The City of Milwaukee

Nestled on the banks of the majestic Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is a place of contrasts. Although, it is the business hub of the state of Wisconsin, it is as peaceful and serene as a resort-town. The moment I entered the city by road, I was greeted by interweaving flyovers (more elegant and more number of levels than our humble flyover complex in South Delhi), huge skyscrapers and ornate cathedrals.


But on first impression, Milwaukee seemed to look like Warsaw or St.Petersburg (not that I've visited these places...but one gets a faint impression after watching a lot of discovery channel and travel&living!). Most of the sky scrapers are old (probably dating back to the mid 1900s) and their architectural style is quite reminiscent of post-Industrial Eastern Europe, very much like the kind of buildings described by George Orwell in 1984! And I'm told that the place literally looks like a Russian city in winters, thanks to the amount of snowfall that it receives!


As I moved through roads and streets of the city, I could see a lot of chapels and cathedrals. Again, most of them following the unique gothic style of architecture, with tall spires (pointed at the top) and hazel colored walls with ornate sculptures of lions and gargoyles on them.



Milwaukee was initially inhabited by seven different American Indian tribes, and the name Milwaukee is an American Indian word, which when translated into English means, 'Pleasant Land', an apt name for a wonderful city. But the city, as we know it today, owes its origins to a Frenchman named Solomon Juneau, who has been immortalized throughout the city, by his statues, and with streets, buildings and parks named after him. In the 1800s, Milwaukee played host to a flood of German and Polish immigrants, which has contributed to the 'European' aura of the city.

The architecture of the city kept me enthralled. Because, interspersed with these medieval looking buildings, were the huge glass mega structures of corporate Milwaukee, where many of the country's greatest financial and law firms are headquartered - US Bank, Northwest Mutual and Quarles & Brady.


As I was admiring these sky scrapers, one building really caught my eye. It had a mysterious and spooky air about it. And when I looked at the name of the building, I actually let out a gasp! The building was a masonic lodge! All memories of Dan Brown's Lost Symbol came rushing into my head as I wondered what the 'Grand Master' and his masonic brothers were upto! Maybe there was something buried underneath this building! :D



As I said earlier, Milwaukee seemed to be a contrast of sorts. As I navigated my way through these megastructures and reached the lake front, it seemed as if I had come to an entirely different place altogether. The city is right on the shore of lake Michigan, whose endless expanse of clear blue water, gave the impression that it was a sea or even an ocean! The lake front is a place that is bustling with activity (at least by American standards :P ) in the evening. There is a bicycle and walk trail that stretches along the banks of the lake for more than 35 miles. And one can find a lot of Americans jogging, cycling and skating on this track, with ipods strapped to their arms and earphones firmly in place. A couple of yachts and motorboats could also be seen in the distance, ambling around in the vast expanse of water. A narrow embankment of land, a couple of miles into the lake, houses a magnificent light-house, which serves as a beacon for fishing trawlers and ferries that move along the lake. And as the sun sets and the night arrives (which is at around 8.30 pm local time), fog starts rolling in from the lake. And even though it is peak summer here (and it gets quite hot in the afternoon), the city is covered by a blanket of mist at around midnight!


And right at the bank of the lake is a beautiful looking structure - the Milwaukee Art Musuem. The structure itself, seems to be a work of art to me!


And adjacent to this art museum (the place from where I took this picture), is a war memorial that pays tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in the two Iraq wars. In this country, they respect their servicemen a lot. A war veteran, or a person who has lost his life in the armed forces is considered to be the supreme citizen of the country and perhaps rightly so! These people take immense pride in their armed forces and this can be seen in the way they represent it by erecting museums and monuments to honor them (Though, some might consider it as a waste of resources). At the war memorial, I could find the familiar looking monument of the unknown soldier - a gun placed in between army boots, crowned by a military helmet on top. I was reminded of the Amar Jawan Jyoti at our wonderful India Gate!

But the best part of the war memorial was its figurine exhibit.



There were figures (like the GI Joe toys, I used to play with at childhood...but much more elaborate and exquisite) that showed the various cadets/categories of American soldiers right from their independence in 1776. There were figurines of the 18th century cavalry man, the World War 2 sniper as well as the Vietnam war trooper. The details on those figurines was literally amazing. It was truly a work of art (Perhaps it should have been in the art museum :P). And the center of attraction of this exhibit was a man standing proudly - General George Washington, the man who went on to become the first president of this country.

Milwaukee was indeed a great city and unfortunately I would have to part ways quite soon as I move on, in my american sojourn to the next destination - West Lafayette, Indiana.