iPostcards from Chicago, IL

I've connected several times via Chicago's international airports, O'Hare and Midway, but have never been to the "Windy City". Well, I finally made it to Chicago. I met up with my colleagues from New York to spend the weekend in the "Second City" for work. We had to familiarize ourselves with our clients' preferred hotels, which happen to be three of the city's top luxury hotels, The Peninsula Chicago, the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, and The Ritz-Carlton Chicago - A Four Season Hotel. It may have been a business trip, but it was more like a vaca(sean), since we we had fabulous accommodations and were pampered with delicious gourmet meals and luxury gift items.

With my flight from LAX, not surprisingly being delayed,
it was already 1AM by the time I got in ORD.
I could have slept in the 12-passenger stretch limo
that transferred me to my fabulous hotel, The Peninsula Chicago

view of Lake Michigan from the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

***

We only had a couple of hours to spare for free time on our own,
so I decided to use up some X'mas gift cards
at the Men's Store of Saks Fifth Avenue,
then walk the rest of the Magnificent Mile
all the way to Millennium Park and Daley Plaza.

the Old Water Tower and John Hancock Tower behind me

at the start of Magnificent Mile on N Michigan Avenue

The Tribune Tower

view of Chicago River from the Michigan Bridge

iPostcard from Chicago

The Millennium Monument (Peristyle)
in Wrigley Square @ Millennium Park

Cloud Gate, unofficially dubbed "The Bean" behind me

"The Bean"'s reflection of the west facing towards the "Loop"

Cloud Gate on the AT&T Plaza

The Chicago Cultural Center and Smurfit-Stone Building
in the background

Jay Pritzker Pavilion by Frank Gehry
is the centerpiece of Millennium Park.

by the Chicago Picasso,
Pablo Picasso's untitled, unpainted 50-foot Cubist sculpture
is a focal point of this open-air gallery in Daley Plaza

view of Chicago River from the Michigan Bridge

John Hancock Tower behind me by dusk

on my way to the airport,
my driver was kind enough to drive me by the Sears Tower