A Weekend in Chicago

Hello folks.

It was Mr Clicky's birthday last week so we decided to have a weekend in Chicago.  As we are an hour or so north west of the city, we took the Metra train and rattled and clanked down. 

Our hotel was near Millennium square one of the many sky scrapers; it is true that when you are in Chicago you look up all the time.   We took the water taxi to save our feet whenever we could but I still managed 10,000 steps before lunchtime. 

Of course, the buildings aren't all glass and steel, if you look you can find the older ones.

We stopped in a cafe in the Pittsfield Building which was built in 1922.  It was shrouded in scaffolding and unassuming from the outside but inside.....

it was breathtaking

Suitably refreshed we walked onto the Art Institute Of Chicago.  We made for the Impressionist Gallery.  I loved this Renoir.

Young Woman Sewing also by Renoir.

Degas.

I always love a Monet and there were quite a few.

Pointillism by Georges Seurat.  A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.  This is large ~ 2m x 3m but there were many people around and I couldn't get a good picture.  It was stunning.

Not everything was large, this illuminated letter O was roughly 10 x 10 cm but so beautiful.

We left the paintings and went to the textiles gallery.

This piece looked printed from a distance.

On closer inspection, I could see it was embroidered.

It was made in strips and then sewn together, wow! what work.

Passing on by I was transfixed by this macrame piece called A Private Affair by Claire Zeisler.

It is made from knotted hemp.

I could have stood and stared at it for ages, but Mr Clicky ushered me onwards.  We decided not to bother with the Warhol collection and came across this.  Now, I didn't take a picture of the information and can't find anything on line, so I don't know who made it but..........the man, whoever he was, took commercially made jumpers or sweaters which proported to be 100% wool and analysed each one.

The results?  Well, a good majority were not 100%.  This Royal Navy 'wooly pully' was only 60% wool.  In fact 60% seemed to be a common theme.  

The samples on the wall varied from light blue to almost black and it certainly made an interesting display, and made me think about the yarn that I use.  How do we know really what is in our yarn?  The next question, of course, but is it art?  It made me question things.  Is that the point of art?  Or is it something to look at?  Discuss!!!!

We headed back to our hotel which was on the Chicago River but with views of Navy Pier and Lake Michigan; had an hour's rest and left for our evening entertainment.

We went to a Drunk Shakespeare performance.  It was a very small venue behind a non-descript door.  We were greeted by the actors as we came in taken to our seats and given a drink.

Our play was to be MacBeth.  The lead male actor then drank five shots of tequila and the show began.  There was lots of audience participation, lots of ad libs and lots of laughs.  It was a testament to the actor's abilities that even under the influence it was still understandable.

After a good night's sleep and a large stack of pancakes for breakfast from nearby Eggy's Diner we checked out and took the water taxi again.  We had a day pass so took full advantage and went from one end to the other and back again.  

Seeing the city from the river is definitely worth it, away from the bustle of the streets.  

At the end of the river taxi route is Chinatown so we popped in to see.  

We didn't stay long but when we turned around we could see the city sky line in the distance, no sky scrapers here.

We boarded the water taxi again and went back into the melee.  Even on a Sunday it is so noisy.

We wandered back to the train station and an hour and a half later were back in our apartment, resting our feet and drinking a nice cup of tea. Aaaaah.

That's me for now, next post, things I have been making. 

Bye for now...........Clicky Needles.

I forgot to add, I did find a yarn shop but resisted all temptation and came out empty handed.