This morning we went downtown to wander in Chicago! The Riverwalk is lovely, so we walked along for a bit and then made our way toward Millennium Park, and Revival Food Hall.
Revival Food Hall is a food court with lots of fun restaurants. Both of us got poke bowls with everything from Aloha Poke Company. So delicious.
Becca couldn’t resist some baked goods from HotChocolate Bakery inside the food hall, so we got some sweets to go and brought them to the gardens outside the Art Institute of Chicago. This is a blondie with dark chocolate and meringue on top.
The Bean in Millennium Park!
Can you find us in its reflections? Actually called the Cloud Gate Sculpture, this piece of art is made of 168 reflective steel plates, making for very cool reflections all over.
Pretty gardens here, and a nice view of downtown.
On a hot day, Becca can’t resist putting her feet in the cold fountain in the park!
Time to actually go visit the museum! We got free entry into the Art Institute of Chicago with Becca’s Whitney museum membership.
Inside the museum we saw some famous artworks. One of the security guards was wandering the Impressionist exhibit and recommended that people take very close-up pictures of the art.
We were rewarded! The brushstrokes (especially in Seurat’s famous pointillism) are nearly invisible to the naked eye, but with a bit of camera zoom, you get a whole new perspective on the intricacies of the work. This is a close up on the orange dress of the lady on the far left.
Another favorite, this one by Van Gogh.
On the lower level of the museum are these miniature rooms. Designed by Mrs. James Ward Thorne, they are masterpieces of miniature craftsmanship. The scale is 1:12. She hired people to not only make the miniatures, but also to develop the tools needed to make them. Pretty!
Time for a return to the Riverwalk, and some riverside cocktails! It was nice to sit and relax with our sangrias at O’Brien’s.
For dinner we went to Bistronomica, a French restaurant in the downtown area. Pictured are a cold tomato soup with caviar made from citrus juice, and the seafood pasta we both ordered. Pasta! Neither of us could remember when we last had pasta and it was absolutely delicious. We had cheesecake for dessert!
After that, it was time to roll our full bellies home to our Airbnb. We have very much enjoyed Chicago (we walked seven and a half miles today), but we must leave tomorrow for Toronto!
Becca, Sam, and a Honda Civic 
Love Chicago
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