Les Flâneurs
Siena to Florence to Paris to Maine to Paris to Providence to Grand Rapids
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Monday, January 08, 2024
Remembering John Ten Have and Clear Bottom Lake
Monday, January 01, 2024
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Overnight in Chicago
Making our way to Jackson Boulevard we walked the three blocks or so to our hotel where we joined Greg for lunch. He had arrived a bit early and was there to greet us in the lobby. It had been some time since we had all been together -- although his wife Joyce was home sick -- and we had plenty to catch up on.
After lunch we checked in, and chilled out until our timed ticket to the Skydeck at the Willis Tower, located just across the street from our hotel.
Before making our way to the elevator we had to wend our way through a fascinating series of displays about Chicago history and of course the history of the Tower. Originally called the Sears Tower, it opened in 1973 just a few years before I came to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois. Since I had never taken the time to go up to the top when I was there in the 1970s, I thought it was about time to experience it.
The views were stunning and, while I was tempted to go out onto the plexiglass Ledge, the line was long so we eventually made our way back down and out.
Back at the hotel we relaxed and had a glass of wine in the lounge before getting our Uber to take us to dinner.
entry for general admission |
the El car simulator |
looking south |
looking east |
looking north |
The plan was to meet up with Susie's cousin Brenda and her husband John at the Bistro Campagne, one of their favorite eateries in the city. The driver took us straight east to the lakeshore and then headed north allowing us to see some pretty fantastic holiday lights on some of the apartment buildings along the way.
We arrived just about on time and they were waiting for us with wine already poured -- a delicious Gigondas as I recall. The evening was full of lively conversation, scrumptious food (I had the steak frites) and good fellowship. I think I shocked Brenda, an art historian by trade and passion, when I claimed I failed to see what the fuss was about Mark Rothko. . . a conversation I'm sure we will pick up the next time.
Back to the hotel we tucked ourselves in for the night.
The next morning I showered, dressed and made my way across the street to Starbucks for morning coffee for the two of us.
After checking out we we walked down to the Chicago Art Institute, arriving a bit before opening and so joined the queue waiting to get in. Once inside we made a beeline for the Impressionist wing, then headed for the Caravaggio exhibition followed by the Camille Claudel exhibition.
Art Institute |
Looking from the Art Institute toward the Willis tower |
Queueing up! |
Since we were on a schedule we had little time to dally further in the museum so we were off again into the blustery chill of Chicago, making our way to the El.
Our next stop was the London House Hotel for afternoon tea.
We found the hotel easily enough but once inside we were a bit flummoxed by the layout -- the registration was on the second floor but when we got into the elevator there were no buttons, one of the odd gimmicks about the place. Anyway we found our way to the restaurant, located in fact in the lobby on the second floor although one would never know this. . .
the entryway on the ground floor although registration is oddly on the second floor |
The setting was lovely and the staff professional and attentive. The food we thought less than stellar, however, and somewhat more frou-frou than tasty. But it was a grand afternoon and the experience was worth the trip.
It was a short walk back to the El and to Union Station for our 4:00 pm (16:00) train.
the grand hall at Union Station |
the steps used in the Untouchables |
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Leaving Las Vegas
[Wednesday 20 September]
Wednesday was spent with coffee in the room and just relaxing. There is little here in Las Vegas that holds much interest for either of us. But we're here until our flight leaves Thursday. The good news is our nephew, Jonathan from Maine, is here attending a work conference so we'll meet up with him later this evening for dinner.
In the meantime, Susie went for a walk late morning while I tidied up the blog you're reading right now.
In the early afternoon we both put on our bathing suits and headed for the pool. We no sooner arrived and got settled into a couple of pool chairs than the clouds rolled in, the thunder began and the lifeguards informed us that no one could go into the water, at least for the time being. And then the rain began, at one point turning to hail, and with very gusty winds. I called it quits and returned to the room, Susie stuck it out but eventually she too had to throw in the towel literally and came back to the room.
After getting cleaned up and dressed we headed out in search of an afternoon coffee, and our objective in that regard was the Eataly located in the Park MGM Hotel. We had visited one of these in Munich last year and thought their approach to food was pretty incredible, lots of Italian food products for sale in addition to coffee of course and pastries. The one in Munich was also a grocery store, something this one lacked. But it was fun to stroll around the various stands: Italian Street Food, another one selling cheeses, another wine, and so forth.
To get to the Park we had to traverse New York New York, which I must admit was fun, much of the interior actually laid out to resemble some of the iconic NYC streets (Bleecker, Fulton Fish Market, etc.) We had our coffee and later an aperitif before heading back. And since the rain returned with gusto it was nice to walk inside. (Most of the hotel/casinos are so HUGE that you could actually get from one to another without going outside, except to cross a street to the next casino.)
Leaving the Park MGM we made our way back through NY NY back to the Tropicana. Seeing several of the the other hotel/casinos though made us realize how truly tired our hotel is. There are virtually no shops, certainly fewer restaurants, worn appearance, and the overall impression of the Tropicana is that of an aged queen who has fallen on hard times.
Later that evening we made our way to the Paris complex to meet up with Jonathan for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, a restaurant made out to resemble a typical French bistro. We had looked into using the monorail for transport but found the nearest station difficult to get to and actually quite costly so we opted for an Uber.
We arrived a little early which gave us time to stroll through the streets of Paris (literally and figuratively), which was similar to the idea of NY NY but much lighter and cleaner looking.
It appears to have all the same inscriptions as the actual Arc de Triomphe |
hotel entrance |
Jonathan met us just outside the entrance to the restaurant and before long we were seated outside on the patio overlooking the boulevard and directly across from the Bellagio, whose fountain occasionally treated us to some spectacular water dancing.
It was a lovely evening, traffic and street noise notwithstanding. We all caught up on the latest news: Jonathan talked a bit about why he was there for work and what he was doing and his family news; we brought him up-to-date on his Gram and the general Grand Rapids news.
Eventually we had to say au revoir and while Jonathan headed off to his hotel we walked in the opposite direction back to ours. The sidewalks were packed with people but before long we were back in our room and settled in for the night.
Tomorrow it's back to Michigan!
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Leaving Grand Canyon
[Tuesday 19 September]
Another cool morning, crisp and cloudless. A perfect day for a helicopter ride over the canyon.
After coffee and finishing our packing we strolled along the rim one more time until time to check out.
saying good-bye |
We drove out of the village and headed for Rt 64 south toward Williams. After about 7 miles we pulled into the Grand Canyon Airport and made our way to the Maverick Helicopter building where we checked in, a process that included standing on a scale one at a time. (Significant weight limitations in place.)
A few minutes later we watched as four helicopters landed one after another and the passengers disembarked. They gathered around the pilot, took photos, and appeared to have had a grand time. At 10:00 am the pilots began calling out the names of their passengers and as luck would have it we ended up with John.
After introductions he took six of us out to the helo and we were given a brief introduction to the safety measures, things like how the seatbelts worked (NOT like on airplanes) and, oh don’t open the door while in flight, that sort of thing.
It was then time to climb aboard. We were given assigned seats — presumably based on weight distribution — and once buckled in put on our headsets (so we could all communicate and it reduced the noise SIG-NIF-I-CANT-LY).
the Colorado |
And off we went into a gorgeous blue sky above the Kaibab National forest. At one point we actually flew by Point Imperial on the north rim and over the road we had just traveled three days earlier.
It is beyond my limited vocabulary to describe the incredible thrill of the ride and the grandeur of seeing both rims of the Grand Canyon from the air. Crossing the National Forest -- the world's second largest Ponderosa pine forest we were told -- we then plunged out over the canyon which was the first introduction to the incredible adventure and left most if not all of us breathless.
John was nothing short of superb in his handling of the helo and his insightful and helpful narrative was much appreciated.
Once back at the airport we gathered around John to have our pictures taken couple-by-couple.
This once-in-a-lifetime trip had been a genuine blast and was worth both the time and money.
But soon we were back on the road south to Williams where we picked up I-40 heading west. We left the interstate at Kingman, got gas and turned north on Rt 93 in the direction of Hoover Dam.
Once we reached the dam we stopped at a scenic overlook of Lake Mead but opted not to get out in 94-degree heat to walk the bridge to see the dam.
It was a short hop back into Las Vegas and after some jockeying around a traffic snarl — thanks to Susie’s navigational skills — we made our way to our hotel, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. I dropped Susie off with the bags and then headed off to the car rental return center near the airport. I then called an Uber to take me back to the hotel and we checked in.
the Tropicana |
Tropicana Avenue |
That evening we decided to just chill out and had Chinese food at one of the restaurants in the hotel.
Another good day indeed.