Having finished the last blog entry with a salute to good food, I might as well start this entry with a few more restaurant recommendations. In Hyde Park, we give kudos to Park 52, a relative newcomer to the dining scene. The food is imaginative and tasty, and the restaurant is a "cut above" the more prevalent Hyde Park student hangouts (i.e., a bit pricier and more pretentious), but it lives up to its "billing". For original Chicago style deep-dish pizza, particularly sausage, Lou Malnati's downtown restaurant gets a big nod. I was never a fan of deep-dish pizza, but this one is well worth a try. Topolobampo, also downtown, offers gourmet Mexican food at gourmet prices. The food was unlike any Mexican food I have ever tasted. No salsa was necessary to spice up the meal--the flavors were perfect as served. We found excellent international fare of a far different sort and price range at Hema's Kitchen, an Indian restaurant on Devon Avenue. Devon is packed with restaurants ranging from Middle Eastern to Chinese, but mostly Indian and Pakistani. It is a long drive north from Hyde Park (and, according to Sara, more than twice as long by bus), but the experience is worth it. "Greektown" is much closer to Hyde Park and has a number of excellent restaurants, one after the next, along North Halstead Avenue. The one at which we most recently ate was Santorini. It was packed all evening and deservedly so. Retsina, accompanied by delicious saganaki (pan fried cheese) and lamb kabob, were just what we needed on a cold Chicago evening. When Judi and Bernie visited us for Thanksgiving, they discovered West Egg Cafe, a great spot for brunch--good food at reasonable prices. 
And, dessert lovers can find Nirvana at More, a downtown cupcake store introduced to us by one of our Hyde Park neighbors who brought over a selection to finish off one of our Sunday brunch parties. One might think that a cupcake store would be unique, but Brett and her boyfriend, Jared, discovered another one, called Sweet Bliss (see photo), hidden under some "L" tracks in the Chicago Loop. Sweet Bliss cupcakes were tasty, but did not hold a candle to the more ornate, more varied, and simply outstanding selection at More (sorry, no photo--the cupcakes were eaten too quickly!).
I cannot say that Chicago has a monopoly on cold, windy, and snowy weather, but we had our first confrontation with the combination in the past few days (see photo taken from our front door). It is one thing to have the cold wind blowing in one's face; adding snow to the mix takes the experience to a new level. On one of those cold, windy, and snowy days, I missed my train stop for the second time during our sabbatical year (see blog entry "From Gottingen and Goslar to Dresden and the DDR"). I caught the express Metra train from downtown Chicago back to Hyde Park and carefully listened to the conductor (or more likely what turned out to be recording) calling out the stations. I heard the announcement for 53rd Street, the station before mine, and got up from my seat when I heard, "Next stop, 55th-56th-57th Streets, University of Chicago." I headed for the platform door, only to watch as the train sped by the station. As I stood there, I listened to more station announcements, as the train continued southbound, without stopping. I thought to myself, "Am I going to end up in Indiana, or perhaps the infamous South Side?" Either way, I was not looking forward to standing on a mostly deserted station platform where my train would finally stop to disgorge passengers and I would then wait in the evening gray for the next northbound train to arrive. My demeanor was not helped by my worry that I was carrying holiday gifts in a large Museum of Contemporary Art shopping bag, which figuratively announced, "Free gifts, right here." The train finally stopped at 115th Street, not all the way to the Indiana state line, but thankfully enough south that I only had to worry about frostbite and becoming a human snow-woman as the quarter-sized snowflakes blew at me in all directions. My trip home took an extra hour, but I felt some consolation in the fact that I was not alone in my plight. At least one other southbound rider was in the same predicament as me. Okay, I should have been more attentive, but I am certain that, if the Metra indeed stopped at my stop, as it was supposed to and most probably did, the station announcement for 53rd Street came after my stop rather than before. All's well that ends well, though I was a bit colder for the experience.
As for other "travels" from Chicago, Henry and I spent a long weekend in Washington DC, just before Thanksgiving (see photo of Henry and me next to the Potomac). Henry attended the semi-annual Washington meetings of JASON, the consulting group to which he belongs and with whom he consults in San Diego during the summer. JASON is a creation of a group of physicists, many of whom participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II. The scientists (no longer just physicists) consult with various federal agencies on both classified and unclassified topics. (If any of you are interested, check out Ann Finkbeiner's book, "The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite.") Over the weekend, JASON celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala on Saturday evening. Whatever tensions have existed or exist between JASON and its client agencies over the years were put aside as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and others regaled JASON's assistance on difficult scientific issues, from global warming to ways to detect the presence of nuclear weapons.
I came along, not only to join in the festivities, but also to visit with old friends and to be a tourist in my own country's capital. We joined the Haffner clan (long-time friends from our annual ski trips to Taos Ski Valley) in Rockville, MD for a delicious pre-Thanksgiving-Thanksgiving dinner. As it turned out, both of Leni and Bill's daughters (Stephanie and Andrea) were visiting, as well as Andrea's husband, Rob, and their three-year-old son, Walker. Talk about cutie-pies--Walker is a gregarious bundle of energy, with curly blond locks and an impish smile. Of course, our kids are cute too, but sorry, Brett and Sara, you are well beyond the goo-goo stage. I also had lunches with elementary/high school friends, Sara Sonet, Cindy Beline, and Margaret Wiener. As was the case when I visited with elementary school friend, Marcia Hampton, in Garmisch, Germany (see blog entries "Nice and Nice", "Here and There Addendum", and "Flurry to the Finish"), they are such old friends that seeing them after an extended absence was no different than if I had seen them the day before. We could just pick up where we left off.
While in the area, I joined in on a couple of tours planned for JASON spouses/significant others. 
I do not recall ever having visited the Library of Congress, which definitely has enough indoor adornment to rival the ornamentation of some of the many edifices we encountered in Europe. The building is little more than 100 years old, but this Italian Renaissance style structure offers a lot of flair, without being too overly garish (see photos). And, although I missed the Gutenberg Bible in Gottingen (see blog entry "From Gottingen and Goslar to Dresden and the DDR"), the Library of Congress' copy was on view. Even as the world becomes more and more "cyberfied", the Library of Congress is the repository of 142,000,000 items, including books, recordings, photographs, films, maps, sheet music, and other printed and written material. Nevertheless, it has also digitized much of its collection.
In the afternoon, we toured the U.S. Capitol. I am sure I had been there when I was a kid, but it's important to visit our nation's Capitol at least once every 50 years or so (see photos)! During this tour, I learned an interesting tidbit. Each state may contribute two statues of its favorite sons/daughters it wishes to have displayed in the Capitol's halls and corridors. In his bronze glory, Jefferson Davis represents Mississippi, despite his presidency of the Confederate States of America! Following our tour, a few of us garnered passes to the Senate gallery. This was a first for me. Although I was disappointed that only five or six senators were present, I still got to see a momentous event--the motion for cloture to bring the health care reform bill to the Senate floor for debate. The bill sat on a desk in full view--all 2,000+ pages of it. Query how many senators not only personally read through the entire bill, but also understand it all! I imagine chambers review starts with aides of aides of aides culling through the morass, and culminates with a multi-layered editorialized summary eventually making it to the senator's desk. One more note--although gallery passes are easily available (and free), I have never been through so many cycles of security as were required before entering the gallery.
Columbus, Ohio does not have the same allure as the nation's capital, but being able to visit with Judi and Bernie, especially with a $25 each way plane fare on Southwest, was reason enough to drop in for a couple of days less than a week before the completion of our sabbatical adventure. 
Oops, I almost forgot that I also got to meet Morgan, their lovable black Labrador (see photos). Morgan doesn't jump up off of "all fours", as her predecessor, Sasha, did. Rather, she shows her friendliness by standing on her hind legs and getting her front paws on my chest, climbing on top of me when I sit in her favorite chair (all chairs are Morgan's favorite), and nuzzling her nose in my lap. And, that's just to say hello! Despite Morgan's jealousy over my presence in her household (she unquestionably rules the roost in the Levine-Bornstein home), having a home-cooked meal at my sister and brother-in-law's house felt more like home than our rented house in Hyde Park.
Earlier in the fall, before the weather turned frigid, Henry and I drove down to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (see photos), a spot I had never heard of before our stint in Chicago. Apparently, a number of Chicagoans have weekend and/or vacation homes along the frontage that Indiana (minus Gary, Indiana) has along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, between Illinois and Michigan. Our November visit was well out of season, so Henry and I had much of the beach area and hiking trails to ourselves. The steel mills of Gary tarnish the view of the lake, but walking in the opposite direction proved to be a simple remedy at least half of the time!
Thanksgiving was a homecoming of sorts, with Brett and Jared (see photo), visiting from Las Vegas and Judi and Bernie (see photo) visiting from Columbus. Our time together could have been more perfect only if my sister, Linda, and her family could have joined us.
Brett and Jared stayed long enough to sightsee a bit and to see some of their Chicago friends. 
Sara and I also had a chance to join them for a taste of German Christmas cheer in Chicago. The day before Thanksgiving, Daley Plaza turned into Christkindlmarkt, with booth upon booth of Christmas ornaments, stocking stuffers, cuckoo clocks, and beer steins for sale (see photos). The food and drink booths offered solid (e.g., brezen (German soft pretzels), wurst, schnitzel, and gingerbread cookies) and liquid (e.g., gluhwein (hot mulled wine (see blog entry "Back to Blogging")) and German beer) refreshments. We sampled the gluhwein, pretzels, and cookies--the pretzels were the winners by a wide margin, fresh and soft through every ring and with just enough salt for added flavor. The rainy (and cold) weather might have deterred the live musicians, but did not dampen the festive atmosphere.
We have a family tradition that Thanksgiving is Henry's holiday. Henry prepares the turkey and stuffing and bakes pies from scratch. 
He is the only person I know who perennially succeeds in baking a juicy turkey, and he outdid himself in that category this year. 
My praise of the turkey is certainly not meant to denigrate the pies--the two apple and one pecan pies hit the spot both with and without an ice cream topping (see photos). Henry, Sara, and I were also able to show off a bit of Hyde Park culture to our guests, by taking in a play at the Court Theatre on the U of C campus. The theater has the intimacy of Solana Beach, California's North Coast Repertory Theatre and the professional quality of the LaJolla Playhouse on the UC San Diego campus.
Our company wasn't around long enough to partake in other campus offerings, but over our close to three-month stay, I was able to enjoy many of the films shown nightly at a campus auditorium just three blocks from our house. Since we had no television hooked up in the house, the classics (weekly Frank Capra's black and white, almost always happily ending films, Francois Truffaut films, and Michael Mann films), as well as newer releases on the weekends, drew me out on a number of chillly evenings. I also took advantage of performances at the Rockefeller Chapel (e.g., Motet Choir, Hunchback of Notre Dame), invited speaker events (e.g., Natan Sharansky), and a performance of one of the final pieces of music completed at the Terezin Concentration Camp in 1944 (with an accompanying talk by the performers, who also interpreted the notes hastily written by the piece's composer, Viktor Ullmann, before he was sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz). I was content to miss former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's visit to the U of C bookstore to sign copies of his new book, "The Governor", just as I would have been content to miss a book signing by Sarah Palin!
I'm very glad I did not miss my favorite event--the 63rd Annual Latke-Hamantash Debate. Each year, the University of Chicago invites a group of highly respected U of C professors and scholars to debate which is the worthier food, the Latke (potato pancake eaten during Hanukkah) or the Hamatash (a three cornered filled pastry eaten on Purim). In recognition of the publication of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" 150 years ago, this year's debaters considered whether Darwin's theory of evolution could shed light on the Latke-Hamantash controversy. Over 1000 people crammed into the auditorium to witness erudite humor from professors of neurobiology, linguistics, public policy, history of science, and philosophy. The "debate" was hilarious, and as apparently is the case most years, the Latke won. (If you are interested, check out "The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate," edited by Ruth Fredman Cernea.)
Gearing up to leave Chicago, I made first and/or final visits to Millennium Park (home to a huge outdoor theater and some imaginative outdoor art (see photos)); the Museum of Chicago History (acknowledging aspects of the city for which it is famous (e.g., its architecture, its importance as a transportation hub and as a stage for jazz and blues greats), as well as events for which the city is infamous (e.g., St. Valentine's Day massacre, handling of protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention)); The Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Art Institute of Chicago. 
On my final visit to the Art Institute, I completed my cycle through those parts of the museum I missed on earlier visits (e.g., pre-1900 American art (I especially enjoyed works by Frederic Remington and Winslow Homer (see photos)), and returned to a few favorites (see blog entry "Musings on Middle America"). And, of course, we could not leave Chicago without seeing a comedy revue at The Second City, the springboard for many of Saturday Night Live's performers (e.g., John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Gilda Ratner, Mike Myers, Tina Fey), as well as for other actors, such as Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Peter Boyle, and Fred Willard. The set pieces were funnier than the improv, but that did not matter; it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Although the city got its name from the Miami and Illinois Indian word for wild leeks (Checagou), Chicago is no onion. 
As in London, one gets to "Watch [rather than Mind] the Gap" on the Metra (see photo) (also see blog entry "Playing for the Ashes"), and as in Nice, one gets to "Kiss and Fly" at O'Hare Airport (see blog entry "Nice and Nice"), so it is obviously a cosmopolitan place. Even though the International Olympic Committee declined to bestow upon Chicago the honor of spending billions of dollars to host the 2016 Olympics, Chicago has much of which to be proud. I'll miss the skyline, the museums, the culture, and the Hyde Park neighborhood. I will especially miss meeting Sara for lunch before she skips off to class. But, Sara has already left for vacation.
So, Dorothy, is there really no place like home? Although this sabbatical year has been a fantastic experience, I am looking forward to going home. Sorry, folks, we won't be slip-sliding our way back across the heartland of America--our car is being transported by truck, while Henry and I, in traditional Levine-Abarbanel fashion, fly back to San Diego on different planes and on different days. Henry, who will probably never retire, is flying home via San Francisco, where he will give one more talk before the end of the year. But next week, Henry and I will be back on Crest Road with both Sara and Brett at home with us. Yes, there is no place like home, especially when the whole family is there together!
I know, long time, no blog entries. After coming down from the "high" of eight months in Europe, and finally completing the European segments of my blog, I have had trouble getting back into blogging mode. But, like a bad penny, here I am again.Spending ten days in San Diego in September was nothing near a homecoming--although we could go into our Del Mar house, we could not stay there, as it continues to be rented. Despite the wonderful and kind hospitality of our friends, Linda Zangwill, Marc Siegel, and Deborah Brenner, and our get-togethers with some of our Del Mar/San Diego friends, we were visitors in our own town. We cannot rightly complain too much about living out of our suitcases. After all, Sara had to do it the entire summer! Also, having our house rented for the year is a good thing, and our renter is very low maintenance (knock on wood); we had our two cars to drive (well, most of the time--when Henry, Sara, and I each needed a car, we were able to borrow Linda and Marc's van); we could visit our hometown physicians; and we could eat at some of our favorite local restaurants. I even got to the Rancho Penasquitos weekly tennis clinic (before my knee injury from skiing in January 2008, I was going pretty regularly) for the first time in well over a year. In addition, we were able to enjoy a few more days of summer before heading off to Chicago.
Hoping to keep the amount of luggage we would schlep to Chicago to a minimum, I culled through the clothes (and other sundry items) I brought to Europe, and left a bunch of stuff in Del Mar. Unfortunately, I concentrated too much on Southern California and Las Vegas (our first stop--to visit with our elder daughter, Brett) weather, and not enough on the rest of the journey! 
(See photo of Sara and Brett. Rather than drive the rest of the way to Chicago with us, Sara flew from Las Vegas because, as she put it, she still wanted to like her parents when we arrived at our final destination. She figured she would not survive four days of bad jokes.) Except for the drive to Las Vegas (a "cool" 90 degrees) and for a small bit of the drive into Utah, it did not matter that our car's air conditioning was broken. Our first full day in Chicago (9/26) was a short-sleeve shirt day, and that was the last of such days! The short-sleeve shirts, the SPF convertible cargo pants, and my neck cooler (it worked phenomenally well between San Diego and Las Vegas) were quickly relegated to storage for the remainder of our stay in Chicago.
While the cool weather in Chicago wasn't too much of a surprise, we were overwhelmed by what hit us in Green River, Utah and points east through Denver. 
The cool wind was whipping up a storm when we stopped for the night in Green (not really) River, and as we progressed through the Rockies, snow was falling and sticking on the ski slopes of Vail, Copper Mountain, and to the east of the Eisenhower Tunnel toward Denver (see photo)! Once again lacking a winterized car, we had visions of a repeat of our slip-sliding experience on our first night in Zurich, New Year's Eve, 2008 (see blog entry "We've Arrived!"). 
When we stopped overnight in St. Louis, to see our niece, Lindsey, a freshman at Washington University, she reported that the day we arrived was the first yucky day of the fall season. Lucky us! (See photo, taken at Remy's Kitchen and Wine Bar, a deliciously good restaurant in Clayton, close to the school).
So, here we are in Chicago, in an old Hyde Park house (see photo) that has far more room than we need, but is wonderfully convenient to the University of Chicago (see campus photos)
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Henry walks to his office in the Anatomy Department (he's working in a "Birdsong" research group (they study how song birds learn their song (a more simple version of the learning process in humans)), and I walk the few blocks to the building where I am volunteering (in the University's career services ("CAPS") office), to the nightly movie (the theater is in the same building as CAPS), to the market, or to the bus or Metra to downtown Chicago. It's nice having a car for when we need it or for the convenience, but much of the time, it's easier to leave it parked on the street in front of our house. Parking in downtown Chicago is like parking in New York City--expensive! Also, as I discovered when I dropped Sara off at a downtown Chicago interview and sat in the car in a two-hour pay and post space on the street in front of the Art Institute of Chicago, the city really means it when the sign says no parking between 4PM and 6PM. Needing the extra lane for rush hour traffic, the city had its contracted tow truck parked in between my car and another parked car at 3:53PM. I decided it was wiser to move immediately than risk a ticket and tow!I imagine that if we did not have the car, we would "make do", just as Sara has over the past three years, and as we managed quite well enough in Zurich and Munich. Nevertheless, it is so hard to make that break from personal transport when the public transportation system lacks the extensive coverage found in Europe. I am convinced, that because everything in the U.S. is on such a larger physical scale than in Europe (e.g., the area of Illinois is just under four times the area of Switzerland, and Illinois is only 25th in size among the 50 United States), the U.S. will never obtain the quality of public transportation coverage found in Europe. However, the big U.S. cities can certainly improve their local transportation systems. For example, there has to be a better way of getting from Hyde Park to O'Hare Airport (northwest of downtown) than taking a two-hour shuttle ride via Midway Airport (southwest of downtown), as I did when flying to New York in October. Let's hope that despite Chicago's failure to garner the site for the 2016 Olympics, it will still proceed with its transportation improvement plans.
The leaves changed colors (see photos of trees across from Museum of Science and Industry, in Hyde Park), and as we rolled through November, they have fallen at an increasingly rapid pace. 
As I walk around Hyde Park and along the shore of Lake Michigan (see photos), I am reminded of how much I enjoyed the Fall when growing up in New York. As long as we make it back to southern California before the winter weather for which the Windy City is famous hits Hyde Park (generally not until January and February), I can agree that "Chicago, Chicago, it's a beautiful town!" (This has the makings of a good song!) It rains a lot here (certainly compared to southern California), but in truth, I enjoy listening to the rain's pitter-patter on the roof of our rented house. And, as long as I am not going too far and am suitably equipped with water resistant shoes, a warm jacket, and a trusty umbrella (i.e., one that doesn't invert every time the wind picks up), I enjoy walking in the rain. I admit, however, that the rain is far more tolerable when I do not have to dress up and head off to work on a rainy day! As a retiree, I do not have to worry about such details.
Hmmm, the temperature is now dipping into the 30's and 20's. We shall see how much I like the rain when it hits the ground as almost snow and switches back and forth between ice and slush! I do have shoes I wear on my skiing trips, but I do not have "wellies", fancy rubber boots that are far more stylish than what we used to wear while walking to and from school in second grade. Sara's wellies, thanks to L.L. Bean, are red with reindeer all over them. Others have bright plaids, polka-dots, or stripes. I'm counting on being able to forego a purchase for myself. I am also counting on being able to forego a pair of old-fashioned rubbers.
But wait, we suddenly had sunny skies and balmy temperatures in the 60's! It was glorious. 
Henry and I took the opportunity to head to downtown Chicago, walk along the Magnificent Mile (Chicago's mostly ritzy shopping street along Michigan Avenue, just north of the Chicago River), and take the Chicago Architecture Foundation's (CAF) architectural boat tour along the river (see photos). CAF's tour, which is longer and more expensive than other architectural boat tours along the Chicago River, was well worth it. The docent, a semi-retired professor of architecture, barely had time to catch her breath while talking virtually non-stop during the 90-minute tour.
Aside from the wealth of information the docent provided about the numerous noteworthy buildings (e.g., Willis (formerly Sears) Tower (still the tallest building in North America--the "Spire", currently a Chicago hole in the ground, will take the Willis Tower's place, if it ever gets completed), Wrigley Building, Marina Towers) (see photos), I was especially fascinated by Chicago's early solution to the pollution of its Lake Michigan drinking water. In the decade prior to 1900, the flow of the Chicago River was reversed, so that it now flows westward, away from the lake.
My favorite building is a residential high-rise (designed by a female architect) on which the outdoor terraces ebb and flow around the building (see photo). With differently sized terraces, everyone's views and lighting apparently are improved.Having studiously researched the admission policies of a number of Chicago's museums and landmarks, I have managed to schedule most of my visits on free general admission days. Somehow, a 15 euro admission charge to a German museum seemed like less than a $22 admission charge in the United States. With the current exchange rate at almost $1.50 to 1 euro, the costs are equivalent. The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) graciously offered ten straight weekdays of free admission in October. Just a ten-minute walk from our house in Hyde Park, MSI welcomed me on three of those days, and I still didn't get through all of the exhibits. 
In any event, the best one is the "new" (four years old) U-505 exhibit (see photo), which features the World War II German submarine captured by American forces near the coast of Africa and secretly towed across the Atlantic Ocean to Bermuda, without the Nazis discovering that the Americans retrieved two German enigma machines and multiple codebooks from the sub. This feat enabled the Allies to decode German military communications and resulted in a huge decrease in the number of Allied merchant and supply ships destroyed while trying to cross the ocean. For a number of years, the sub was on display outside the MSI building. In mid-2005, an underground wing of the museum was completed after the weathered submarine was restored, then literally towed and hoisted into its new home. Once the submarine was in place, the ceiling and new entrance to the museum was built around it. I highly recommend the five-minute video of the sub's move into its current indoor home at http://www.msichicago.org/online-science/videos/video-detail/activities/moving-the-u-505-submarine/.
The University of Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum (excellent collection of antiquities from the Middle East (see photo)),
Shedd Aquarium (fun collection of fish, water mammals,amphibians, and colorful anemones (see photo); I skipped the shows directed toward younger visitors),
Adler Planetarium (decent telescope exhibit, an exhibit covering changing views of the cosmos, and an exhibit featuring a collection of former astronaut Jim Lovell memorabilia),
Museum of Contemporary Art (interesting exhibit of Italian art from 1968-2008, and some nice Alexander Calder (a personal favorite from my visits to NY's Guggenheim Museum) mobiles (see photo)),
and Field (as in Marshall Field, rather than as in Flora) Museum of Natural History (home to Sue, the world's largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil (see photo), as well as an excellent special exhibit (extra cost) on the nature of diamonds) also welcomed me on no general admission charge days.Entrance fees to some of Chicago's museum and landmark highlights either cannot be avoided or it is not worth it to avoid. The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) (a Chicago dyslexic's version of the CIA; the Art Institute's defense-contracting branch is SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago)) has so much to offer (as does the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City) and such a small window of free admission hours (just three hours on one evening each week), that I paid for a one-year membership. 
I've already been four times and still have not completed a single run-through of the entire museum. On my most recent visit, I took advantage of the free one-hour highlights tour offered daily. The volunteer docent did a wonderful job of choosing a few standout pieces to discuss in further detail. The AIC features a number of paintings straight out of Art Appreciation 101. Just as the Louvre showcases Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and the Metropolitan Museum of Art displays Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware and Gilbert Stuart's famous portrait of George Washington, the AIC offers Grant Wood's American Gothic, George Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, to name a few (see photos). In two weeks, I managed to leave many dollars at the AIC--not only did I visit a special, members-only showing of a special exhibit of Arts and Crafts Movement (mostly decorative arts) pieces; I also purchased a number of gifts at the extremely well-stocked Museum Store (how could I pass up 20% off for AIC members?!).
On one of my strolls through the AIC, I came across a statue of a female figure (see photo) which, had it been displayed among the works of modern sculptors (e.g., Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), known mostly for his stick-like figures of women) and had the legs not been missing, I could have believed it to be a contemporary work. This piece fits right into the minimalism characteristic of much of today's art. In fact, however, this marble statue is Greek and was carved without metal tools during the Early Bronze Age, between 2600 and 2400 BCE. No wonder it is minimalist! Take your pick of comments--what goes around, comes around; the more things change, the more things stay the same; retro always returns; or, I still have trouble appreciating much of contemporary art.
When I took a tour of the Frederick Robie House (a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and famous for its classic Prairie style (horizontal lines, large overhangs, art glass windows) design) (see photo), I bought a year's membership to the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. The Robie House is conveniently located on the University of Chicago campus, just a few blocks away from our Hyde Park home. 
The Trust oversees the Robie House and the Wright Home and Studio in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park (where Wright lived and worked for 20 years before leaving his wife and six children and traveling to Europe with the wife of a client). 
It also operates tours of the Oak Park neighborhood where a number of Wright designed homes can be viewed (see photos).
As I expected, my membership covered all of the Frank Lloyd Wright tours. I received an unexpected surprise, however, when I was in New York for a week in October (for my 40-year (!!!) high school reunion the first weekend and the unveiling of my mother's footstone the following weekend).
With some time to explore during the week, I visited Kykuit (the John D. Rockefeller (of Standard Oil and University of Chicago (founder) fame) and family (including Nelson Rockefeller) estate overlooking the Hudson River (see photos)) and other landmarks in and around Sleepy Hollow (in Westchester County, near the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River). 
It wasn't until after I ordered my on-line ticket for a tour of Kykuit that I discovered my Trust membership entitled me to a large discount on my ticket, as well as a free tour of the nearby Lyndhurst mansion (originally the home of former New York City mayor William Paulding, and later home to Jay Gould, railroad magnate) (see photos). As another extra (but no free ride), I visited the Union Church of Pocantico Hills, which the Rockefellers helped found. Its claims to fame are the nine lovely Marc Chagall stained glass windows along the nave and Henri Matisse rose window over the altar--all commissioned by members of the Rockefeller family. Considering there are just a few Chagall stained glass windows in the United States (the others are at the United Nations Secretariat in NYC and The Art Institute of Chicago (unfortunately, I haven't been able to view the AIC windows because they are currently being restored)), I felt like I hit the jackpot that day! It was also probably the closest I will get to replicating a European day in the U.S.--a New York version of Bavarian castles!
Now that I've taken this tangent away from the Midwest toward New York, I'll continue with the rest of my week-long visit to that Mid-Atlantic state. My 40-year high school reunion turned out to be a big success. The reunion committee managed to bring a large crowd together for a "meet and greet" on Friday night, and sold out the dinner/dance event on Saturday night. I was surprised at how many people I did not recognize, generally because of graying or lost hair and/or because of added weight. Unfortunately, the names on the name tags were in smaller print than I could read from an acceptable distance. I had a choice of either admitting a lack of recognition or staring at people's chests. Either choice was embarrassing, but with some folks, I was able to get friends to identify who was who. Once I had the name, recognition generally followed. Of course, there were some people who looked the same as the day they graduated from high school--well, maybe they had a few more wrinkles, or should I say "laugh lines". In any event, I enjoyed reconnecting with people I had not seen in 20 (I did get to the 20-year reunion) or 40 years.
Henry was a wonderful sport and joined me for the dinner/dance (see photo). He also joined the group that met in New York City for lunch on Sunday. In some ways, the get-together in NYC was the highlight of the weekend. 
Eight of us--five alums (Chris Zahniser, Suni Takeda, Cindy Beline, Miriam Lang, and me) and three husbands (Henry, Hitoshi, and Howie (the three H's))-- met at Perry Street Restaurant in the West Village (see photo). Part of the draw for Henry (okay, and me too) was that the restaurant was a Michelin One Star. Not only did the food live up to its star billing; it was also especially nice to be able to talk to each other without having to yell over the din of dance music and/or 250 people talking in a confined space at the same time.
The weather could not have been better for a fall day in "the City". After lunch, we walked in Hudson River Park (see photo) and then strolled along the High Line, a new park along the former elevated train tracks along Manhattan's Lower West Side (see photos). Both parks showed New York City at its best--people were strolling, jogging, riding bikes, picnicking, and just hanging out and enjoying themselves.
The High Line boasts a number of spots where people can see and be seen as they stretch out on built-in lounge chairs overlooking the Hudson (see photo). We finally ended up at a gallery on or near 26th Street where some of Hitoshi's art work was being displayed (see photos). It was extremely helpful to have 
Hitoshi on hand to explain the significance of various shapes in his pieces (see photo). In true gallery fashion, he offered us bottled water and prosecco! As Henry and I were riding the train back to Westchester, we both agreed that we had one of the best days we have ever spent in New York City. We felt welcome and a part of what is good about the City. Indeed, as we tried to hail a taxi to take us to Grand Central Station, an off-duty cabbie stopped to ask us our intended destination. Since Grand Central was on his way up town to get to his wife who he had just learned was in labor, he took the fare and dropped us a block away. We had a quick, but very pleasant conversation, and wished him well as we rushed off in our respective directions.The following weekend brought us altogether for the unveiling of my mother's footstone, a traditional Jewish ceremony that often takes place after the 11-month mourning period for a parent. Henry, Brett, and Sara joined Linda, Eric, and me, as well as Judi and Bernie, from Columbus, and a few other friends and relatives. Linda suggested that before the noon unveiling, we participate in the October 18, 2009 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at nearby Manhattanville College. Even though Mom battled a different type of cancer, it was a fitting tribute to her memory. Despite the rain and cold weather (I dare say, it was more brutal than Chicago!), 5,000 people walked the 4.4-mile route, including Linda, Judi, Brett, Sonia (the wonderful woman who lived with and took care of Mom during the last year of her life), and me. 
I am sure our parents were "kvelling" (for those of you who do not know this Yiddish word, it means beaming with pleasure and pride). I expect they would also have been proud of their three daughters amicably working out a distribution among us of the many pieces of art, porcelain, silver, and other statuary they collected over their lifetimes. Now, we have to figure out how to get these fragile items shipped! When we return to Del Mar at the end of the year, I already have my next project on tap--to design built-in shelves to display the many heirlooms.Enough of my digression away from Chicago.... One of our favorite days in Hyde Park, besides Sara's 21st birthday, was Halloween. After years and years of greeting two, one, and sometimes no groups of trick-or-treaters at our Del Mar home, we discovered that our rented house lies in the middle of Hyde Park trick-or-treat central! Fortunately, I had the foresight to ask one of our neighbors how much candy I should have available. The neighbor was not joking when she replied 10 to 15 bags! Although the age range of trick-or-treaters was about 2 to 32, the cutest of them were between 2 and 5. It was the younger ones whom we had to coax to take more than one piece of candy. Some of their older siblings were not at all shy about taking a handful. After a steady flow of wonderfully diverse characters that began at about 4:30PM, we finally ran out of candy at about 8:45PM, having to send away empty-handed the last ghosts and goblins.We get to see Sara a couple of times a week, which is not a lot, but it is certainly more than we would otherwise see her. 
And, we were with her to celebrate her 21st birthday on November 11th (see photo--yes, there are 21 candles on the cake which Sara extinguished with a single breath), not to mention several days of her "birthday week". A number of years ago, Sara "invented" (along with most other kids) birthday weeks--we multiply our celebrating even if we don't commensurately multiply the number of gifts. Having spent the fall 2008 and winter 2009 quarters being "legal" while drinking in Europe, Sara had to wait another seven and a half months to be "legal" here. Congratulations, Sara, and with your youthful looks, enjoy being "carded"! As for me, in the space of 24 hours, I was carded at the local liquor store (when buying champagne for Sara's birthday celebration) (so what if they card everyone!), and was asked if I was a senior (age 65 and over) when I inquired about entry prices at one of the local museums. Thanks, but no thanks; I can wait a while longer for the senior discount!Unlike in Zurich and Munich, we have been able to socialize with and get to know some of our neighbors. It helped that our landlords left the names and phone numbers of our neighbors on each side of us and that one of the couples had us and our other next-door neighbors over for dessert shortly after we arrived. The small world syndrome also worked its magic--it turns out that Henry knows a neighbor across the street from about 30 years ago, when Henry worked at Fermi Lab, and another friend of the renters who delivered some needed supplies turned out to be a fellow University of Rochester graduate with whom I had a number of good friends in common. We have since socialized with both of these couples. I still go off to museums and the movies on my own, but it's also nice to feel comfortable calling up a neighbor to borrow an iron or an electric mixer (among a number of items absent from our rental house).
Foodies that we are, I cannot close without mentioning several fine restaurants we have been to in Chicago. Everest, where we took Sara and her boyfriend, Jonathan, for her birthday (see photo), was by far the most elegant (and also the most expensive), but was delightful for our very special occasion. The Gage, Trattoria 10, Wildfire, Rooster Wine Bar and Cafe are excellent as well, and blessedly are on a lower price plane than Everest. Two Hyde Park favorites are The Sit Down, across the street from Sara's apartment, and Medici (affectionately known by the locals as The Med), two blocks away from our house. Both are informal, with solid offerings. The Med is an old Obama haunt, and the wait staff proudly wear their work tee-shirts with "Obama Eats Here" printed on the back.
I promise this is not the end of my sabbatical blog, but I am definitely getting close....
And, dessert lovers can find Nirvana at More, a downtown cupcake store introduced to us by one of our Hyde Park neighbors who brought over a selection to finish off one of our Sunday brunch parties. One might think that a cupcake store would be unique, but Brett and her boyfriend, Jared, discovered another one, called Sweet Bliss (see photo), hidden under some "L" tracks in the Chicago Loop. Sweet Bliss cupcakes were tasty, but did not hold a candle to the more ornate, more varied, and simply outstanding selection at More (sorry, no photo--the cupcakes were eaten too quickly!).
I cannot say that Chicago has a monopoly on cold, windy, and snowy weather, but we had our first confrontation with the combination in the past few days (see photo taken from our front door). It is one thing to have the cold wind blowing in one's face; adding snow to the mix takes the experience to a new level. On one of those cold, windy, and snowy days, I missed my train stop for the second time during our sabbatical year (see blog entry "From Gottingen and Goslar to Dresden and the DDR"). I caught the express Metra train from downtown Chicago back to Hyde Park and carefully listened to the conductor (or more likely what turned out to be recording) calling out the stations. I heard the announcement for 53rd Street, the station before mine, and got up from my seat when I heard, "Next stop, 55th-56th-57th Streets, University of Chicago." I headed for the platform door, only to watch as the train sped by the station. As I stood there, I listened to more station announcements, as the train continued southbound, without stopping. I thought to myself, "Am I going to end up in Indiana, or perhaps the infamous South Side?" Either way, I was not looking forward to standing on a mostly deserted station platform where my train would finally stop to disgorge passengers and I would then wait in the evening gray for the next northbound train to arrive. My demeanor was not helped by my worry that I was carrying holiday gifts in a large Museum of Contemporary Art shopping bag, which figuratively announced, "Free gifts, right here." The train finally stopped at 115th Street, not all the way to the Indiana state line, but thankfully enough south that I only had to worry about frostbite and becoming a human snow-woman as the quarter-sized snowflakes blew at me in all directions. My trip home took an extra hour, but I felt some consolation in the fact that I was not alone in my plight. At least one other southbound rider was in the same predicament as me. Okay, I should have been more attentive, but I am certain that, if the Metra indeed stopped at my stop, as it was supposed to and most probably did, the station announcement for 53rd Street came after my stop rather than before. All's well that ends well, though I was a bit colder for the experience.
As for other "travels" from Chicago, Henry and I spent a long weekend in Washington DC, just before Thanksgiving (see photo of Henry and me next to the Potomac). Henry attended the semi-annual Washington meetings of JASON, the consulting group to which he belongs and with whom he consults in San Diego during the summer. JASON is a creation of a group of physicists, many of whom participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II. The scientists (no longer just physicists) consult with various federal agencies on both classified and unclassified topics. (If any of you are interested, check out Ann Finkbeiner's book, "The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite.") Over the weekend, JASON celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala on Saturday evening. Whatever tensions have existed or exist between JASON and its client agencies over the years were put aside as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and others regaled JASON's assistance on difficult scientific issues, from global warming to ways to detect the presence of nuclear weapons.
I do not recall ever having visited the Library of Congress, which definitely has enough indoor adornment to rival the ornamentation of some of the many edifices we encountered in Europe. The building is little more than 100 years old, but this Italian Renaissance style structure offers a lot of flair, without being too overly garish (see photos). And, although I missed the Gutenberg Bible in Gottingen (see blog entry "From Gottingen and Goslar to Dresden and the DDR"), the Library of Congress' copy was on view. Even as the world becomes more and more "cyberfied", the Library of Congress is the repository of 142,000,000 items, including books, recordings, photographs, films, maps, sheet music, and other printed and written material. Nevertheless, it has also digitized much of its collection.
In the afternoon, we toured the U.S. Capitol. I am sure I had been there when I was a kid, but it's important to visit our nation's Capitol at least once every 50 years or so (see photos)! During this tour, I learned an interesting tidbit. Each state may contribute two statues of its favorite sons/daughters it wishes to have displayed in the Capitol's halls and corridors. In his bronze glory, Jefferson Davis represents Mississippi, despite his presidency of the Confederate States of America! Following our tour, a few of us garnered passes to the Senate gallery. This was a first for me. Although I was disappointed that only five or six senators were present, I still got to see a momentous event--the motion for cloture to bring the health care reform bill to the Senate floor for debate. The bill sat on a desk in full view--all 2,000+ pages of it. Query how many senators not only personally read through the entire bill, but also understand it all! I imagine chambers review starts with aides of aides of aides culling through the morass, and culminates with a multi-layered editorialized summary eventually making it to the senator's desk. One more note--although gallery passes are easily available (and free), I have never been through so many cycles of security as were required before entering the gallery.
Oops, I almost forgot that I also got to meet Morgan, their lovable black Labrador (see photos). Morgan doesn't jump up off of "all fours", as her predecessor, Sasha, did. Rather, she shows her friendliness by standing on her hind legs and getting her front paws on my chest, climbing on top of me when I sit in her favorite chair (all chairs are Morgan's favorite), and nuzzling her nose in my lap. And, that's just to say hello! Despite Morgan's jealousy over my presence in her household (she unquestionably rules the roost in the Levine-Bornstein home), having a home-cooked meal at my sister and brother-in-law's house felt more like home than our rented house in Hyde Park.
Earlier in the fall, before the weather turned frigid, Henry and I drove down to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (see photos), a spot I had never heard of before our stint in Chicago. Apparently, a number of Chicagoans have weekend and/or vacation homes along the frontage that Indiana (minus Gary, Indiana) has along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, between Illinois and Michigan. Our November visit was well out of season, so Henry and I had much of the beach area and hiking trails to ourselves. The steel mills of Gary tarnish the view of the lake, but walking in the opposite direction proved to be a simple remedy at least half of the time!
Thanksgiving was a homecoming of sorts, with Brett and Jared (see photo), visiting from Las Vegas and Judi and Bernie (see photo) visiting from Columbus. Our time together could have been more perfect only if my sister, Linda, and her family could have joined us.
Sara and I also had a chance to join them for a taste of German Christmas cheer in Chicago. The day before Thanksgiving, Daley Plaza turned into Christkindlmarkt, with booth upon booth of Christmas ornaments, stocking stuffers, cuckoo clocks, and beer steins for sale (see photos). The food and drink booths offered solid (e.g., brezen (German soft pretzels), wurst, schnitzel, and gingerbread cookies) and liquid (e.g., gluhwein (hot mulled wine (see blog entry "Back to Blogging")) and German beer) refreshments. We sampled the gluhwein, pretzels, and cookies--the pretzels were the winners by a wide margin, fresh and soft through every ring and with just enough salt for added flavor. The rainy (and cold) weather might have deterred the live musicians, but did not dampen the festive atmosphere.
He is the only person I know who perennially succeeds in baking a juicy turkey, and he outdid himself in that category this year. 
My praise of the turkey is certainly not meant to denigrate the pies--the two apple and one pecan pies hit the spot both with and without an ice cream topping (see photos). Henry, Sara, and I were also able to show off a bit of Hyde Park culture to our guests, by taking in a play at the Court Theatre on the U of C campus. The theater has the intimacy of Solana Beach, California's North Coast Repertory Theatre and the professional quality of the LaJolla Playhouse on the UC San Diego campus.
Gearing up to leave Chicago, I made first and/or final visits to Millennium Park (home to a huge outdoor theater and some imaginative outdoor art (see photos)); the Museum of Chicago History (acknowledging aspects of the city for which it is famous (e.g., its architecture, its importance as a transportation hub and as a stage for jazz and blues greats), as well as events for which the city is infamous (e.g., St. Valentine's Day massacre, handling of protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention)); The Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Art Institute of Chicago. 
On my final visit to the Art Institute, I completed my cycle through those parts of the museum I missed on earlier visits (e.g., pre-1900 American art (I especially enjoyed works by Frederic Remington and Winslow Homer (see photos)), and returned to a few favorites (see blog entry "Musings on Middle America"). And, of course, we could not leave Chicago without seeing a comedy revue at The Second City, the springboard for many of Saturday Night Live's performers (e.g., John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Gilda Ratner, Mike Myers, Tina Fey), as well as for other actors, such as Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Peter Boyle, and Fred Willard. The set pieces were funnier than the improv, but that did not matter; it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
As in London, one gets to "Watch [rather than Mind] the Gap" on the Metra (see photo) (also see blog entry "Playing for the Ashes"), and as in Nice, one gets to "Kiss and Fly" at O'Hare Airport (see blog entry "Nice and Nice"), so it is obviously a cosmopolitan place. Even though the International Olympic Committee declined to bestow upon Chicago the honor of spending billions of dollars to host the 2016 Olympics, Chicago has much of which to be proud. I'll miss the skyline, the museums, the culture, and the Hyde Park neighborhood. I will especially miss meeting Sara for lunch before she skips off to class. But, Sara has already left for vacation.
