FIVE we take

More Chicago on the programm today, another trip downtown. This time its the do-we-really-have-to-yes-you-do thing: Art Institute of Chicago.

Note: Never tell kids where you plan to go when it comes to cultural things!

ME visited the Art Institute once before because of a special

The Search for Alexander

May 16-Sept.7, 1981

and back then I thought the Institute itself is a very well exposed collection of what the american people think of what a general art collection should be like. It increased, they added a complete new building and added more contemporary work from american artists. The Three

Teenagers are grumpy. So I set a time, meeting point 30 minutes later, take off, explore the institute and tell me, what you liked. They can discover the building on their own pace, The Three Teenagers are used to visit museums, so no damage can be done. Sure enough I spot SHE and HE in the middle of the atrium, sitting on stairs, trying to connect with facebook. No3 is the only one getting excited, showing ME what she likes and dragging me from room to room, finally deciding on "Tight-Rope Walker" from Jean Louis Forain as her favoritie painting. One out of Three, not bad!

We leave the formidable place with a paper cut of Chicago Skyline, pencils and Andy Warhol prints of Marylin Monroe. HE has a question: Why is that huge black, just BLACK picture art??? Mission accomplished, ME actually DISCUSSING ART (it was spotted in the Selections from the Donna and Howard Stone collection) with The Three Teenagers. What more can one ask for!

The Art Institute is situated very nicely close to the beautiful Lake Michigan, across the road from Millenium Park. Frank Gehry built a concert roof, and some britain artist (Anish Kapoor) designed the famous BEAN, which seduces everybody to make faces and fun. Huge waterfountain art inspires The Three Teenagers to actually have FUN

on this "torture"-trip. Good Sushi Bar across the road serves fantastic food, everybody's happy including my friend, she never made it to the Art Institute before. One more, who plans more trips to discover this beautiful place!

We drive back to our suburb, taking the Goldcoast-Road Sheridan up north. One impressing villa to the other, a lot of them built by famous architects such as Mies van der Rohe or Frank Lloyd Wright. What it must be like to live here! The University Campus is right at the lake too. Who knows what the future has in hold for us....

Bye bye for now, Chicago, my kind of town!

At night its family time, more friends to see, more food to eat. The day ends with a special event: Hurricane warning. Suddenly the sirenes go off in the suburb and we all grab our beloved things (stuffed animals, alive dogs etc.), ME the passports and travelpapers, and we head to the basement for shelter. Online we follow the storm over northern Illinois, making its way down to where we are. After some 45 minutes the alarm is stopped, the hurricane slowed down, never hit us. That is live in the United States too. Scary.

ME and The Three Teenagers get a good night sleep anyway, that was pretty much for one day!