Chicago, A Pictorial Report 2

Sunday

Metra trip to the South Side for a bit of a Frank Lloyd Wright love fest. Despite the nasty habit of his buildings falling down, I adore FLW, and Robie House is considered one of his masterpieces.

I cannot explain how much I covet this house. It is two parallel rectangles which meet in the middle at a square- which is also the central fireplace cos FLW believed that was the core of the house. He used roman bricks- which are very narrow- in construction and the dimensions of those bricks are used over and over again in the interior detailing.

Compare and contrast the side of Robie with the new University of Chicago Business School (Robie is in the middle of their sprawling campus):


After Robie I went to the Museum of Science & Industry. Meh. It was full of colour and movement but geared for an audience much younger than I. However were I 12 again, I know I would totally lose my shit over the massive model railway that simulates a Chicago-Seattle route and is too big to fit in a photo (not a great photo, but my point must be made):


Who am I kidding? I totally lost my shit over this railway at 24.

After a long nap, it was time to go up the John Hancock Center, the world's tallest multi-use building and the second highest observation deck on level 94 (after the nearby Sears Tower, which is the multi-level black one in the distance in this photo). Unfortunately the visibility was crap.


Walking back to the hotel I passed the most wonderfully, gloriously tacky wedding cake I have ever seen. Not the greatest photo, but you have to see it in full size to truly appreciate it.


Seriously, is it for cult weddings? Look at all those brides and grooms!

Monday

Not quite sure what to do with myself, I headed to the Museum Campus to check out the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. First, there was a bit of a vista moment.


There's Lake Point Tower sticking out to the right! It sure gets in a lot of photos. Visited the Shedd first. It does look sensational but I was so shocked at the $30 ticket price I only bought an $8 main-level-only ticket. I discovered I am still terrified of octopi, and spider crabs are so unbelievably hideous I almost retched.

The Field Museum is sensational. I loved it completely and without restraint. It has stuff with colour and movement for the kids and rowdy teens, it has sensitive and intelligent displays on human cultures, it has more stuffed dead animals which are both old fashioned and informative than you can poke a stick at, has dead Egyptians and is completely huge. However what I loved most was the HALL OF PLANTS, a section so touchingly dorky and daggy and completely deserted. There is no way to make it interactive or kid-friendly or anything other than rows and rows of mock plants and trees made in wax or plastic or whatever they use. The photo makes it appear much brighter than it is. It has the same effect on me as the Hall of Gems at the British Natural History Museum- so desperately boring and out of date it has a fascination of its very own.


It was then time to hurry back to Midway, where I caught my flight sitting next to a small girl who farted fairly consistently for the entire 90 minutes.

*Fin*