Valley Dude in the Second City

I was in Chicago on business, and on my last day there I was scheduled to be on a late flight (like 8:15 p.m.) to L.A.  Well turned out I didn't need to leave that late and could have left hours earlier, except American Airlines now has a NO STANDBY policy for non-elite flyers (meaning any change costs at least $150, even if you want to try to stand by - and that's before the fare change).  BOOOO.  So I had some time to spend after my last meeting, and took a walk through Millennium Park and visited the Art Institute of Chicago.  I was blown away by the stunningly beautiful architecture surrounding the Park and the pre-eminence of the Art Institute.  I had also experienced sheer awe at being on a rooftop next to Wrigley Field earlier in the week.  I guess I can't be all that mad at American Airlines now :-) The pictures of the buildings and art don't do either justice, in fact some of the pix of the art downright suck (except maybe the ones of Seurat's Sunday Afternoon).  Still, I can't help but share as they'll give you some teensy little idea of where I was.  Slideshow after the jump.

 Cloud Gate (a/k/a "The Bean")