{"id":426,"date":"2015-01-03T00:10:19","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T00:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/?p=426"},"modified":"2016-08-21T02:02:27","modified_gmt":"2016-08-21T02:02:27","slug":"chicago-museums-x-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/?p=426","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Museums x 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back from Chicago with two museum visits. First, a Sunday trip to the Museum of Science + Industry. I didn\u2019t pre-book my tickets online, my usual MO, and the line to buy tickets from personnel at counters was jammed with a wait of 45-60 minutes, winding through the ubiquitous post stanchions and retractable belt barriers. I noticed a bank of automatic ticket dispensers directly across the main hall. Despite museum aides beckoning to visitors, that line held fewer than a dozen people and I had my tickets in hand in five minutes. The ticket machines were touchscreen, simple to operate, easy to understand and, dare I say it, foolproof. I\u2019ll keep an eye out for that alternative in other museums.<\/p>\n

Christmas holiday plus kid-centric museum equals massive squealing crowds, but they go where they are pointed. I used one of my favorite strategies, starting on the third floor and working my way down. Bypassing the obvious entry point bought us a good two hours of relatively uncrowded museum-going pleasure. Suspended at the third floor eye level, aircraft – from the Wright Flyer, to a German Stuka, to a United 727 \u2013 celebrated the audacity of humans taking to the air. Displays of vintage scientific instruments were captivating; gleaming, elegant, and sleek.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_441478445\"<\/a>My favorite exhibition was 80 at 80. http:\/\/www.msichicago.org\/whats-here\/exhibits\/80-at-80\/<\/a> I was mesmerized by the quirky video installation: Maarten Baas’ “Sweepers Clock” that shows men keeping time by sweeping garbage laid out in the shape of clock hands. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SXNT4T56EmM<\/a><\/p>\n

The best (cleanest, functioning, and no lines) women\u2019s restroom was just off the submarine exhibit. The worst (crowded, dirty, many out-of-order stalls) was on the main floor off the food court. Avoiding the Disney \u2018exhibit\u2019 and touring the submarine U-boat was another useful strategy. The U-boat, also a designated war memorial, was well presented with sound\/light enhancements and an excellent guide. Fascinating.<\/p>\n

I sadly underestimated how long I\u2019d want to gaze at the treasure trove that is the Art Institute of Chicago. Five hours went by in a blink. A single exhibit of Italian drawings kept me enthralled for the first two hours. http:\/\/www.artic.edu\/exhibition\/strokes-genius-italian-drawings-goldman-collection<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Robert for our traditional Terzo Piano lunch, then sprinted back, aware of time running out. I dashed through European paintings and sculpture, keeping an eye out for boxes, reliquaries, and anything made of terracotta\u00a0 and porcelain, in every room I ventured through.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2033\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_2055\"<\/a>If I am honest, I was offended by the artist using stock news photos of people falling to their death, indifferent to the focus: Lucy McKenzie<\/a><\/span>, and wished there was more to the Ethel Stein, Master Weaver exhibit.<\/p>\n

I lost track of time in the glory that is Roman and Greek statuary.\"IMG_2080\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to the drawings, where I spent my remaining time sketching a kneeling slave, a bearded saint, and this enchanting boy, the son of the artist.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2021\"<\/a>All this is good practice for the upcoming Madrid\/Lisbon trip.\u00a0 Start at the top, work your way down, take all the time you possibly can. It won’t be enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back from Chicago with two museum visits. First, a Sunday trip to the Museum of Science + Industry. I didn\u2019t pre-book my tickets online, my usual MO, and the line to buy tickets from personnel at counters was jammed with a wait of 45-60 minutes, winding through the ubiquitous post stanchions and retractable belt barriers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[18,137],"tags":[128,127,129],"class_list":{"0":"post-426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"category-short-trips","9":"tag-art-institute-of-chicago","10":"tag-museum-of-science-industry","11":"tag-terzo-piano","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_2080.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7OBxc-6S","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions\/434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}