₦airaland Forum

From the Millennium park, there is a road across to the lakefront. The Michigan lake is close to the park. I decided to cross the road and follow the trail. This Lane is very busy with traffic. But once the pedestrian signal is on, all vehicles must stop for people to pass. I marvel at how organized the West can be in designing their country. I wish my dear Nigeria leaders can sincerely replicate what they see in the West. I believe we have all it takes to develop the nation.

Some random pictures around the park. I do plan to get better pictures next time.

The Millennium park has two skating platform. This is is the second one I came across.

The Millennium park is of a great considerable size. It has an open theater, skating platform, artificial rock climbing, water fountain, garden and outdoor playground for kids. I have never skated before but I watched with pleasure to see many people do this. The fun part is seeing newbies trying this and falling. It is funny indeed as people watching get hilarious. I hope to try this some other time. I believe it will be exhilarating.

After a good walk, I finally arrived at the Millennium park. This park is a very popular spot in Chicago. In my short time here, I found that people people from other States do visit this spot. The iconic "bean" sculpture which happens to be one of the famous Chicago landmark symbol is located here. The 'bean" is also called the "Cloud gate". I really marveled at the sight of this creative work of art. The "bean" gives a thorough reflection of anything around it. I saw that a lot of people milled around this art to take good pictures!

Walking down to the Millennium park from the Union station takes approximately 22 minutes. Here is one of the Chicago PD parked vehicle I came across. In the States, the police I came across so far are quite friendly. Though, there are some reports of unpleasant attitudes by some especially to people of colour, but I have not experienced that. They are highly trained and professional. Vehicles like this do have high tech interior design. I could remember one encounter of driving with a friend and we were flagged down. The officer politely asked for the driver license and went to his car to do some cross checking. He returned to informed us that we were not suppose to drive that route in a certain hour of the day. We were not given a ticket but a warning after which he bade us farewell.

For my trip, I decided to visit the Millennium park and the Navy pier. If you need to tour the downtown Chicago, I don't encourage you to use a car. It is interesting if you walk around more. I rely on my Google map to get to some of these locations, but I was kind of frustrated with Google map. It was just rerouting me here and there and I just decided to let go of it and ask people the direction instead .

delzbaba:
This is not the chicago we see on the news, we always see gun violence and shootings

Some areas in Chicago are actually notorious. Especially the Chicago west side. However, those areas are not popular with tourists. Gun violence really runs high in those places but I choose to tour the loop for now.

lkillbrokehoes:
Enjoy and stay safe.

Thank you. I will.

The Chicago downtown is also synonymously called the loop. In this area of Chicago, there are high concentration of high rise edifices which host many businesses, fine restaurants and hotels. The famous 108-story Willis Tower as well as the Trump tower is located in this axis. Many people live in the suburbs of Chicago and they majorly come to the loop to work. This area could be very busy during the daytime but becomes quiet at evening as people find their way home using the METRA trains or bus services going to the suburbs.

After some few hours ride, we safely arrived at the Chicago union station which is located at the downtown area of Chicago. We were welcomed by the tall Christmas tree at the Union station in the spirit of the Christmas holiday.

One major thing I love about the train is the roominess. Even the trains are somehow old compared to the likes of the Shinkansen used in Japan or China, the Amtrak train still does her job well. The seats are very comfy with enough legroom to stretch and have a good sleep.

I love adventures and travels. During this holiday, I have some few time for that and I decided to visit the third largest city in the USA. Chicago is indeed a mega hub in the state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, the population was 2,697,480. I am fascinated by skyscrapers and indeed, Chicago has a lot of them. I know New York City(NYC) is another city of skyscrapers , but I shelved my visit to NYC due to the brutal cold and many restrictions as result of the rising omicron strain. However, NYC is still on my bucket list. I took a train ride operated by AMTRAK to the Chicago union station.