Destination: Chicago
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Millennium Park
Originally intended to coincide with the millennium, the much-anticipated park’s opening date kept being pushed further and further back as the plans became more complex and additional funds had to be raised. The result, unveiled in 2004, is magnificent—compact, so you don’t need a lot of time, but a real wow. Frank Gehry’s Pritzker Music Pavilion, an outdoor venue for free summer concerts, forms the centerpiece. It’s not just the sinuous silver petals, glinting in the sunlight, that dazzle (literally and figuratively) from all angles, but also the sound system’s trellis of steel arcs, interlacing gracefully overhead, framing skyscrapers and lush green lawn. British artist Anish Kapoor’s beloved Cloud Gate sculpture, known to all as the Bean, nearby, is tall enough that you can walk underneath it and watch reflections in its mercury-like surface swirl into nautilus shapes. There’s also a sculpture by Henry Moore and an Isamu Noguchi fountain. Though a pleasure in all seasons, the place really comes alive in summer, when children love to splash in the Crown Fountain. At the south end of the park is the Lurie Garden, enclosed on two sides by walls of evergreens that are intended to grow into a sound barrier. Inside, the waving grasses create the feeling of a prairie, their soft silhouettes and soothing rustle a lovely contrast with the skyscrapers and city sounds all around. Open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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