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Chicago at Christmas

During the holidays, this glittering, festive town becomes the City of Broad Smiles.

At the Christkindlmarket, German vendors sell glass ornaments, carved wooden toys and sweets from timber lodges.

Visiting Chicago one December, I was bowled over by how merry everyone was.

The airport-shuttle driver, the bus driver, a UPS man on the street — they all volunteered big smiles and cheery greetings. Twice, people on the street ran after me to return a dropped glove; one wished me Merry Christmas in a Slavic accent.

Could it be . . . Chicago Nice? It was either that or pixie dust.

Chicago is an exciting place to be any time, but at Christmas, it pulls out the stops. The Magnificent Mile sparkles. Ice skaters do pirouettes in Millennium Park. There are free concerts everywhere.

The first thing I did was head for the Museum of Science and Industry and its "Christmas Around the World’’ exhibit of 50 trees, each decorated by a different Chicago cultural group. The Scots had used gold-wrapped crackers, the Slovenes glazed bread hearts, and the Swedes had covered their tree with straw stars; each tree was a window into the soul of a country.

Dusk was falling as I arrived at the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. I expected it to be only a pale copy of the open-air Christ-child fairs held in German squares for 500 years, but it turned out to be lifted wholesale from the old country. There were 35 timber lodges, many manned by German vendors with German wares, right down to the fresh stollen and sausages made locally from recipes and ingredients brought from Germany, where people know how to celebrate Christmas.

I walked from kiosk to kiosk, looking at glass ornaments from Lauscha and hand-carved nutcrackers and toys from the Erzgebirge, inhaling the aroma of warm sugared almonds sold in cones. I watched the steady stream of people at the Glühwein stand and asked proprietor Marian Zeh if Americans liked the hot spiced wine.

"No, most people don’t like it, it’s too salt and pepper,’’ she said. Highly spiced? "Yes, and too alkoholisch, ’’ she said. I bought one anyway, along with its ceramic mug; it was delicious.

One Berlin-born Chicagoan, Eva Esposito, was buying an armful of multi-layered Baumkuchen, "like pound cake, only better.’’

"This is really beautiful,’’ she said. "It brings back memories, after being here 40 years. And it’s nice to speak German for a change.’’

The next day, I walked through the Gold Coast and up Oak Street, with its boutiques: Hermes. Prada. Jimmy Choo and Wolford, where I splurged on a pair of black-and-gold Austrian hose, perfect for holiday parties.

At the end of Oak, Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile began. I walked past the stone Gothic Fourth Presbyterian, a beautiful church that offers free noontime concerts every Friday, to the castellated Water Tower, circled by horse-drawn carriages and red trolley buses. Outside FAO Schwarz, a life-size toy soldier was swinging three fuzzy plush rats by the tail and joshing with passersby.

"I do this year-round, and it’s the best job in the world,’’ said soldier Nick James. "I get to play with any toy I want to.’’ Inside, people were twirling hula hoops in the aisles and rubbing their cheeks on stuffed animals as cherubic voices sang "Welcome to Our World.’’

The next time I visited Chicago over Christmas, I read on the plane about the Apollo Chorus, which has been performing Handel's "Messiah'' in Chicago since 1879. As soon as we arrived at our hotel, I went on-line and saw it would be performing that afternoon a few blocks away, in the Fabergé-egg Orchestra Hall on Michigan Avenue. What luck!

We bought tickets and settled in, but were puzzled when we saw the tiny orchestra and read in the program that the soprano was . . . a student? But then the huge chorus stood up with a whoosh, as if jet-propelled, and suddenly we were hearing "Messiah'' in gorgeous surround-sound.

Young soprano Amanda Majeski had a huge voice, muscular yet demure, and the impassioned chorus filled every molecule of that hall with soaring music. So much for the grumbling. It was the most emotional rendering we'd ever heard; every "Messiah'' should make you cry, and this one certainly did.

Then we made the rounds of our favorite museums, the Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute. At Water Tower Place, we ate at our favorite restaurant, foodlife, a maze of kiosks that each sell a different kind of food. On State Street, we browsed at Europa Books and chatted with the young clerk, who came from Serbia, went to Vassar College and speaks French and Spanish as well as fluent English.

The Christkindlmarket was much more crowded than I'd remembered, and more expensive. The Stillwater, Minn., branch of Rothenburg's famous Kãthe Wohlfahrt has a permanent shop there, filled with baskets of glittering glass ornaments, but the prices were too steep for me. Instead, I went to a vendor from Rossdorf, Germany, and bought a hand-painted pewter ornament, a bargain at $9. My husband bought $40 worth of German chocolates, cookies and hard candies, long-lost childhood favorites, at the Sweet Castle lodge.

We had just enough time before our plane left on Monday to run to the Leonidas shop in the Loop, where we bought many beribboned boxes of pralines shipped in from Belgium; I've tried hard but failed to find anything in the Midwest that can match them.

At Christmas, Chicago is a sweet place. I can't wait to restock — not just the goodies, but also the memories.

Trip Tips: Chicago at Christmas

Getting there: If your town is served by a low-cost airline, it's easiest to fly into Midway Airport and take the Orange train downtown. Amtrak and the Megabus also are good options.

Spending money: For tips, see Cheap Chicago.

Taking children: For tips, see Chicago with kids.

Accommodations: Rooms always are very expensive the week after Thanksgiving, when 60,000 members of the Radiological Society of North America are in town. The week before Christmas, when all the business people are at home, is an excellent time to visit. To get a quick sense of what hotel prices will be, go to www.hotrooms.com. Hot Rooms may give you a good deal, but check around first.

B&Bs can be the best value. The first time, I stayed at the Gold Coast Guest House in a quiet neighborhood near Rush Street. It has four very attractive rooms, one with twin beds, in an 1873 brick townhouse, $129-$229, 312-337-0361.

The Illinois Bed and Breakfast Association lists five other Chicago B&Bs, including another one in the Gold Coast, the Flemish House, $155-$225.

My favorite hotel, the Club Quarters on Wacker, can be a great deal on holiday weekends and the week before Christmas because it caters to business people. Try to get a room up in the 1928 art-deco Mather Tower; they're small, but you'll have a spectacular view of the Chicago River. The hotel has a great location, a block off Michigan on the river. I've also stayed at the Club Quarters in the Loop, and it can be a good deal, but it has half the charm and location.

If you have a bit more money to spend, stay at the boutique Hotel Burnham at Washington and State in the Loop, a great location during the holidays. The building was designed by Daniel Burnham of "Make no small plans'' fame, and the rooms are beautifully appointed.

For budget lodgings, try the friendly and comfortable Hostelling International family hostel at Wabash and Congress in the South Loop, voted Best Large Hostel Worldwide in 2006 and 2007. On weekends, volunteer locals lead forays around town. Rooms are $28-$34 per person, including coffee and muffins.

Dining: Try Barack and Michelle Obama's favorite restaurants, including Spiaggia, overlooking the lake at Michigan and Oak, and Topolobampo on Clark Street in River North. Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless' more-casual Mexican restaurant, is in the same building as Topolobampo and is a good place to take children for a special meal.

2008 holiday events: Nov. 22, Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. Nov. 27-Dec. 24, Christkindlmarket, Daley Plaza (Washington and Dearborn), daily. Dec. 2, Holiday Tree Lighting at Daley Plaza.

Handel's "Messiah'': The Apollo Chorus will perform it Dec. 6 at Orchestra Hall on Michigan Avenue and Dec. 21 at the Harris Theater at Millennium Park.

Other performances: Nov. 21-Dec. 31, "A Christmas Carol’’ at the Goodman Theatre. Dec. 18-28, Joffrey Ballet’s "Nutcracker’’ at the Auditorium Theatre.

At the Chicago Cultural Center, the free Dance-Along Nutcracker will be Dec. 7 at noon and 3 p.m.

Museum of Science and Industry: The beloved "Christmas Around the World'' exhibit celebrates 75 years in 2008. On weekends, ethnic ensembles perform all day.

Millennium Park: Ice-skating is free; skate rental is $10. At Cloud Gate, there's caroling on Fridays at 6 p.m.

Shopping: Hard-core shoppers should hit town Dec. 4-7 for the annual One of a Kind fine-arts sale at the Merchandise Mart. The big retailers — Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Tiffany, Pottery Barn — are on the Magnificent Mile. For more exclusive designer goods, shop on Oak Street.

Leonidas Chocolates: The Chicago store is central, but it's not that easy to find and is closed on weekends. It's on the lobby level of the Loop's Bank of America building at 231 S. LaSalle St., off Quincy. Call 888-536-6432.

Information: 877-244-2246, www.explorechicago.org. The Cultural Center, on Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park, has the latest information and makes a good first stop.

Last updated on December 11, 2008

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Other stories in "Festivals"

Chicago at Christmas

During the holidays, this glittering, festive town becomes the City of Broad Smiles.

Trip Tips: Chicago at Christmas