New Year's in Chicago

What a fun time we had in Chicago. The city is overwhelming with all the tall buildings concentrated downtown and walking around feels like tunneling in some weird futuristic land of concrete and steel. Our hosts Dan and Rebecca showed us the sights. On Friday, we went to Millenium Park and saw Gehry's amphitheater and other lovely outdoor sculptures. At the field museum we saw the maps exhibit and evolving planet- lots of fossils and bones to reaffirm the theory of evolution and valuable information about the various ice ages.
On Saturday, we went for an informal architectural tour of downtown and then up the Hancock building for a misty look at the city. Unfortunately the weather was greyish limiting our visibility, but we could discern that the city sprawls for miles and miles. That evening, Dan's friend Jen came over for dinner and we enjoyed meeting her.
On Sunday, we had planned to get together with our friend J who lives in Palatine, but he came down with something and we didn't get to see him :(
Instead we took the train down to University of Chicago where we had a good look at Dan's lab after an hour-long tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie house. On our way back, we stopped at Eleven- a delicious deli on Wabash Ave. where we enjoyed latkes and shared a great pastrami sandwich. On our way home it started to snow- again!



On New Year's eve we visited the Art Institute and wow! what treasures! It's amazing to see so many masterpieces housed in one place. That evening we went with Dan and Rebecca to the dinner club. A local group of chefs that offer fancy, delicious dinner in private residences. We stayed after dinner and welcomed the new year and celebrated with homemade mead. (Dan, I need that recipe!)
On Tuesday, with a mild hangover we headed home! Thanks so much to our hosts for having us!