Chicago Chicago

So good I named it twice!

For Alex's birthday we packed our bags and headed off to the Windy City for a long weekend; part relaxation part reccie. We'd never been before and the reason for our interest in the city was the PBS documentary design:e2. It featured a section on the Millennium Park and it looked like our type of recreation space (all twisty metal, no dark corners, no too much greenery and a fancy bike storage centre). Chicago has a comfy urban feel, plenty of tall buildings, people were friendly and most importantly they walk at a fare pace up the Magnificent Mile  (dawdlers will be the death of me).

Other than being the home of awe-inspiring architecture  (and the prairie style) Chicago has some first rate museums.  We visited the Art Institute of Chicago (whose new wing is going to be low-energy) which has a terrific Greek and Roman section and of course Grant Wood's American Gothic (as featured in the Rocky Horror show), the International Museum of Surgical Science and way down south to the Oriental Institue Museum. Can you guess which one of the three was Alex's choice? The expedition down to the OIM was an eye opener. The south side is depalidated with no buildings over 3 stories and reminded me of Middlesborough. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between that and the campus grounds of the University of Chicago. But, it was worth the trip for some impressive pieces of Mesopotamian and Persian art.

The bestest highlights for me (other than actually getting to spend some time with him indoors) was the Milleniumum Park and dinner Charlie Trotters in Armitage. The park is a zen place in the midst of the city with bunnies running wild.  I had Alex running back and forth taking pics of the cute little buggers - you can't beat a bit of bunny action!