The Windy City

John Hancock Building

Got back from Chicago in the early hours of the morning after attending a conference on Business Rules last week. It was my first visit to the city and I have to say it's one of my favorites - clean, beautiful architecture, good food, shopping, parks, Lake Michigan, friendly people... the list goes on. Unfortunately it was a business trip and I didn't have too much time to do the tourist thing, but I've uploaded a couple of photos to Yahoo. Trivia for the day: Five things you probably didn't know about Chicago: The Chicago Public Library is the world's largest public library with a collection of more than 2 million books. Lake Michigan is more than 10,300 years old and is 307 miles long and 118 across at its widest point. There are various legends as to why Chicago became known as the 'Windy City,' but the most popular ascribes it to the fact that over the decades it has hosted so many presidential nominating conventions with all those politicians generating so much hot air. Back in 1890, Chicago's Rand McNally Building was the tallest building in the world. Today, Chicago is home to three of the world's ten tallest: the Sears Tower, the Amoco Building, and the Hancock Center. The Art Institute of Chicago holds the largest collection of Impressionist paintings outside the Louvre in Paris.