Still in Illinois

Saturday 1st october 2016

A splendid morning spent in the Art Institute of Chicago with an audio tour device included these stunning paintings 1884 “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” by George Seurat – when pointillism was the in thing (bottom left).  Claude Monet built his Japanese design water lily pond specifically to paint – there’s artistic foresight for you! (top right). The Gustave Caillebotte 1877  Paris Street; rainy day was notable not only because it covered the whole wall making the characters in the foreground life size but that retractable umbrellas had been invented just the year before.

Walking to the Planetarium  this ‘petal’ building called Marina City was a landmark. Designed by Bertrand GoldBerg in 1959 the bottom 15 stories are open to outside car parking; it is said this was because it was believed that in a  future world there would be flying cars so in the event of this happening remove a couple of cables and the building was ready to roll!

Saturday night was spent at Andy’s jazz bar around the corner – very nice creme brulee and 2 live bands. (below top right)

 

 

Sunday – it must be architectural cruise day – where the Crain Communication building (bottom right) was a topic for discussion – designed with a very fetching diamond shaped slanting roof which, in winter, unfortunately had the life threatening habit of depositing avalanches of snow buildup onto the street below.  It is now heated!  (bottom right)

While my younger friends went on the 60 metre tall ferris wheel I did my Mary Poppins impression on a good old fashioned carousel to the back drop of that famous skyline. (left).

Chicago has the worst shooting statistics in the country exacerbated by the infamous police shooting of 17 year old Laquan McDonald last year. However, this weekend, Chicago showed us her very impressive, best dressed tourist face and a fine time was had by all.

A picturesque sunset behind wind turbines welcomed us back to Bloomington, Indiana.

Fist pump moment of the weekend

The hotel breakfast had a waffle making machine – the only time I will allow myself to have cream out of a spray can!