Thursday, September 15, 2011

Chicago (continued)

Of course Chicago is all about tall buildings. I particularly liked views that juxtaposed buildings from different periods of the city's history.



On Thursday we took a river cruise offered by the Architecture Institute, which gave us the opportunity to see some of the more significant buildings from a good vantage point. It was a grey day, threatening rain. At one point a fierce squall of wind and rain combined sent us all scurrying below decks. At least one padded seat cover flew off into the river. Fortunately, it was short-lasting, perhaps ten minutes, and we were able to emerge again. The crew provided paper towels to dry off the seats, the tour guide remained cheerful and all was well although we probably missed a little of her usual commentary.


From the level of the river we were below grade, so that they looked even taller than from street level.

 




The gardener in me was just as intrigued by the mature ginkgo trees planted along the riverside in front of a "green" building.