Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

stepping out

Still playing catch-up...

It's a funny trick that no matter how sensible my shoes are, I still seem to manage to blister my feet in the same places on day one of every trip that involves lots of walking.

With that thought (along with 'owwww') coming to mind with every step, I was a bit wary of our first planned activity for the morning: a two-hour walking tour of Chicago art deco architecture, sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. I was really looking forward to the tour -- art deco is so much fun: it's futuristic, modern and retro all at the same time -- but at the same time, I was a bit unsure of how my bruised feet would handle it.

In the end, it didn't really matter: We underestimated how long it would take to walk to the El and ride downtown, so we ended up missing the tour by about ten minutes. So we consoled ourselves with steamed dim sum goodness at Shiu Wah in Chinatown.

We followed that up with some shopping, first paying a visit to the Chicago Architecture Foundation's fantastic store (it's fast becoming one of my favorite shopping places in the city, featuring books, stationary and random design doodads) and to the Adidas Originals store on Rush Street, where I bought a new pair of sneakers and athletic socks out of immediate necessity.

Then we took the El way up north to the end of the Purple Line to check out the Baha'i temple. While I know next to nothing about the Baha'i faith (aside from what I read on the placards posted on the wall of the church visitor's center), I admired the intricately carved building and its well-kept gardens.

I have to say, if you want to get people to pay attention to your religion, build a really nice church that they'll want to visit out of sheer curiosity, and maybe they'll want to learn more about your faith. Architecture as a form of marketing?

We stopped in Evanston for dinner on the way back to Chicago. We were so hungry, we stopped at the first restaurant that looked okay: That Little Mexican Cafe. The cutsey name should have been a tip-off; while the servers were eager to please and the decor nice and festive, the food -- and even my margarita -- left a lot to be desired. But it was food and we were hungry, so we ate up and hopped back on the train to Chicago to catch the sunset on the beach.

Which brings me to the big news...