oh my aching feet!

so today jenn and i went on a big adventure which started off at the chicago history museum. it gave a small overview of how chicago became the city it is today. i'm fascinated by the world fairs and wished there was just a bit more information on these. did you know that the ferris wheel was invented in 1893 for the columbian exposition held in chicago? i read a book a number of years ago called the devil and the white city, written by erik larson (i'm in the middle of another of his books, thunderstruck at the moment) about the creation of the 1893 world fair and murder most foul. great book, but as usual i digress. onto and into chicago.







we caught the el a few stops into the city. i took some pics from the train to give you a look.





these first couple of pics are from the outside of the marshall field building. it was sold a few years ago and is now a macy's store.



a couple of the theatres in the area.



this is the reliance building built between 1891-95. it has a great back story, apparently leases for the upper floors of the original building did not expire until 1894, so when work began on the "new" building, the upper floors were supported on things like large car jacks and the lower stories demolished and rebuilt, finishing in 1894. only then were the upper levels demolished and the steel framing for the other 13 stories complete. how awesome is that?


below is the ceiling of the now macy's building. it's all tiffany mosaics. just glorious.




this is the sullivan centre that until 2007 held chicago's oldest department store. i love the metalwork of the first couple of stories.


for those avid ferris bueller's day off fans... or it could also be known as marc chagall's four seasons. ;)


then a late lunch at the chicago institution of the berghoff.




back to the pavement.


jenn and the giant eye. public art maybe?? and there seemed to be a strange man getting undressed on the corner as well. no pictures - interpretative art or just madness? who knows.


we wandered on through the city's public library as well.





i probably should have warned you that this section would be building heavy. i like architecture. wait til the walking tours in a couple of days... anyway, more buildings ahead.



a picasso sculpture outside townhall.




this is the water tower, one of the few buildings that survived the chicago fire of 1871. the john handcock (teehee) skyscraper shadows behind.





the tribune tower was built out of an international design competition in 1922, i'm not sure they totally succeeded. but that's my opinion. the building is indeed inspiring but it's gothic style harks back centuries. the twenties were all about modernity. one of the cool things about this building though is that it has rock fragments from other structures around the world, imbed in it's exterior walls.



here's the wrigley building completed in the early 20s. yes, wrigley as in the chewing gum.






these are the marina city towers, that look like giant corncobs. check out the parking garages on the lower floors.




the merchandise mart looks like fort knox to me and it's the world's largest commercial building.



marv lives right near wrigley field (think baseball) and the apartment blocks have built bleachers on their rooves to draw in punters not wanting to pay the large fee to enter the grounds. it's very strange but clever indeed.





and the day's activity did not end at nightfall, though jenn did bow out. it was onto the marv portion of the day. we had drinks on top of the world at the hancock building. great view and were lucky enough to catch fireworks on navy pier too.





from here we were off to a restaurant also new to marv, texas de brazil - a brazilian steakhouse. oh my goodness.. talk about stretching the stomach muscles. a salad bar to load up on and then the waiters came around slicing meat off large skewers directly onto your plate. the fried bananas were so tasty.

the woman on the trapeze below would be sent up this wall of wine on request for bottles and do somersaults, not sure if it was good for the wine but great to watch.


next it was onto the zebra piano bar for an after dinner drink and some tunes. we came across this giant spider in a neighbourhood on the walk over. superb evening out.


and then i fell into bed.