In Millennium Park, Chicago’s most recent addition to its staggering selection of spectacular, one-of-a-kind attractions, you will marvel at architect Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion with its billowing headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons that frame the stage. And even the most staid of onlookers cannot resist making faces in the polished steel surface of Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, a 110-ton, elliptical sculpture known fondly by Chicagoans as The Bean. The Crown Fountain, by Jaume Plensa, consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project giant video images of Chicago faces while intermittent cascades of water give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths.

At the Art Institute of Chicago, you will find the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings outside of Paris. The Museum of Contemporary Art features outstanding examples of visual art from 1945 to the present with a strong focus on surrealism, minimalism, and work by Chicago-based artists.

And at Navy Pier, visitors can unearth one of the city’s hidden jewels: The Smith Museum of Stained Glass.

Chicago’s theater scene is arguably the most adventurous in America, ranging from Broadway-style blockbusters to avant-garde storefront performances, not to mention improvisational comedy troupes such as SecondCity. No less renowned are the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera whose international fame reinforces the city’s reputation as one of the world’s great music centers.