Blustering through a tour of the Windy City's most famous skyscrapers
Air New Zealand have deemed it worthy of a new direct route, but what's so great about Chicago?
GO FOR THE SPORT
Chicago is a football town
American football that is. Go into any Chicago sports bar — there are many — and you'll find references to the Monsters of the Midway, the dominant Bears teams of the early 1940s or, most popularly, the 1985 Super Bowl winning team. Names like George "Papa Bear" Halas, William "Refrigerator" Perry, "Iron" Mike Ditka and Dick Butkus are still revered in this town.
The Bears play in the impressive Soldier Field, a modern stadium that sits inside the facade of an older version. It's on the shores of Lake Michigan not far from the middle of town and has hosted the All Blacks twice in recent years.
The NFL season runs from September through to the end of the year, with playoffs and the Super Bowl taking place through January to the first weekend in February.
Chicago is a basketball town
Actually, it was a fairly muted basketball town until the summer of 1984 when they drafted Michael "Air" Jordan and the sport changed forever.
Jordan was driven by a chip on his shoulder the size of Sears Tower, but his need for perfection led the Bulls to six NBA championships and it probably would have been more had he not stalled his career for a couple of years as he chased an ill-starred baseball cameo with the White Sox.
The team has been scuffling since Jordan parted for good in 1999, but the famous black-and-red bull is as familiar a sight as any in the city.
They play in the United Center on the city's Westside, and the NBA season runs from October to June.
Chicago is a hockey town
Ice hockey that is. The Blackhawks are one of the "Original Six" NHL teams and have recently enjoyed the most successful period of their 92-year history. With players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, the Blackhawks won the revered Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015, which accounts for half their overall tally. The Blackhawks bullied their way back on to the prime spots in the sports pages of this sports-mad town.
The NHL season, like the NBA runs from October to June and the Blackhawks share the United Center with the Bulls.
— Dylan Cleaver
GO FOR THE FOOD
Living in Chicago, I am spoiled. The food here is ridiculously good, whether you're visiting your neighbourhood hot-dog stand or you scored a reservation at Alinea, often lauded as one of the world's top restaurants, where a course may take the form of an edible, green-apple-flavoured helium balloon. The restaurants are so exceptional that I've become a snob when travelling because of how good I have it back home. People often compliment Chicago for its 77 community areas, each with its own flavour. When friends and family visit, I tell them to travel north about 30 minutes to the Lincoln Square and Ravenswood neighbourhoods, where I spend most of my time.
I know. You hear "pizza" and "Chicago" and you make some assumptions. But here's the thing. Many of us locals only go out for deep dish when tourists request it, and we eat many other types of pizza, including the pizza prototype: Neapolitan-style.
Spacca Napoli pizzeria, Chicago. Photo / Choose Chicago
Spacca Napoli (spaccanapolipizzeria.com) is, as our server explains, "the real deal." The wood-fired oven, which cooks pizzas in 90 seconds, came from Italy and the pizza makers trained in the motherland. The pizzas are presented whole and the patron gets the honour of slicing. The tender crusts are pocked with charred bubbles. The cheese is baked in small, circular globs rather than a large, melty disc. The tomato sauce tastes bright and slightly acidic. It's the kind of pizza you can actually call quenching, whether you're devouring the Bufalina (US$15.50), a simple pie made with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di Bufala and basil; the Porcini e Carciofi ($18), a white pizza made with fior di latte cheese, porcini mushrooms, Sardinian artichokes and Parmigiano-Reggiano; or any other kind. Each is worth the wait for a table.
Our neighbourhood special-occasion spot: Bistro Campagne (bistrocampagne.com), is a charming, country-style French bistro that sources heavily from local organic farms. The intimate restaurant has the feel of an old-world mansion, with lots of dark woods and candlelight. And the commute home — a 10-minute walk — reminds us of how lucky we are to live where we do. — Kate Silver, Washington Post
Perfect for families with under-10s, Bobby's Bike Hike has a special kid's edition: the Tike Hike. This two-hour, easy-riding bike tour is a great way to see the sights of Chicago and energetic, curious kids will have a blast. During this journey, you'll discover all sorts of hidden gems, including a secret garden, the Lincoln Park zoo, a beautiful beach and a trail along the shores of Lake Michigan. The tour rides at a leisurely pace and kids' bikes, trailers, child seats and tagalongs are all available.
Navy Pier
No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to Navy Pier — a 20ha lakefront playground showcasing music, theatre, museums, restaurants shops and one seriously impressive ferris wheel. Kids will be keen to see the sights from the top of the Centennial Wheel, which reaches heights of nearly 70m — and it's open all year round, thanks to its enclosed gondolas. Also on the pier is the Chicago Children's Museum, the indoor Crystal Gardens and an Imax theatre. There are also plenty of opportunities for boat cruises along the waterfront — or get on an evening cruise to watch Navy Pier's fireworks displays.
The Field Museum of Natural History
Sue, the Tyrannosauraus Rex at the Field Museum of Natural History. Photo / Choose Chicago
— she's the largest and most complete skeleton of her kind currently known. Afterwards, get to know Sue's story in a special 3D movie that takes viewers through her life from a hatchling to a seven-ton specimen. Kids can also come face to face with a real mummy, or magically "shrink" to the size of a penny to see the world from the perspective of a bug. This is one of the largest natural history museums in the world and the endless array of interactive exhibits are sure to keep the little ones entertained for the day.
— Eli Orzessek
Chicago is a baseball town
America's pastime has a long and tortured history in the Windy City, with both its Major League teams, the American League's White Sox and National League's Cubs, going through long periods of haplessness.
The White Sox reside on Chicago's Southside, at the unromantic Guaranteed Rate Field and are the blue-collar club. Their most famous fan is Barack Obama. The White Sox have won three World Series but went from 1917 to 2005 without one. They're most famous for the Black Sox scandal of 1919 when several players, including legendary "Shoeless" Joe Jackson ("Say it ain't so, Joe"), were alleged to have fixed the World Series, which spawned the movie
Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Photo / Choose Chicago
The Cubs, who reside at the historic, creaking Wrigley Field on the city's leafier Northside, were similarly cursed. They hadn't won a World Series since 1908 until they triumphed in 2016. It sparked an outpouring of emotion and fans even started writing the names of dead relatives — who never got to see them win — into the stadium's ramparts.
The baseball season runs forever, from about now through to October. Each team plays 162 regular season games so there are plenty of opportunities to spend a day at the ballpark. mlb.com/whitesox; mlb.com/cubs
GO FOR THE SKYSCRAPERS
Chicago skyline is one of America's great sights. On a good day, the skyscrapers meet Lake Michigan and seem to stretch on forever.
On a bad day, it meets with westerly gales blowing straight down the grid-work of streets. It's not called "Windy City" for nothing.
But the Chicagoan architects are either too hardy or too proud to begin designing windbreakers. With their collars and attentions turned upwards, there is only one game in town: putting their name to the next great skyscraper.
As America's second city, the chip on its shoulder has been transformed into an urge to build skywards. Chicago is the city that unleashed Frank Lloyd Wright on the world. It's no surprise the Midwestern state of Illinois has produced a long line of artistic and political overachievers. This is President Obama's old stomping ground, after all.
Handing over from president number 44 to 45 — it's hard not to notice Chicago's Trump Tower. True to form, the Donald announced his intention in 2001 for it to be the "tallest building in the world! The tallest!" It was the fourth tallest in the US, but no less impressive.
Further upstream on the Chicago River is the Willis building. Better known as the Sears Tower, for a period between 1973 and 2014 this actually once was the tallest building in the world. The views from the glass-bottomed observation decks are no less breathtaking.
The Wrigley Building is a 1930s Gothic style office building and is the location of the headquarters of the chewing gum empire. Photo / Getty Images
Not all of the skyscrapers are as new and glassy. The Art-Deco, Al Capone-era buildings of the gritty Chicago outfit are the ones people know from the movies. The gothic Tribune Tower, the stately, white Wrigley Building, even the DuSable Bridge is out of the Prohibition era.
Chicago is bristling with oddly shaped towers with affectionate nicknames. Bertrand Goldberg's Marina City is more colloquially known as "the Corncobs"; the John Hancock building, simply "Big John". For all the lofty architects and their high-minded designs, it's the people of Chicago who decide names for their city skyline. And they call it how they see it.
— Thomas Bywater
FACT BOX
GETTING THERE Air New Zealand begins a new direct service to Chicago from Auckland, with flights launching on November 30. helloworld has return Economy Class fares from $1399, on sale April 3.
