John and I went downtown today and kept remarking on despite not being in Sydney this year, there’s a lot to enjoy about Chicago for the holidays. Especially with the clear skies and very mild temps that we got today! Here’s our big decorated tree in Millennium Park. Note John and others are unzipped and not wearing hats! It was about 45F / 10C and felt very warm.
There were a lot of people down at the bean as usual.
Our destination was the Warhol exhibit (From A to B and back again) at the Art Institute. It was excellent. The Mao portrait (seen in reproduction in a window below) was on display and it is really massive – I think it said 15 feet high. And it’s part of the art institute collection, did not realize that either.
Traditional wreathed lion shot! What you don’t see / hear is the very loud bucket brigade just to the left – about 4-5 guys very skillfully but loudly playing upturned 5-gallon buckets as drums. There were lots of bucket drummers in town today.
We caught sight of this guy too late to get a better pic, but it was Santa in a little red convertible sports car piled high with presents, driving and waving at everyone. While Santa is obviously used to an open sleigh, I bet he appreciated the mild temperature with the roof down!
The Chicago Athletic Association on Michigan Avenue (home of Cindy’s Rooftop Bar that we’ve mentioned before) has a holiday bar called Happy’s that is very festive. Unfortunately it wasn’t open today, but we got this nice glimpse from the balcony.
And around the corner we caught sight of this mural in an alley. Gotta love finding a new mural!
Santa in the convertible is fab! Always like that lion shot too. All looks very festive!
Beautiful day in Chicago! The photo with the lion is great! Also John by the big tree in Millennium Park!
Beautiful pics, and lovely weather this holiday!