A Taste of Chicago: Sampling Cloud Gate, Union Station, Palmer House, and more, with a Side of Cappuccino & Cannoli

Trains represent connectivity. Since my childhood, when dad commuted by train to work in downtown Chicago, I’ve experienced a feeling of connection with the city. Chicago is so accessible, by rail, from my childhood home in Brookfield, IL. My own trips downtown were less frequent, but the experience of hopping on the Metra as public transportation is embedded in my childhood memories.

I recently met with a colleague at Gosia’s Coffee Shop, just across the street from the Brookfield train station. She’s a resident of Riverside, the next town over from Brookfield, so I asked her if she takes her boys downtown very often. She’s a world traveler, with young kids who have traveled internationally, but the answer was ‘no’. I urged her to reconsider, to make it a practice to take them on more downtown adventures. A week after she and I met for coffee she sent me pictures of a mini-excursion into the city. My heart was full!

Metra is the rail system serving Chicago and the Northeastern Illinois Region – it’s expansive! I won’t pretend to have a deep understanding of the inner workings of the system, but I’m comfortable finding my way around the train schedule to and from Brookfield. This year I have less reason to visit Brookfield over the December holidays, having moved my mom to a senior community in a suburb a bit further north, but this change opens up new possibilities for exploration.

Chicago Union Station is the downtown terminus of six of Metra’s 11 lines. For me, a trip downtown represents an opportunity to explore the city’s historic sites, modern art, colorful holiday decorations, and delicious food. Public transportation makes that possible. I thought I’d take you along!

Union Station Christmas Tree: Go On, Ask Someone to Snap the Photo

We’re a selfie culture in the year 2025, but the grandeur of Union Station – during the Christmas season and always – is reason enough to hand a stranger your phone, asking them to take a picture for you. With a little guidance, you can direct them to include the towering, train-themed Christmas tree that doesn’t even come close to touching the windows overhead.

Tours of the station are available, if you schedule in advance: “Union Station is one of the great spaces in Chicago you must experience! Learn about the station’s history and design, while discovering the important role railroads played in the city’s development. Find out how this building plays a role in Chicago’s current hot real estate market of the West Loop.” (Union Station: Icon of a Great Age website)

In my picture, there’s a 5’3″ blogger included, for scale!

“Union Station’s head house occupies an entire city block. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style favored by Burnham and clad in Bedford limestone quarried in Indiana. The main attraction in the head house is the Great Hall, with its 219-foot-long barrel-vaulted skylight that soars 115 feet above the ground.” (Chicago Architecture Center website)

You can read more about my train adventures in my blog post: The People of Amtrak. The Metra shares space at Union Station with Amtrak, bringing more visitors to Chicago, with ease.

Once I’ve arrived downtown it’s time to explore.

Cloud Gate: Reflections Under, Over, In Front, and Beside

Stand under The Bean, and your reflection is squished and shrunken, in the style of ‘The Incredible Shrinking Woman.’ Maybe my reference is outdated. . . you remember Lily Tomlin, right? You’ve watched old school Saturday Night Live. At least I didn’t ask you to conjure up the original 1957 ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’. He falls into a trash bin; Lily Tomlin slips into the kitchen sink and down into the garbage disposal, a distracted and absent-minded teenage daughter scraping food off her plate.

Okay, you’ll get the idea of what your reflection will look like, standing under Chicago’s famous metal sculpture if you think of ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids.’ Okay, okay – I’m showing my age with these 1980s movie references. Think of the ‘Ant Man’ Marvel franchise. What’s my point? The sculpture is formidable and you’re nothing but a speck reflecting back.

There’s a lot of excitement (and sometimes confusion) surrounding this massive sculpture. It draws a crowd, especially around the December holidays when ice skating and hot chocolate are on tap. Formally known as ‘Cloud Gate,’ I recommend you don’t refer to it as such if you’re making your way around the city and need to ask for directions. The sculpture is more commonly known just as The Bean, for its unique shape.

Cloud Gate is an installation piece by artist Anish Kapoor: “The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above.” (Cloud Gate website)

Stand in front of The Bean and you’ll see the city skyline reflected in a distorted, cartoonish way. I could say the same about your reflection.

Walk around to the other side of the sculpture and you’d expect to see Lake Michigan, reflected in the distance. Well, I did. But the lake is far in the distance, with the infrastructure of Millennium Park, an amphitheater with hilly lawn seating, and Lake Shore Drive getting in the way.

Kids are fascinated, seeing their reflection contorted by the bends and curves in the metal. It’s like a traveling carnival’s fun house! Couples take pictures of their reflection, smooching or sliding into a dramatic dip. It has become an iconic tourist stop in Chicago. Families gather, friends chatter, and you might see one or two puppies sneaking in they they are technically not supposed to be there.

“A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives… Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high.” (Cloud Gate website)

I visited the same site back in 2021, still under the influence of COVID-19. You can read about it here: Something to Celebrate, in Chicago: Christmastime, Cloud Gate, and a Comical End to 2021

Chicago-style: the Charm of Marshall Field’s, Palmer House, and Cappuccino & Cannoli

On this trip, the 4 or 5 hours I spent downtown reminded me of a tasting menu, where there’s always so much to see and do. I like thinking of it as my own taste of Chicago, like a sampler platter of deep-fried, cheesy goodness at Giordano’s or a personalized coffee tasting. If there’s a foamy cappuccino available, even better!

We wandered, looking at Christmas decorations under an overcast but still cheerful sky. We hoped to stop for a beat over some coffee and a sweet treat. If it was at a spot with this disclaimer, I’m in: “PASTRIES Selection of house-made pastries varies daily”. We eventually found just the right cafe and fed our cravings with a cappuccino, cannoli, biscotti, and a pistachio macaroon at Petterino’s Pasticceria.

Take heed – there’s no shortage of coffee downtown, for commuters and tourists alike. I’m a morning coffee gal, but I was able to pass on coffee from Dunkin’, Starbucks, Peet’s, and Cosi, seeking something we couldn’t get at home. I’d started the day with a drip coffee at our hotel, continuing to sip my 2nd cup on the Metra, so I could be selective.

Because there was only outdoor seating at Petterino’s we almost passed by. The alternative that was immediately before us was to order my usual black coffee from the bar at the white tablecloth Italian restaurant next door. But I really wanted a cappuccino. It was unseasonably warm, at 45 degrees or so, and the small patio just outside Petterino’s had overhead heaters.

The patio also had an Italian gentleman, now a Chicago local with a blended accent, ready to strike up a conversation. “They are really good!” he told us, gesturing to the decorative front window of Petterino’s. We took his recommendation and ordered at the counter.

“Do you travel a lot?” he asked. I’m not sure if he asked that question because he travels a lot (and wanted to tell us all about it) or because we carried ourselves like a couple that travels a lot (and he wanted to hear all about it). Either way, the inquiry kicked of a lively conversation. We shared tales of trips to Scotland, Africa, and Cuba. He shared photos of adventures in Palermo, in Sicily.

We’d made a good choice – we may not have had such an experience at Dunkin’.

Eventually it was time to move along, to wander the city. The European Christmas market was already closed down, having welcomed its final visitors to sample glogg or purchase last-minute ornaments and decorative trinkets, on Christmas Eve. It was back to work for the vendors, disassembling the pop-up market and packing it away for the season.

There was still plenty of holiday cheer downtown, with brightly decorated Christmas trees in the lobby of just about every office building we passed. We knew that the tradition of elaborate, animated storefront windows, decorated in storybook fashion, was alive and well at Marshall Fields (now Macy’s) so that was our next stop. We were not disappointed.

“Meet me under the clock” in Chicago refers to the iconic bronze clock at Marshall Field’s, on the corner of State Street and Washington. It’s a historic meeting spot, from the age before cell phones, dropping pins on a map, and sending your loved ones your ETA electronically. For over a century folks have gathered here, making it a symbol of connection, tradition, and the lively spirit of downtown Chicago, especially during the holidays.

“The Marshall Field and Company Building is the “grand dame” of Chicago department store buildings, finely designed and detailed in the Classical Revival style. It is significant historically as the longtime headquarters of Marshall Field and Company, one of the nation’s most historically important retail enterprises, and as one of the finest historic department store buildings in the nation… The building is noteworthy for its lavish interiors, including two atria decorated with stained glass and Tiffany mosaics, plus the much-loved Walnut Room.” (City of Chicago website)

Perhaps my favorite part of visiting Marshall Field’s is the chocolaty Frango mints — cool, refreshing, minty, and chocolaty! The window display triggered the craving, so we headed inside. Sadly, the Frango area of the store, which Macy’s has retained, had been ravaged. All that was left were $28 boxes of dark chocolate or candy cane candies, which was not what I came for. I considered trying something new, but the distinct taste of the original Frango mints was stuck in my head – maybe next time.

The store itself is a sight to see, all decked out for the holidays. Perfume, handbags, and women’s fashion are right inside the door. A downtown department store of this magnitude always reminds me of Bugs Bunny’s department store elevator scene — “6th floor – rubber tires, nylon hose, bobby pins, girdles, alarm clocks, bourbon, butter, and other picture postcards.” For whatever reason, in my mind it’s “11th floor – women’s lingerie!” Be aware of the dangers of department store elevators. The life-threatening antics of Bugs Bunny could be the engineering reasoning behind installing escalators.

Marshall Shield and Company is a shopping experience, to be sure! It’s no Harrods of London, with a dedicated lounge-style room and 2 – 3 concierge salespeople for each fragrance line, but State Street is a high-end fashion draw. I’m inspired to wear the perfumes that already sit on my bedroom dresser after a visit to the store. There’s a Macy’s vibe now, as there should be, but the architecture lends an air of luxury that’s out of my salary range.

So, it’s an occasion to people (and puppy?) watch. Even the dogs are fashionable.

Our next stop, to take in the holiday decorations, was the stunning lobby of Palmer House, a Hilton hotel. It’s lovely, and we stayed there once, on holiday. (I’ve been to Europe, so I can refer to my weekend getaway as being ‘on holiday,’ right?) On my next visit I’ll have to plan my sweet treat to be indulged in at Palmer House. My affinity for chocolate is on display here.

“An icon of downtown Chicago for over 150 years, the Palmer House sits at the heart of the Theater District. We’re two blocks from the Art Institute of Chicago and Millennium Park. State Street shops are just outside our door. Sip a cocktail in our famed lobby and bite into a brownie at the hotel where it was invented.” (Palmer House website)

“A destination of choice for world leaders, dignitaries, and celebrities for over 150 years, Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel is the longest continuously operating hotel in North America. Gifted by Potter Palmer to his new wife on their wedding day, the story of Palmer House is one of romance and undeniable charm.” (Palmer House website)

Giordano’s Chicago-style Pizza

One final stop before getting back on the train!