The Bean

We had a second day in Chicago, and spent most of it wandering around.  One of our stops was the Bean sculture at Millenium Park -- the sculpture has a real name, but everyone calls it "The Bean," for obvious reasons.  That's my son in front, mimicing the Bean:

We spent a lot of time at the Art Institute -- I had no idea that its collection is so extensive.  Duh, it's Chicago.  Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Degas, on and on and on.  A favorite is a display downstairs of little dioramas depicting home interiors in exquisite detail -- makes you want to go right out and start a dollhouse hobby.  Most of the interiors are American and European, but there are a few Asian examples.  Since I'm teaching early America right now, it was fun to note the contrast between the rough Jamestown settlement that my students are studying and the luxury and ostentation of English libraries and drawing rooms of the same time period.

We also did a tiny bit of shopping -- one purchase -- and went to see the big tree at Marshall Field's and went to one of my son's favorite hot dog extravaganza restaurants for dinner.  And we went to The Incredibles -- not something I would have ever chosen on my own, but a lot of fun.

Underneath the Bean