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 :
This
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
Click here for
Marathon Articles
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 moment 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
Soon 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 were 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 07![LincolnParkClimbingWall1](../images/Pgdesign/Link_park_%20002d.jpg)
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.
The 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 :
After 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
drove 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:
After
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
Click here for
Marathon Articles
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.
![RacquateBall](../images/Pgdesign/racketball_1.jpg) ![racquateBall](../images/Pgdesign/racketball_2.jpg)
![RacquateBall](../images/Pgdesign/racketball_6.jpg) ![RacquateBall](../images/Pgdesign/racketball_5.jpg)
![racquateball](../images/Pgdesign/racketball_3.jpg) ![RacquateBall](../images/Pgdesign/racketball_4.jpg)
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
Courtesy 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 Dearborn![WillisTower](../images/USA/Chicago/Sears_Tower.JPG)
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
|
|