Millennium Park

Shannon Me and Josh on the BP Bridge

During our "City as Text" field trip on September 25th 2007, Shannon, Josh, and myself had the pleasure of exploring Millennium Park. After arriving in Chicago, we began on our excursion by

walking from the metra station down Madison toward Millennium Park. I am not a native of Chicago, and the only times that I have ever actually been in Chicago was to go on field trips in grade school or to go to an occasional White Sox game. The skyscrapers, which I have viewed numerous times from a vehicle, now seemed so much bigger. Standing next to them and viewing their various structural types seemed so amazing to me.

After arriving at Millennium Park, we first noticed two different brick walls that had the ability to have a picture appear on them. This picture was a man who at times would shoot water out of his mouth. Water would literally shoot from the wall and land in the fountain area, knowing to many tourists and natives as the Crown Fountain. It was so amazing and I had never seen anything like it. Other pieces of architecture that we explored included the bean, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the Lurie Garden, and of course the BP Bridge. This bridge was gorgeous, and the site that we were told to explore as a group when we visited the park. It's winding structure and beautiful overview of Columbus Drive fascinated me and was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Another aspect of Chicago that I found interesting was the cultural diversity. Reading about the various ethnic groups of Chicago is nothing compared to actually experiencing them first hand. As we walked around Millennium Park we observed people of the Chinese, Hispanic, and another ethnic group whose language I did not even recognize. Some people were exploring Millennium Park as tourists just like we were, while others were in a rush to get somewhere as quickly as possible. Overall, the experience is one that really helped me to understand more about Chicago and showed me all the the city has to offer.

The Crown Fountain

Shannon Me and Josh
Our Reflection in the Bean