Today I began my adventures by tying up some loose ends in the loop.  I walked a route that took me past a number of the public art installations, then over to the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower.  The line to get up the tower was a little under an hour long, and while the views were rewarding, overall I felt the John Hancock tower was a better value (and far less crowded).

From there I wandered past the library, which I had wanted to get some pictures of since I first saw it on Sunday.  That accomplished, I grabbed a quick lunch, then headed out to Oak Park via the L.

In Oak park I more or less just walked around taking pictures of houses, most notably some of the ones designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was a great day for a walk, and Oak Park was an interesting neighbourhood to explore.

On the way back to downtown, I intended to hit a store whose address was just a few blocks from the Ashland / Lake L station.  It turns out this store only sells online, and the address was that of their warehouse.  It was an interesting neighborhood full of run down older factories, car repair shops, and I presume a higher than average crime rate after the sun sets.

That brief misadventure concluded, I returned to the hotel via the L and am taking a brief break before supper.

I found the arrangement of art by rough date and style to be quite useful in navigating the collection, and saw the things I expected to see (Picasso, Monet, Manet, O’Keefe, …) as well as some unexpected things (a colleciton of WWII-era posters from the Soviet Union, an exhibit about Japanese Kimonos).

And as a sort of lead-in to what I plan to do tomorrow, there was also a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright windows in the museum…

Monday and Tuesday in Chicago were mostly spent doing Architecture-ish things.  Monday after sleeping in I went down to take in one of the river tours offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation.  It was really enjoyable, and a great introduction to the city.  The docent definitely knew her stuff.  There were such a huge variety of buildings on the tour, and along with the history and some of the background it was really quite fascinating.

The downside of the river tour is that you don’t get to go into any of the buildings (some of them have really interesting interiors) but it does give you a good vantage point and you cover a lot of ground in 90 minutes.

After the tour, I went to Millenium Park for a short while.  I didn’t explore the entire park but did check out the Jay Pritzker Pavillion and the Cloud Gate before deciding I had enough sun, and came home.

Today I spent exploring the Magnificent Mile on foot, including a trip to the observation floor in the John Hancock tour.  It was interesting to see, although that part of the city had a different feel for me than downtown did.  I did pop into the Drake and the Intercontinental Hotels, but parts of both were closed off for private functions so I guess I picked the wrong day.

I also glanced at some of the shops in the area, with pretty much all of the big names represented at some point, and some ultra-high-end brands like Hermes have stores on Oak Street.  The only store I really spent any time in was the 5-story Crate and Barrel store on Michigan Avenue.

From there, I walked along the river to the lake, then along the lake, and back over to Millenium Park.  I spent a few minutes there literally cooling my heels in the water beside the one walkway (it’s constructed for this purpose, interestingly enough).  After being there twice in 2 days, and exploring more of the park, it definitely seems to me that Millenium Park is a great example of what an urban park can / should be.  It’s got something for everyone and it’s a fantastic outdoor space.

Just before getting back to the hotel, I popped into a used music/movie/game shop that had a small amount of vinyl, and picked up Treats by Sleigh Bells.  That’s probably enough records for this trip, but it’s been fun hunting.

For the past few weeks, my life has literally revolved around the new place. Packing, tossing, selling, giving away, and other prep work consumed far more time than I ever imagined they would, but I got it all done. Then, after getting the keys, there was moving, unpacking, getting the place measured for blinds, getting my phone and internet moved, and shopping shopping shopping. I’m already best friends with Home Depot, and my credit card feels warm to the touch.

The move went very well with the exception of a minor situation with the refridgerator (which was resolved very quickly), and now I’m mostly settled, though not completely unpacked. In fact, I’m a little surprised that Stampede didn’t cause more troubles with the move, given the increase of traffic and decrease of parking (since I’m only a few blocks away). I suspect that moving mid-week probably helped a lot, since things were much crazier on the weekends.

I’m not totally sure why, but it hasn’t yet sunk in that I actually live here. Right now it feels more like I’m a guest in someone else’s home. Maybe that will change when I get some art on the walls, and finish replacing some of the light fixtures with ones more to my taste. I’m enjoying it so far, and I have had a few interesting experiences in the new place. Some of these may sound odd unless you know me fairly well:

• Finding the perfect shower curtain at Sears
• Finding the perfect bath mat at Chintz + Company, only to discover that it doesn’t match the aforementioned shower curtain
• Having several housewives comment on my choice of colors for my bath towels
• Doing my first load of laundry using a washing machine I don’t have to put coins into
• Making a meal in my kitchen and not having to do the “cutting board shuffle” while prepping
• Spending a day in the apartment without hearing a freight train rumble past
• Sifting through my boxes and thinking, “Wow, do I really have 4 boxes full of board games?”

After all the stuff going on this week, I’m looking forward to going back to work tomorrow and returning to a more normal pace of life.

I’m sure most Canadians have seen at least one of Holgate’s works at some point in their lives, but to see so many of them in a location other than the National Gallery was a definite treat, since the Glenbow is a lot closer to home.

I was most impressed by the portraits in the exhibit. Many of them were oddly compelling, and his use of subtle shadow to give depth to the scene is extraordinary. And of course, many of the portraits have a visual style and use of color similar to other Group of Seven artists, making them easy to identify as Holgate’s work.

Once again, though, I was forced to think that it’s a bit of a shame that more people don’t go to the museum more often. I’ve got a number of friends and acquaintances that would probably have enjoyed the exhibit, but I doubt very many went to see it.

I suppose that’s part of why I’m a member – I can go whenever I like, I enjoy going, and I’m also supporting what I think is an important institution in Calgary.