Chicago - Always Something New

Before leaving for North Carolina, F. came up with the idea to take a trip to Chicago. 

(F): Chicago is home to many things: the hot dog, Cubs baseball, Oprah (well, no more since her farewell last week), Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and the deep-dish pizza. Created in the city during the 1940s, the pizza is known for resembling a pie with its thick crust and copious amount of toppings. For our first deep-dish, we ventured to Gino’s East.

  

Since 1966 Gino’s East has been serving deep-dish pizzas with a golden crust, fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, and classic ingredients. What sets Gino’s apart from other pizzerias is the unique interior. Inside the walls and wooden benches are graffitied with customer’s names and other markings. The entrance walls are also adorned with celebrity-autographed pictures such as Michael Jackson, Brittany Spears and the cast of the Sopranos who have stopped by to try the famous pizza.

"Shut up and eat" - notice in the upper right corner :P

We ordered a “small” Gino’s East Supreme that arrived with pepperoni, onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Split into four pieces, each slice was at least 2 inches thick, had a dense layer of gooey cheese and toppings with a buttery, crispy crust.

The meal left us feeling full and heavy. Good thing the next five hours would be spent walking in the city and museum. It was a great experience and we look forward to trying the other fabled pizza establishments in Chicago.

(S): Our main destination though was the Art Institute of Chicago. We have been there before, but this time we had an opportunity to come on the day when they had free admission. Apparently, the "museum houses more than 300000 works of art," so it says on their website. In any case, it's a big place and we only had time to see four exhibitions, which was enough. One was a retrospective of Antique American furniture. The collection was divided by artistic movements in which the furniture was produced, starting from the bulky "Pilgrim" pieces, and ending with the intricate "Art Deco" lamps. It was a refreshing way of looking at American history and an experience of outmost delight and wonder (much more than I've ever felt when looking at furniture). And here is why: 1) craftsmanship - these were indeed amazing works of art, 2) story - each piece belonged to someone who lived, felt things, thought, loved, dreamed - it kept my imagination running wild. 

A detail on one of the furniture pieces - incredible craftsmanship.

A lock from Massachusetts made in 1911. The man worked SEVEN years on it!

An anatomy lesson from the past! An interesting find among the collection of Albrecht Dürer's engravings (which look magical in person). These anatomical flap boards were designed in 1613 by a man named Johann Remmelin, a medical student, using Albrecht Dürer's 1504 Adam and Eve engraving. So scandalous (because the prints revealed male and female naked flesh and organs), that Remmelin did not want to own up to this work.

Here we are on the staircase installation by an Indian artist Jitish Kallat. You can read more about the meaning of the piece here: http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/exhibition/kallat.

Our day in Chicago ended with a cold but magical evening in the downtown: