I got to spend a week in Chicago attending training classes during the day and taking photos in the evenings. Below are some photos from my time there in August. Here's the Frank Gehry Pritzker Pavilion - very angle-like IMG_2214 IMG_2215 IMG_2219 Water pouring off the top of the Crown Fountain (much more fun in summer than winter...) IMG_2222 IMG_2223 Having fun in the fountain when the "face" projected from thousands of LEDs inside glass blocks spits out water from a spout near the top of each tower IMG_2224_bw Buckingham Fountain, what a nice place IMG_2246 IMG_2248 Stretch limo against the lake IMG_2257 Not so stretch bike taxi type thingy near the lake IMG_2261 I don't know what these people are doing, but they were very regimented in their following of each other and mastering the use of the Segway Human Transporter IMG_2264 IMG_2265 IMG_2277 IMG_2285 Just a year or less ago there was a visitors center and ticket store but now it's a kids play center...lets hope something can work in this building! IMG_2291 On my way back to the hotel, I ran into a protest demanding a state budget by workers mostly in the 3rd party protective services and other agencies that needed one to avoid layoffs for their staff - they wanted a budget! I do think they got one long before Wisconsin did... IMG_2302 IMG_2307 IMG_2309 IMG_2311 The Trump Tower Chicago - I didn't see Bill Rancic but I'm sure The Apprentice was somewhere nearby IMG_2315 Marina City was built in 1964 at a cost of $36 Million financed to a large extent by the union of building janitors and elevator operators, who sought to reverse the pattern of "white flight" from the city's downtown area. Marina City was the first urban post-war high-rise residential complex in the United States and is widely credited with beginning the residential renaissance of American inner cities. The building converted from apartments to condos in 1977. IMG_2317 IMG_2318 Lots of tours along the river... IMG_2320 IMG_2324 The Sears Tower IMG_2329 IMG_2336 The Civic Opera House, built by Samuel Insull. It has been rumored that Insull designed the building in the shape of a throne upon which his daughter could figuratively sit as star of the opera. Having been rejected by the New York Metropolitan Opera, she could sit with her back facing eastward toward New York City. This opera house was the inspiration for the one featured in Orson Welles's film, Citizen Kane. In order for his aspiring opera singer wife to perform, Charles Foster Kane builds an opera house for her, but the quality of her singing reveals her ineptitude. In reality, Samual Insull built this opera house for his daughter, who was not hired by New York's Metropolitan Opera. IMG_2338 IMG_2339 IMG_2340 IMG_2341 A nice building along the river IMG_2342 Return to Features