to visit the zoo once again for more photography since it was first time usage of new camera we unable catch some goodies. It was a very good experience and off course other than nature lovers, also can enjoy the visit to this zoo. It has all other facilities like Food/First Aid/Safari/paddle boating/Children entertainment. One can see the Sears tower to the south of the park though far away like every time watching you/zoo. Click here for Photographs

For details information one can visit the zoo site http://www.lpzoo.org/info/index.php


21st Apr 2007

Arora Temple (Venkateswara Swamy Temple):

One of the Scenic temple location, I ever saw as Hindu Temple till date out of India is this. On Saturday we wereBalajiTemple supposed to catch the 10:30am Metra to Aurora from the Unison Station of Chicago but unfortunately we missed the train. One of our colleague Jaideep didn't had his morning pooja so he reflected in our conversation. So before the next train we went back t his home had some brunch and prepared ourselves to take 12:30 train. Everyone among the team of 5 of us were first timer to this Temple as well the Metra experience. It's a tallest train in term of height looks like. We took the weekend 5$ pass. It took 1 hr. 15 min. since weekend the same train stops at all station between Chicago & Aurora. As soon we get down within 1-2 min we decided to go by Taxi an it was a good decision we made to cover up the lost time in the morning. It took 15 min to reach the temple. As soon we got down everyone got charged up to see the beautiful temple especially our two south Indian Friends since lots of Saree cladded women and the Idly/Dosa/Pongal as part of Prasadam.

The main idol of Venkateswara is well decorated by Gold. The temple is typically an south Indian architecture, painted in white colour with lush greenery in the surrounding. Also a water fountain and a small lake adding the beauty in the area. We had a look around the temple spent some time in the temple. Many devotees doing their traditional pooja, few American also were among the lot. Due to sunny day we didn't missed the photography session especially our North Indian Hexaware Model(Sumit) and Lakshmi(Rajni) of our Project. Our two more colleague Jaideep were busy to study his new camera while Ram was excited to see lots of Indian and specially 1st time visiting outside Chicago.

We then visited the Premium Mall and then return back to Chicago via Aurora st. It was a rejoicing event after heavy work scheduled. nobody talked about office in the entire trip after the we leave chicago till the time we returned home. More Photos...>>>

One must visit this place being an Indian origin and interested to see Temples. http://www.balaji.org/web/home.aspx


Climbing:

29th Apr 07LincolnParkClimbingWall1

It was a another unique experience for us this time. First is climbing artificial wall in US and important one is climbing on rotating climbing wall. One of the Bhramanti member KK (Murugesan) and me planned to visit the place called lincoln Park Athletic Club which has this facility along with fixed big wall. The fixed wall is of height around 50ft. They have an ICE wall too for practicing as per the organiser. Since we were interested in just bouldering practice we registered for a day costing us 20$ each. It doesn't required climbing shoes as such if you are just 1 timer a month.

KK Practicing on the Rotating wallThe rotating wall has several program and each program has its own speed and difficulty level. from vertical climb to overhang. You can set the speed as per your capability. It gives you controlled way of simulating the speed climbing with various gradation depending upon what is been selected. We tried all programs and since it was first time after 3 months of gap for me it was fun and complete refreshment. we both were charged up and after the quitting the club started planning the best way to catch up the momentum keeping the money matter in mind. It was fun all together. We enjoyed the climb very much. While leaving spent some time to observe the wall built outside where some new route setting was in progress. To get into the these route one has to get certified with their climbing certification program first. So let see next time.





Brookfield Zoo:
2nd Sep 07

Visited this zoo along with one of the Bhramanti member Mahendra S. & his family and office colleague Mayur K. It was worth spending 16$ inclusive of the basic fee 10$ & additional 6$ for the 3 other events in the zoo like Dolphin show, Motor ride & Butterflies. We got few best click of the year during this visit. It may be part of photo contest of Bhramanti's annual event.

6th Oct 07

North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois
:

Rajan & AlejoAfter a long period of time, got a breathable time to attend the ad hoc plan to visit the Lake Michigan. I should be thankful to my office colleague Alejo. We left office on 5th Oct evening, stuffed all essential from my home. Meantime his friend Dena picked him on the way & reached my residence to pick me up for further drive towards the North Point Marina. We had a dinner on the way and then visited a music group specially the drummers. The controller Johnny gave us the Jambe to practice. We didn't realize the time we spent while playing the Jambe. It was fun to play such drum specially for me being untrained practitioner of Indian drums(Dholki) & liking in playing such instruments. I played some Indian folk tunes. Later we droveDena, Jhonny & Alejo to the North Point marina where Alejo's boat docked. This was my first ever experience staying on such well equipped houseboat. Next day morning we all went on fishing with his neighbors boat with Dena's family. we drove the boat deep inside the Michigan lake may be 10miles and the boat owner fixed his multiple fishing instruments. We got 1 big fish, it was happy day for these people even they got just one big fish. Since I wanted to collect my marathon kit before 6pm we return back to by 1pm to the Marina & then drove back to the place where I was suppose to collect the kit.All together it was one of the relaxing day after long time for me. Thanks to Alejo for the boat ride.

22nd Mar 08

Sears Tower:
Right bottom corner 4 Towers of Presidential TowerAfter more than one year, the most awaited visit to Sears Tower came in reality on the sunny day of 22nd Mar 08. I was bit worried since, not sure till the time we reach on top of Sears Tower. They call it as "The Sky deck". I was worried due to the weather, might play some twicks to chop down the aim of my visit. Fortunately everything went right. We were happy to see so many people in queue to get the glimpse of the view from the clear sky on that day. My new roommate Santosh accompanied me since it was his 1st time ever to see any special thing of Chicago since from his arrival in US.

It was worth spending $13, which gives the visual insights of the History channel clip(Video) to knew about the history of the tallest building in the world(5th) and off course the Tower. We could able to see the 360 degree view on Chicago.

Shamrock Shuffle 8K Marathon:
30th March 2008

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Climbing at Lakeshore Atheletice Club indoor wall:
6th April 2008

Last year during same time visited this place. And now almost after one year got chance/time to practice on the wall. Its one of the biggest wall ever I saw till date. One hasto go through the compulsary orientation class through the wal coordinator/instructors, and then ready to go. I climbed 3 routes, where each max height gained is 60ft out of 110ft. Its almost after a year I touched the wall so it was expected. Hoping to complete all the routes as and when I visit the wall. It's nice filling when you do your likable activity. The weblink of the wall details.

Druming Circle, Peterson Avenue:
17th Oct 2008
Visited this druming circle 2nd time and I am going to enjoy this. I like playing drums specially of Indian style. Courtesy to Alejo; my office colleague introduced me to this group last year. People meet here just to play the drums and practice. May be first time this group had heard one of the song in my language (Marathi) sang by me, to get different rhythm to play the drums. It happened again when I visited this time too! This time group was big around 20 drumers from small kids to aged people. It's relaxing experience.

Visit to Swami Narayan Temple and Gurnee Mill Compound:
15th Jan 2012
This is 1st ever experience for me to drive on highway and apart from this we had family members(Wife, Daughter, Mother-in_Law) along with office friend Atin who was kind of walking guide/navigator instructing all the time on the way. It was satisfactory driving experience for me though I did few mistakes. Total driving distance was 130 miles including Chicago to Bartlett then to Gurnee and back to Chicago.

Racquetball

14th Jan 2012
This is 1st ever experience for me to play this unique game call racquet ball. Thanks to Alejo who arranged the playing court which is at Public park, Toughy Avenue. The Playing court is huge hollow room with ceiling is almost same as its length (40 ht X 40 length X 20 width) where the serving line is after 15th feet from the front wall close to both sides of the wal in case game is played as double. You will find detials of the game on internet. Good part is its been played indoor, hence no worry of Chicago cold. In the photo Alejo, Phil, Atin and myself.

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Within 2 hrs of play time we all 4 of us were exausted like a restling game. We all enjoyed this game and confirmed that we will keep playing as and when we get opportunity. For further reference click here: one of the interesting link

Chicago Botanic Garden
1st June 2013

Vanita walking in the Butterfly bloom having real one on her frockCourtesy Northern Trust, I had opportunity to visit the Chicago Botanic Garden. I drove with my family to the destination through the scenic internal route from Montrose to 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe. This was the only tourist place I left unseen until this day in Chicago.

Located at 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, United States, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a 385-acre (156 ha) living plant museum situated on nine islands featuring 26 display gardens and surrounded by four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shores. The Garden is open every day of the year. Admission is free but parking is $25 per car; free for Garden members.


The Chicago Botanic Garden is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a number of classes and certificate programs. The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA).The mission of the Chicago Botanic Garden is to promote the enjoyment, understanding and conservation of plants and the natural world.

Realy it requires number of visits to explore/enjoy the garden completly. We just focused on Butterfly Bloom and flowers area. In good wheather condition its heaven for naturalist and photographers to explore many options.

Map


Chicago - South Desplain River Trail
27 Jul 2013


This was 2nd hike of the year outside India organiszed for celebrating 10 years of Bhramanti.



History of Chicago:


Father Jacques Marquette, French-born missionary of the Jesuit order, and Louis Jolliet, Canadian explorer and mapmaker, were the first Europeans to view the land on which the City of Chicago was to stand. This is in 1673.

1803-1812 The First Fort DearbornWillisTower
It was not until 1803 that the War Department ordered the construction of a fort at the mouth of the river.

1818 Illinois Admitted to Statehood
Chicago was under the jurisdiction of Indiana Territory and Illinois Territory from 1801 to 1818. In 1818, Illinois was admitted to statehood, and Chicago was placed successively under the counties of Crawford, Clark, Pike, Fulton, Putnam attached to Peoria, and in 1831, Cook County.

The name "Chicago" derived from the Indians but it is not known which tribe named the town and many theories have been advanced to explain the origin of the name. One generally accepted is that the name comes from the Indian words for either wild onion or skunk, but some historians believe that the word Chicago denoted "strong" or "great."

Chicago became home to the world's tallest building in 1973 when the Sears Tower was topped off. The Sears Tower remained the tallest building in the world until February 13, 1996. The Sears Tower continues to be the tallest building in North America.

World's Top 10 Buildings

Rank

Name

City

Country

Feet

Meters

Stories

1

Taipei 101

Taipei

Taiwan

1,671

509

101

2

Petronas Tower 1

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

1483

452

88

2

Petronas Tower 2

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

1483

452

88

4

Sears Tower

Chicago

USA

1450

442

110

5

Jin Mao Tower

Shanghai

China

1380

421

88

**6

Citic Plaza

Guangzhou

China

1,283

391

80

7

Shun Hing Square

Shenzhen

China

1,260

384

69

8

Empire State Building

New York

USA

1250

381

102

9

Central Plaza

Hong Kong

China

1227

374

78

10

Bank Of China

Hong Kong

China

1209

369

70

11

The Center

Hong Kong

China

1148

350

79

12

T & C Tower

Kaohsiung

Taiwan

1140

348

85

13

Aon Center

Chicago

USA

1136

346

80

14

John Hancock Center

Chicago

USA

1127

344

100

15

Burj al Arab Hotel

Dubai

UAE

1,053

321

60

16

Baiyoke Tower II

Bangkok

Thailand

1050

320

90


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