My One-Day Trip to Chicago

After a busy half of the semester, it was finally spring break! It's rare to have days off in a semester with an intense schedule of classes, rehearsals, and performances, and also, I haven't been to any other city after coming to Urbana-Champaign to study; therefore, I decided to go out of town for spring break. Since spring break only lasted one week and the semester was not over yet, I planned to take a day trip to Chicago, which was not far away and was accessible by convenient transportation.

Before this trip, I hadn't been to any other city in the U.S. except Urbana-Champaign, so Chicago was the second American city I visited, and everything there seemed very new and interesting to me. As I got out of the train station and saw the dense tall buildings and the busy traffic, I immediately felt a difference from Urbana-Champaign. Don't get me wrong! I'm not comparing who is good or who is bad, because each city has its distinctiveness! In Chicago, the population is much denser, and everyone's life pace is relatively faster. When walking on the street, I couldn't help spontaneously speeding up. For the view, although the buildings are very dense, they are also very stunning and are mixed with various architectural styles. The union train station is even as beautiful as a museum! Other tourist attractions and parks also are unique and amazing. For me, no matter what, feeling the impressive atmosphere of different places is always a very special experience in a journey.

Because it was my first time visiting Chicago, I decided to go to the well-known attractions first. In addition to going to the Skydeck above Willis Tower, overlooking the magnificent panorama of Chicago, and going to Chicago's iconic "Bean" and the adjacent parks and fountains, most importantly, I also made a pilgrimage to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Although it was not open when I went there, it was still worthwhile since I finally visited it in person. When I was taking pictures outside the Symphony Orchestra building, there was another passer-by who was also stopping at it taking pictures. It is obvious that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's reputation and charm are so admirable! I look forward to enjoying some performances there in the future. Besides visiting tourist spots, I tried Chicago's specialties – the deep-dish pizza. The rich and tasty cheese and toppings brought me a great sense of satisfaction.

I heard from my classmates before that the museums in Chicago have large collections and diverse exhibitions, which are very worth visiting. However, because I didn’t stay for a long time on this trip, I didn’t go into the museums. I hope I have the opportunity to visit the museums in Chicago next time! All in all, although the trip was like a dream as the happy time flew by so fast, I still enjoyed it very much. It was such a pleasure to travel to a different city, which added colors and fun to my spring break.


Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng (written in March, 2022)
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我的芝加哥一日遊 

忙碌了半個學期，終於放春假了！難得在充滿著緊湊的上課、排練、上台演出的學期中有個假期，再加上我自從來到厄巴納香檳讀書後就再也沒出去過其他城市，所以我決定這次春假抽空離開香檳出去散散心。但因為春假也只有一週且學期還沒結束，我覺得也不能太過放縱，所以打算來場快閃一日遊，地點就選在離較近且交通方便的芝加哥。

在這之前，除了厄巴納香檳，我沒有去過美國的其他城市，所以芝加哥是我造訪的第二個美國的城市，一切都非常新奇。一出火車站看到密密麻麻的高樓大廈和繁忙的交通，我立刻感受到跟香檳的差異。別誤會我喔！我沒有在比較誰好誰壞，因為兩個城市各自有獨特的風情！在芝加哥，人口密集許多，且大家的生活步調比較快速，當我走在街上，腳步也不由自主地變快了起來；景色方面，雖然建築物很密集，但也是很漂亮、摻雜著多樣的建築風格，光火車站大廳就美得像博物館，其他觀光景點和公園也是都各有特色。無論如何，對我而言，感受不同地方的風情都是旅程中很有趣特別的體驗。

因為第一次造訪這裡，且一天時間有限，所以我都先安排到知名的觀光景點走走。除了到Willis Tower上面的觀景台，俯瞰壯觀的芝加哥全貌，和去了芝加哥標誌性的「豆子」和旁邊的公園、噴水池拍照打卡，很重要的，我也到了嚮往已久的芝加哥交響樂團朝聖，雖然去的時候沒有開，但總算親自到訪了，不虛此行，而我在交響樂團建築物外拍照流連時，也有其他路人專門也對著它拍照停留，可見芝加哥交響樂團的名聲和魅力多令人仰慕，期待以後能進去欣賞演出！另外，除了到訪觀光勝地，我也嘗試了芝加哥的特色佳餚–深盤披薩，豐富飽滿又香濃的起司和配料，吃得很滿足。

之前聽同學說芝加哥的博物館館藏豐富、展覽多元，非常值得一逛，但這次因為停留的時間沒有很長，所以沒有進去博物館參觀，希望下次有機會再來趟芝加哥博物館之旅！總而言之，雖然旅程像做一場夢一樣，愉快的時間稍縱即逝，但仍然很滿足且很有收穫，很高興能到不同的城市小旅行，為我的春假增添了色彩和樂趣。


Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng （2022年3月）