After our U2 concert last Tuesday, we hopped on a plane the next day to Chicago, to visit with my dad and step mom. I love this city, and if it were not for the weather I would move there in a heart beat. Clean, welled planned out, and architectural eye candy at every turn. I would love to some day take a tour of all the notable buildings in this city. We only had a few short days visiting, so I'll show you the highlights. We took the train from my dad's house, and the first stop was a peek inside this beautiful old building, that according to my dad, was going to be torn down!(*edit: Was, as in past tense. Some like minded people came together and saved it. It is now a cultural center) I can't even imagine that.
Click on the images to see all the details of this beautiful interior.
They just don't make things like this anymore, so the thought of it being in peril to be torn down is just crazy to me.
Especially since this stained glass dome is none other than a Tiffany masterpiece!
There were many beautiful mosaics set in marble to stare at.
I mean come on! Why would this ever be torn down?!!!
We then walked over to Millennium park, where of course everything is landscaped beautifully, and there are plenty of beautiful things to see.
Including this! " The Cloud Gate," by Anish Kapoor.
Caitlin and Cyrous going to check out the inside.
I can never get enough of this silver beauty.
These tall glass brick walls with water shooting off of them, had different faces lighting them up,
and they would occasionally do funny things like this!
We then walked over to the Chicago Art Institute to check out some of the wonderful things in there. Last time I was there, this Marc Chagall window was housed in a whole different area. They cleaned it all up, and moved it to a more prominent spot. I think it is so much better now for viewing its beauty.
This museum has some beautiful things, like the above, and I would love to go again and do some more exploring.
Love this Tiffany lamp.
Stunning isn't it?!
A Dirk van Erp lamp. These are more common out here in California, as the artist spent most of his time out on the west coast. He was an artist of the Arts and Crafts movement, and left his mark in and around Oakland and San Francisco.
American Gothic
Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper. One of my favorites of his.
The Child's bath, by Mary Cassatt
The Thorne miniature rooms. These were AMAZING!! There were 68 of these little rooms
and all I can say is that I want to be miniaturized so that I can live in them. If you want to read
about this installation, go here. I was so blown away , I bought the book about them in the gift shop, so that I could better appreciate the work that was done to execute these little masterpieces.
Click on the images to see all the details of this beautiful interior.
They just don't make things like this anymore, so the thought of it being in peril to be torn down is just crazy to me.
Especially since this stained glass dome is none other than a Tiffany masterpiece!
There were many beautiful mosaics set in marble to stare at.
I mean come on! Why would this ever be torn down?!!!
We then walked over to Millennium park, where of course everything is landscaped beautifully, and there are plenty of beautiful things to see.
Including this! " The Cloud Gate," by Anish Kapoor.
Caitlin and Cyrous going to check out the inside.
I can never get enough of this silver beauty.
These tall glass brick walls with water shooting off of them, had different faces lighting them up,
and they would occasionally do funny things like this!
We then walked over to the Chicago Art Institute to check out some of the wonderful things in there. Last time I was there, this Marc Chagall window was housed in a whole different area. They cleaned it all up, and moved it to a more prominent spot. I think it is so much better now for viewing its beauty.
This museum has some beautiful things, like the above, and I would love to go again and do some more exploring.
Love this Tiffany lamp.
Stunning isn't it?!
A Dirk van Erp lamp. These are more common out here in California, as the artist spent most of his time out on the west coast. He was an artist of the Arts and Crafts movement, and left his mark in and around Oakland and San Francisco.
American Gothic
Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper. One of my favorites of his.
The Child's bath, by Mary Cassatt
The Thorne miniature rooms. These were AMAZING!! There were 68 of these little rooms
and all I can say is that I want to be miniaturized so that I can live in them. If you want to read
about this installation, go here. I was so blown away , I bought the book about them in the gift shop, so that I could better appreciate the work that was done to execute these little masterpieces. After we finished up at the museum, we headed over for our reservations here. We had a very nice dinner there, and actually saw Rick Bayless sitting near the kitchen area eating his dinner. It was fun to compare this restaurant to our very favorite Mexican place in Oakland, called Doña Tomas. I liked Frontera for its eclectic menu and a sampling of different areas of Mexican cuisine. We had just eaten at Doña Tomas on the night we went to see U2, so it was fresh in our minds. I came to realize that I think I still like DT better, because of the unique side dishes and the menu being from the Oaxaca region of Mexico.
Tomorrow I'll do part 2 of our trip. Hope you had fun doing a virtual trip to Chicago :)
We had three inches of rain from Wednesday night to Thursday morning!! I cannot get enough of the Thorne Rooms! There have been times that I've spent an entire afternoon looking at them! I don't like the Chagall windows at all and usually just hurry past them--at least where they used to be. Did you get to the new modern art addition? I actually think I like Dona Tomas better than Frontera Grill. Rick has a fairly new restaurant called Xoxo (sp?) where you just go and get in line. When there's a table, you can order your food at the counter. It's delicious but annoying! Can't wait to hear what else you did.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Bonnie
Love, love, love Chitown!
ReplyDeleteThere is always something to do and see? Those miniature rooms too.
The patience it takes--oh boy.
Looking forward to part 2.
Melinda
Thanks for the tour. Such a shame that that beautiful building is being demolished. (They've done the same here, all in the name of progress, more's the pity).
ReplyDeleteI still feel sick to my stomach knowing that the building with all that gorgeous-never-to-be-done-again work is going to be torn down. Surely this just can't be. If it is, then this means that I would have to face the fact that the world we live in would be too wrong. Tell me it isn't so. Tell me that somebody is up in arms about in Chicago. I will have to comment on the rest of your post at a later time, as this topic has claimed my brain real estate for the day. Carolina
ReplyDeleteHi guys, I'm sad that a couple of you thought that the lovely old building is going to be torn down. I didn't clarify myself too well. It was going to be torn down, but was saved, and is a cultural center.
ReplyDelete