Blown away by Chicago
The Windy City gives Robert Dalling so much more than a memorable day off
Sipping on a margarita and slowing down to marvel over the understated beauty of one of Chicago’s oldest areas, I couldn’t help but summon the wise words of one of the Windy City’s most famous fictional characters.
As Ferris Bueller sagely observed: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
I was happily wandering around the streets of Pilsen, a proud Latino area with a heritage that carries a vibrant, unmistakable energy. You can find Hispanic culture on every street corner, with my attention torn between sensational murals and the smell of the Mexican tamales, which lured me into Fiesta Tamaleria El Barrio.
I was desperate to see if the taste matched up to the smell, as informative tour guide Ian showed me into the restaurant. It turns out I was to play a hand in my own fate, challenged to put down my margarita, then get my hands dirty making a tamale of my own – a spicy filling covered in corn dough and steamed in a corn husk.
Soon realising I had no future in the culinary world, I was shown some mercy and allowed to put my own sorry creation to one side, and handed one freshly prepared by the experts. It lasted seconds.
Three miles away from downtown Chicago, the neighbourhood’s cultural tapestry became increasingly Mexican in the late 1960s, having been predominantly Czech and Slovak. The area got its name from the Bohemians and one of the cities in their home country, Plzen.
Pilsen was ranked one of the world’s 12 coolest neighbourhoods by Forbes magazine. It’s an accolade I could not argue with when admiring the stunning work of Aurelio Diaz’s Galeria del Barrio, a 1976 street mural depicting 22 men facing east, wearing headbands and a variety of emotions. Well, it