It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas (2009 Edition, Part 11)

The huts and tents for the annual Christkindlmarkt are being assembled in Daley Plaza (55 West Randolph Street).  It's a great event that I go to at least twice a year. There's nothing like eating a hot pretzel, or candied nuts, or a big hunk of schnitzel with snowflakes falling around you.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (2009 edition, part 3)

Inspired by our series of posts about Christmas in Chicago (1 & 2), one of the usual suspects e-mailed in a few photos of her own.  It looks like the Christmas train display is now up and running in the basement of the John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue).

If you haven't been before, you should make an effort to go this year.  Or even better, make it a family tradition.  

Each day (according to Google Analytics), thousands of people from the suburbs read this blog.  This is a good year to take the kids into the city for a day of holiday walking around.  Look at the trains at the John Hancock Center, then walk down Michigan Avenue and get some popcorn at Garrett's (625 North Michigan Avenue). Next, wander into the Loop to look at the display windows at Macy's on State Street (111 North State Street), swing by Daley Plaza to take in the city's official Christmas tree sharing the plaza with the massive Picasso statue (55 West Randolph Street), then grab some hot chocolate and enjoy the sights in Millennium Park.  

The whole thing will cost you less than ten bucks. Do it every year to teach your children the joys of the holidays, and that Christmas spirit doesn't have a big price tag or come from Wal-Mart -- it's just the joy of being with someone you love.

Need tips on getting in, getting out, getting around and things to see for free with your kids?  Just e-mail me at editor@chicagoarchitecture.info and I'll be happy to help you out.

Now -- more pictures of the trains.  And thanks to everyone who e-mails in their pictures of Christmas in Chicagoland.

Orange You Glad You're Not Drinking It?

Autumn is here, and another one of Chicago's colorful aquatic traditions is underway.  It's not as dramatic or big or well-celebrated as the greening of the Chicago River, but the oranging of the Daley Plaza fountain is one method of keeping the seasons straight around here.

North Side Sonic Boom Warning

That noise you're going to hear this morning (Friday, September 18, 2009) echoing across the Gold Coast and Near North Side is a 21-gun salute at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street.  In the photo above we see Chicago police officers preparing for the event in front of Fourth Presbyterian Church (125 East Chestnut Street).  It's part of a series of events all week honoring veterans, especially those who received the Congressional Medal of Honor.  The photo below is from an event at Daley Plaza (55 West Randolph Street) yesterday.

Historic Video of the Unveiling of Chicago's Picasso

There's a video on YouTube showing the unveiling of the massive Picasso sculpture in front of the Daley Center back in 1967.

Slice of Life: Chicago's Turkish Festival

Tiny chairs and huge pots of tea marked this year's Turkish Festival at Daley Plaza.  It was much better than a lot of the local national festivals in that it had far better representation by a larger number of vendors than most.

Unfortunately, at each of these festivals there's always some group that has to ruin it by bringing its own agenda or non-theme tent.  Like the way there's always a Peruvian kiosk at the German Christmas festival.  The interloper at the Turkish Festival was the Korean Veterans association.

Daley Plaza Isn't a Trailer Park

What's the difference between the Daley Center and a trailer park?  The Daley Center isn't waiting until April to take down its Christmas decorations.  The last of the trees that made up the massive city Christmas tree have finally been hauled away.  This picture was snapped on Friday, January 23rd as crews were removing the last bits of it.  Still, the fresh scent of pine hung in the air in a soothing way.  It was a nice contrast to the incessant blaring of taxi horns as the hacks honk at invisible leprechauns on their dashboards or whatever it is that causes their antisocial insolence.

Slice of Life: The Pigeon Warming Center

Every winter there is a migration of television microwave trucks from the garages of channels 2, 5, 7, 9, and 32 to the City of Chicago's official warming center at 10 South Kedzie.  But what about the city's pigeons?  Where do they go when the weather outside turns frightful?

The answer is Daley Plaza.  Unnoticed by most of the millions of people who wander through the plaza during the city's frigid season, pigeons huddle around the gas-fed eternal flame.  It's a war memorial that our feathered friends use as a means of survival.