What I did on my vacation, Part 1
cross-posted...
What I did on my vacation, part 1
Ok, so last week I had a a week-long vacation-- last week!! It feels like forever ago already.
Part of my vacation was spent in Chicago. Since I don't have a digital camera yet, I am reliant on photos kindly forwarded to me by my host and a couple found online, but nevertheless I thought I would attempt a quick blog of the trip.
On the first night I arrived late and exhausted at Midway. But we did stop for pizza at Giordano's downtown. Rather than have the classic Chicago deep dish we got the stuffed crust.
The next day, we hit Millenium Park, a multi-billion dollar boondoggle of Mayor Richard Daley's that actually turned out quite nicely, despite the fact that it failed to open in time for the start of the new millenium. Minor details.
I was very impressed by the daring public art and design-- My hometown is pretty, but somewhat staid by comparison.
We then took an architectural boat tour on the river through the city to learn about the many skyscrapers. This had me staring upwards for the rest of the trip, and even now that I am back home I am paying far more attention to skyscrapers and buildings than before... I prefer the older, art deco-type buildings, but I was relieved to find there were some modern designs I quite liked as well. I have trouble remembering the name of the architect who is responsible for the generic glass boxes we see everywhere (Mies van der Rohe), but I curse it roundly nevertheless. We also walked down the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, which was your basic shopping district.
After all that, it was still only around 4 so we hopped the train (there was a lot of train riding and walking on this trip) to Lincoln Square for Thai food at Rosded. There was a German beer fest going on, with men in lederhosen and people quaffing from what appeared to be their own individual pitchers of beer. This event appeared to be going much later than it would in SF-- Chicago seems to be more of a latenight town.
After eating we strolled and stopped at a used bookstore, where I bought a book of short stories.
The next day was one of the real highlights of the trip-- I got to help teach a class! I was a guest speaker for a couple of English classes, telling them how to write a lede and explaining the differences between news writing and regular writing. Those poor kids...
And here's a picture of the teacher... I'm sure he'll be just delighted that I posted it.
Then we did some shopping in the Clark and Belmont area, once known as a real punk mecca apparently, where I got a fabulous blue wrap-style dress and a copy of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My host got a hat, the merits of which we debated for the rest of the trip. I will be kind and refrain from posting that photo, although I personally was pro-hat. We discussed the fact that men tend to view other men who go to the trouble of wearing things like hats or dressing up nicely in general with suspicion, while women tend to like them.
On the last day, we rode out to the University of Chicago and admired the gargoyles and funky buildings. It rained rather heavily, so we spent a good deal of time huddled under archways and sitting in doorways admiring the scene waiting for things to dry up a bit. The entire trip, it should be noted, was gray and drizzly, although I gather the weather cleared up beautifully right after I left.
We then went to Chinatown and had a fabulous meal at Joy Yee that included some excellent mushrooms and tofu (I know, it doesn't sound exciting, but it was, I swear) and these giant slushy things with tapioca balls in them. I had coffee flavor, my host had a mango freeze, and I systematically sucked up every last tapioca ball.
In general, there was also some hanging out and napping and tv viewing and newspaper reading and analyzing and meeting the roommates and eating in cafes-- a good trip, all in all. Since getting back I have discovered that everyone who goes to Chicago normally hits the museums, which are supposedly quite good, so I guess I'll have to do that next time around.
What I did on my vacation, part 1
Ok, so last week I had a a week-long vacation-- last week!! It feels like forever ago already.
Part of my vacation was spent in Chicago. Since I don't have a digital camera yet, I am reliant on photos kindly forwarded to me by my host and a couple found online, but nevertheless I thought I would attempt a quick blog of the trip.
On the first night I arrived late and exhausted at Midway. But we did stop for pizza at Giordano's downtown. Rather than have the classic Chicago deep dish we got the stuffed crust.
The next day, we hit Millenium Park, a multi-billion dollar boondoggle of Mayor Richard Daley's that actually turned out quite nicely, despite the fact that it failed to open in time for the start of the new millenium. Minor details.
I was very impressed by the daring public art and design-- My hometown is pretty, but somewhat staid by comparison.
We then took an architectural boat tour on the river through the city to learn about the many skyscrapers. This had me staring upwards for the rest of the trip, and even now that I am back home I am paying far more attention to skyscrapers and buildings than before... I prefer the older, art deco-type buildings, but I was relieved to find there were some modern designs I quite liked as well. I have trouble remembering the name of the architect who is responsible for the generic glass boxes we see everywhere (Mies van der Rohe), but I curse it roundly nevertheless. We also walked down the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, which was your basic shopping district.
After all that, it was still only around 4 so we hopped the train (there was a lot of train riding and walking on this trip) to Lincoln Square for Thai food at Rosded. There was a German beer fest going on, with men in lederhosen and people quaffing from what appeared to be their own individual pitchers of beer. This event appeared to be going much later than it would in SF-- Chicago seems to be more of a latenight town.
After eating we strolled and stopped at a used bookstore, where I bought a book of short stories.
The next day was one of the real highlights of the trip-- I got to help teach a class! I was a guest speaker for a couple of English classes, telling them how to write a lede and explaining the differences between news writing and regular writing. Those poor kids...
And here's a picture of the teacher... I'm sure he'll be just delighted that I posted it.
Then we did some shopping in the Clark and Belmont area, once known as a real punk mecca apparently, where I got a fabulous blue wrap-style dress and a copy of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My host got a hat, the merits of which we debated for the rest of the trip. I will be kind and refrain from posting that photo, although I personally was pro-hat. We discussed the fact that men tend to view other men who go to the trouble of wearing things like hats or dressing up nicely in general with suspicion, while women tend to like them.
On the last day, we rode out to the University of Chicago and admired the gargoyles and funky buildings. It rained rather heavily, so we spent a good deal of time huddled under archways and sitting in doorways admiring the scene waiting for things to dry up a bit. The entire trip, it should be noted, was gray and drizzly, although I gather the weather cleared up beautifully right after I left.
We then went to Chinatown and had a fabulous meal at Joy Yee that included some excellent mushrooms and tofu (I know, it doesn't sound exciting, but it was, I swear) and these giant slushy things with tapioca balls in them. I had coffee flavor, my host had a mango freeze, and I systematically sucked up every last tapioca ball.
In general, there was also some hanging out and napping and tv viewing and newspaper reading and analyzing and meeting the roommates and eating in cafes-- a good trip, all in all. Since getting back I have discovered that everyone who goes to Chicago normally hits the museums, which are supposedly quite good, so I guess I'll have to do that next time around.