It's my kind of town Chicago!

So I was in Chi-town last week and besides the bitter cold most of the time, I really liked it! It’s a great city filled with awesome architecture and diversity.

Here are some highlights from my trip.

Chicago Institute of Art
This was totally awesome! I some pieces by Degas, Renoir, Picasso, Sargent, Hopper, and Winslow.
Of course, the classic Impressionist pieces were wonderful to see but I saw some stuff I’d never seen before by Homer Winslow and Edward Hopper. The watercolors by Winslow during his Caribbean trips were so beautiful. The composition of sponge divers against blue water, ocean water and boats, and conch shell divers created a really warm feeling. Isn’t it amazing how art can make you feel certain ways even if you aren’t there?

I saw the painting “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper. It’s a classic. Hoppers use of intense color really wakes you up. Although the “Nighthawks” piece is a night scene the light from the café is very vivid. Throughout his pieces, light was an important aspect. One of my favorite pieces of his was of a woman in a white sundress. You could just tell it was a sultry day and he made parts of the dress appear sheer. It was so cool how he was able to paint light coming through a sheer fabric. Another favorite of his was a painting of blocks of sun coming in through an open window into an empty room. It felt so warm.

It was so cool to see these pieces in person.

Field Museum
This is where the largest and most complete T-rex skeleton (Sue) is housed. Here I saw mummies from Egypt, Rhino bones from fields in Nebraska, Pacific Island art, and Mayan sculptures. I also saw the taxidermied (sp?) man eating lions that held up the English roadways in Africa because they were attacking and eating the workers.

Italian joint
I was at an Italian place, I don’t remember the name, and saw an actor from the Sopranos. It was like he was a real Mafioso. People kept stopping at his table and there were a couple guys that were just standing by like they were his bodyguards or something. Policemen were also hanging around with him. After he was done eating instead of getting a cab or having a driver, the police just took him somewhere like they were his own taxi service.

Eleven City Diner
I’ve never seen anyone chop a banana faster than I saw this guy do it at Eleven City Diner. I had breakfast here one day. The owner was going around like he owned the joint . . . he was exuding an “I’m the owner” attitude. Yelling for everyone to hear so everyone knew who was in charge. It was a bit tense just being around him.