Chicago, part deux

A trip to Chicago would not be complete without a visit to one of its ethnic neighborhoods, so we went to check out Pilsen, a well-known Hispanic neighborhood despite its not-so-Spanish name (interestingly, Pilsen is the Czech town where Pilsner Urquell was born, where I went for a brewery tour). The subway stop had lots of artistic murals, providing an interesting backdrop to an otherwise weathered subway stop.







And then we had lunch at this wonderful hole in the wall Mexian place called Gloria's. Gloria, the owner herself, really welcomed us and made us felt at home. Barrie chatted up the super friendly owner with ease in Spanish (sigh, I'm so jealous. She speaks Italian and Spanish), while I got to embarrass myself with my crap-tastic gringo (or would that be amarillo?) espanol.

Me: uh, um, para mi, uno taco asada por favor? (por? para? damn I can never
remember)
Gloria: un taco asada? y una coca cola?
Me: [nods head vigorously]

Despite my mighty linguistic struggles, the food was awesome. Simple but hearty and refreshing.


After an unsuccessful attempt to Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise since it wasn't really worth it, we made it out to the Navy Pier for a nice night walk.



What does this remind you of?


While officially called "Cloud Nine", it is known as "The Bean" to everyone else. Anish Kapoor's gigantic metallic sculpture in Millennium Park is an endless source of amusement to people, especially kids (and yours truly). Its curved and reflective surface creates all sorts of cool photo opportunities. On a sunny day, as when we were there, you can see an endless stream of people underneath the giant bean looking at their own reflections. It's also just a great public space for people to gather and spend time outdoors with friends and families. A Chicago paper I read proudly proclaimed that Chicagoans are the people who best know how to enjoy summer. During the fleeting month or two of comfortable, warm weather, everyone just comes out en masse to enjoy the weather, not unlik Seattlelites. Though we don't really have much to complain about when comparing weather with our Midwestern neighbors.





There's also Crown Fountain, two opposing 50 ft structures composed of glass cubes, forming mosaics of various citizens. They smile, they frown, and every once in a while, they blow!