The Windy City - Week 1

 Millennium Park

 The outside of the Chicago Tribune building has pieces from various historic buildings, monuments, walls, etc, from all around the world embedded in it.

 I love this city!  Awesome architecture, clean streets, yummy food, nice people, and tons to see and do.

 Can't have a post without a panorama shot or two.

 Soldier Field - Home of the Chicago Bears

 I took a taxi, a train, and another taxi to get out to the Chicago temple.

 I met a sealer by the name of George Watson.  He had a familiar accent.  I asked him where he's from.

Brother Watson: I'm from Ireland.

Me: Oh, my Dad and I recently returned from the British Isles.  We found a really old house in Tullamore where one of my ancestors grew up.

Brother Watson: My wife was born in Tullamore.

It really is a small world!

I also saw a painting of Jesus as a young boy teaching in the temple.  The boy Jesus has red hair in the painting.  Now that's an inspired artist.

So nice to visit the temple.

 Went to Manny's Deli.  Meatiest sandwich (pastrami & corned beef) I've ever had.  The other two pieces of bread are buried underneath that pile of flesh.  I ate every last bite!

 Free Wednesday-night concerts at Millennium Park

 The Bean

I saw an advertisement for the Isle of Man store in a tourist magazine.  It says they sell all kinds of random things for men (i.e. - ostrich jerky and Isle of Man t-shirts made in Chicago).  Having recently returned from the Isle of Man I decided to check it out.  I walked six miles only to find out they don't have the cool stuff from the advertisement, so I walked another six miles back to the hotel.  I love walking around this place.

They do fireworks every Wednesday night at the Navy Pier.

View from Lincoln Park Zoo

 Cute little things........until they yawn.

My favorite animal.

This is in the Art Institute of Chicago.  How something like this makes it into a prestigious art museum is beyond me.  "Contemporary" art.  Nonsense.

The lobby of the hotel I'm staying in.  That's real art.

Here are a few examples of the food I've been devouring this past week:

Chilled cauliflower soup	The Gage
Chicago-style hot dog with chocolate cake shake	Portillo’s
Chicago-style deep-dish pizza	Pizano’s & Gino’s East
23-ingredient salad, wild Alaskan halibut, and potatoes roasted in duck fat	Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse
Spinach salad, crab cake, au gratin potatoes, chipotle macaroni & cheese, 7-layer chocolate cake, key lime pie, mango sorbet, and crème brulee	Tavern on Rush