Just got in from the Windy City

...and yes, the Windy City is mighty pretty. But today, we seemed to have an eye for the amusing rather than the picturesque.

 

Firstly, we enjoy watching the policemen on their Segways. They look cool.

 

Secondly, I've watched German loo seats swivel around as they are cleaned in between each use, but this is the first time I've used a loo which has a cling film wrapped seat.

 

Press the button and a fresh wrapping is applied. I was tempted to repeat the process by pressing the red button again but thought better of it and thought of the environment instead. Refuse excess packaging! (Seat diagrams and technical info for those interested can be found here)

 

Passing this bus stop, I was intrigued by the advert for Springfield, Il. Fun!

But best of all, was the sign we could see as we ate breakfast this morning.

Actually, that's not quite right. best of all was the view of my breakfast this morning.

And yes, it tasted as good as it looked. I think I'll order "Morning Glory" again tomorrow!

Wonderful day!

What a day!

We'd decided to explore the city today, walk down the Magnificent Mile and end up in the Art Institute, because, as Mark would agree, there's more to life than shopping...

It was another beautiful morning.

I think Chicagoans must have nerves of steel to park their car here - and yes, they're all backed in, too.

First stop, the Millennium Park, and Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate.

Not only is it an amazing piece of art, seamlessly constructed, it's terrific fun too! We spent ages taking pics, ogling ourselves and enjoying watching others do the same. Love it.

Could this be a Frank Gehry structure over the trees there? Didn't know about that!
It's the Jay Pritzker auditorium, and an orchestra were assembling for a rehearsal. We sat and listened to them play through some of Mendelssohn's Elijah and found out there's a concert tomorrow night. A free concert. With Brahms and Beethoven.

Shall we go? Of course we will!

Dragging ourselves away from the rehearsal, we wandered through the Lurie Garden, where there was a scene which might have inspired an impressionist.

Which reminded us, we are heading for the Art Institute...

Hang on, what's happening here?

A fountain on a sunny day is always a magnet for children and this one was no exception. Another incredible piece of art, the faces of 1000 Chicagoans are featured in two walls built of illuminated bricks. The water feature amused us all - and we loved the fact there were no notices telling us to be careful, not go in the water, don't slip...you know what I'm referring to, don't you?

At last, we reached the Art Institute! Where we could take photographs for our own private use...

I have never been in a gallery where photography was permitted until now, and delighted in taking photos of American Gothic, of Matisse and Picasso's work, the work of unknown artists which attracted my eye and above all, the really fascinating building. I very much appreciated that and since I don't want to abuse the privilege, will just include one, of the "Fragments of Chicago" exhibit at the top of the stairs.

And yes, we did pop into the museum shop....

Across the road we found the Chicago Cultural Center, which just happens to have the world's largest glass dome by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Which I photographed badly. So you can imagine how wonderful it is...

Possibly that was enough culture for one day, so we walked back along Michigan Avenue in the late afternoon, passing by the Chicago Tribune building and spotting the funny bits of stone on the wall which we'd forgotten about.

Had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory under the John Hancock Center - and no, we couldn't. Of course we resisted the temptation!

And fell into bed, exhausted!

My Kinda Town

We are in Chicago, where the sun is shining

 

the skyscrapers are looking great

 

the popcorn queue isn't quite as long as it could have been

 

and the pizza tastes as good as we remember

 

Cheers!

A lovely day with friends

We woke to a brighter, more settled day, thank goodness and were surprised to see fresh snow on the mountains opposite. But the 11.50 hydrofoil was bringing more sunshine for us, in the form of dear Swiss friends Tonie, Peter and Kathy.

We settled down for an aperitivo in the bar opposite the boat-station, whilst Peter ran round the town to do a recce for a lunch venue. He was soon back and we followed him to a small restaurant in a quiet corner we'd not found before. All home-cooking, served by "Mama", which was good. Sadly, too cold to sit outside, so after lunch we did a spot of window-shopping and finally settled ourselves back in the bar where we had started, for afternoon tea.

All too soon, it was time to say bye and we waved them off onto the hydrofoil again for their journey home. Hope to see you all again soon!

We gave up

Waking to another dreary day, we nevertheless decided to make the best of it but take a taxi to the next village rather than battle through the wind and rain to the boat.

Two coffees later, the rain hadn't let up, so we made our way to the boat and went over to the Isola Superiore where we had seen some promising restaurants.

The world often looks better through the bottom of a wine glass, and we enjoyed our lunch of grilled fish, but even though we persuaded them to light the patio heater under the awning, we were too cold to linger. We took the next boat back to Stresa, I grabbed a passing taxi and we decided to spend the afternoon back in the hotel, with dry clothes and warm feet. Much more comfortable.

At least the weather today suited some...

(they tell us the sun will shine tomorrow)