World Expo - Day 2

Our 2nd day at the epxo started the same way as the first one, queuing! We were expecting less queues today since it was Monday, but turns out the expo is even busier on week days due to all the school trip!

Today, we decided to speed straight down to an exhibition we really wanted to see, hoping to beat the crowds. We decided to go for the Chinese pavillion - figuring that China at least would come up with something suitably impressive. Turns out that wasn't the case, we were a bit disappointed with their effort - maybe due to the fact that the pavillion wasn't yet completed. Oh well.

We then headed for the Italian pavillion - had to see that one at least ? We resigned ourselves to the fact that we would need to queue for a long time - and we did indeed queue for a long time (probably neatly 2 hours?). Was it worth it ? Not really. It's the biggest pavillion in the Expo, but not my preferred one. First thing - plenty of stuff is in Italian only? I mean that's just ridiculous - it's the World Expo! Plenty of foreign visitors coming along...? Apart from that, there were some quite interesting parts to the pavillion, but we didn't walk away overwhelmingly impressed. You also got the impression they'd skipped some corners to get the pavillion finished on time...

Next stop was Germany. We only visited the rooftop, as the queues for the exhibition were, erm, long. But we really enjoyed the rooftop. The views were spectacular, and there's also a presentation of each German state (with quite detailed information about their culinary specialities and so forth). So all quite nice and informative. The cooles thing was the band of oldies dressed up in German national dresses, playing German folk songs and rock n' roll classics. That rocked ;-)

Next up was USA. The pavillion itself was not as impressive as one might expect, lacking a bit of flair as far as the architecture was concerned. But I liked the exhibition itself, there was a lot of information about the use of technology to improve food productivity and so forth. There was even an introductory speech from Mr. Obama. So pretty good, down-to-earth effort from the Americans.

We also checked out Quatar's, Slovakia's and Chile's pavillions - all very good. Quatar came as a bit of a surprise - I wasn't expecting much contribution from them when it came to sustainable food production. But their exhibition quite interestingly highlighted the challenges a nation like theirs face (being a densly populated desert nation). Slovakia was a bit similar to Czech replublic from the day before, interesting innovation from anothe Eastern European country (on the whole, Eatern European countries had pretty strong efforts). Chile was excellent too - it was all kind of abstract, with videos showing life in Chile and impressive landscapes, but it all somehow worked (unlike Spain's effort, for example, which was in some ways similar).

Special mention needs to go to Turkmenistan. Now, the theme of the World Expo is "How to feed the planet", right? So what do they showcase in their imposing pavillion ? There's a dedicated section for their great leader (including a book which is titled such, I kid you not). Another section dedicated to their oil industry (hello - relevance?). And some stuff about horses, which I supposes comes closest to the theme. It was a bit like an Ed Wood movie - funny in a very unintentional way (or who knows, maybe it was all a practical joke?).

We still had a couple of hours to go, so rushed through a few more pavillions before it was time to hit the road. Indonesia was mostly about selling local products and handicraft, Israel was a rather unconvincing, with a tacky, strangely uninformative video (some might say the highlight is the actress/model Moran Atias - says something about the whole thing I suppose?) and finally, Angola.

We went to Angola's pavillion since, well, it was very big, and the queues on the previous day had been just ridiculous, and they were much shorter today, much to our surprise. Actually it seemed very impressive, they'd really put effort and money into their pavillion, unfortunately we really had to rush through it, though...

So, the final verdict then ? Is it worth going to Milan to check out the World Expo ? I would say, definitely go, it really is worth it. If you're an architecture buff, you should definitely go. Just be aware of the commerical side of it all, and most of all, be prepared to queue! We're even thinking of going back, since there are plenty of pavillions we still haven't seen!

World Expo - Day 1

Time to visit the World Expo then ! We tried to be there early, to avoid queuing. Alas, in vain. The queues just to get in were just ridiculous. I think it's impossible to avoid queueing.

Anyways, we started off by visiting the introductory exhibition, called Pavillion Zero. So the theme of the expo is "How to Feed the World" - obviously an extremely important theme, since it is one of THE biggest challenges for the 21st century for mankind. Especially, the question of how to feed everybody without messing up our planet in the process of it. So Pavillion Zero is supposed to give a history of mankind's relation to food and the challenges we face. Unfortunately, this exhibition kind of personifies what I really dislike about some modern museums. It's all about fancy visuals, without any substance. You get some fancy slogans, and sure, some pretty exhibits, but not the feeling you've actually learnt something. Oh well...

The Expo itself is basically composed of pavillions created by, let's say, bigger/more well-off countries (although some countries, like Finland, are absent), some exhibitions related to the theme of the expo, and then some prefabricated structures where smaller countries can host exhibitions.

Fearing queues, we decided to try to visit only pavillions where the queues were reasonable (otherwise we would just spend two days in queues!). The first pavillion we visited, Sudan, was a bit of a dissapointment (they basically just sold local products from Sudan - it was a bit like being in a bazaar, without the charm of a bazaar).

Brazil's pavillion was more impressive. They'd constructed a kind of climbing net along a long corridoor. We didn't climb on the net, as the queues were, hmm, ridiculous, but happily we could visit the exhibition inside the pavillion without queueing. The exhibition was pretty interesting, showcasing Brazil's ability and role in feeding the world (obviously no mention was done about the rainforest destruction and other environmental sacrifices that comes with it...).

We then, kind of randomly, ended in Bahrain's exhibition, which was housed in a rather unimpressive concrete structure. The pavillion was pretty interesting though - Bahrain is a country I knew very little about so it was kind of interesting. We also had an excellent lunch there.

The next pavillions we visited were Czech Republic, Nepal and Belgium. Of these, Belgium interested me most. They managed to get their pavillion pretty much spot on - the pavillion was impressive architecturally speaking, the themese discussed were contemporary and relevant (they showcased some pretty impressive cylindrical indoor garden devices for growing plants and herbs and also discussed the role of insects in the future in food, yummie!) and some Belgian culinary specialities were on display as well.

Czech Republic put on a pretty good display too - I liked their band playing Czech folk music and their Pilsner Urquel tent (didn't have any, believe it or not?). Nepal was less impressive (I suppose they have more important things to worry about with the recent earthquake and all).

We then checked out Azerbadjan (impressive from the outside), Hungary (not so impressive) and Spain. Spain was particularly disappointing - we queued for quite a while, and I didn't like the pavillion at all (again a case of "let's try to put up some fancy slogans and multimedia, and not worry about the information/learning bit").

After checking out what a supermarkets will be like in the future (hmm, OK, so the prices and names of fruits and veg will be on digital displays rather than printed on paper, not so revolutionary if you ask me. The robots making fruit juice were more impressive), we headed off to the French pavillion. Bravo les Francaises - one of the better pavillions we've seen so far. Similar to the Belgian effort, the French pavillion provided information, impressive architecture, fancy multimedia, information about French gastronomy in rightly judged proportions.

But my favourite "pavillion" of the day had to be Holland. Basically they had put together a kind of fun fair instead of a pavillion, and it was all very cool in an off-beat way. I especially liked their Ferris Wheel restaurant, where the "lady" serving food was actually very obviously a man dressed up as a lady. LOL.

I really liked Poland's effort too - there was a really cool video summarizing Poland's history, and a really nice mirror garden on the rooftop. Not sure the whole pavillion had much to do with feeding the planet though ? Be that as it may, I liked it.

Next stop was the Tree of Life, one of the showcases of the Expo, a big tree-like structure (which rather reminded us of Gadens in the Bay at Singapore - one of our favourite spots over there). We checked out the light and music show (from the China-sponsored, impressive Vanke Pavillion, designed by the American architect David Libeskind) - not that impressive by delight (sure more so at night).

Obviously, we had to visit the Japanese pavillion - and this time we were willing to queue (and queue we did, for more than an hour!). And was it worth the wait ? Sadly, no. We liked some bits of the pavillion, but overall, it was a bit disappointing. (especially the weird restaurant show at the end).

After checking out Russia's contribution (impressive from the outside, less so lon the inside inspite of the free food samples we were given), Estonia (quite OK) and Oman (quite interesting and informative), it was time for some more food! Since we were, after all, in Italy, the choice was easy - Eataly. Eataly is described by Wikipedia as the "largest Italian marketplace in the world". Pretty good way to describe it I suppose - they have restaurants, food counters, grocery stores all around the world. In Italy at least, it's all about local, responsibly sourced food (they collaborate with the Slow Food movement). In the Expo, the concept was a great one I thought - it's like a big food court, with a counter/stand representing each part of Italy. Great food, and not too expensive either. We really enjoyed it.

To finish off an extremely busy day, we checked out the light show at the Tree of Life - and I can confirm my previous statement - it's much more impressive by night time. Worth hanging around for the show, I would say.


So, first impressions of the Expo ? The crowds are way too big, the queues too long. And there's something a bit hypochritical about a hugely commercial enterprise (sponsored by companies like Nestle...) that talks about sustainably feeding the planet. And of course, one has to ask what's going to happen to all the infrastructure that was put in place (metro/train stations, as well as the Expo site itself) once it's all over and done with? Yes, the entrance fee is rather steep (at 39 Euros), but on the other hand, there is plenty to do for a full day. (and apart from the food, the rest of the stuff is free). I won't even go into all the corruption and supposed mafia involvement... But, the bottom line is, we still enjoyed it a lot. Fantastic architecture, and mostly interesting exhibits - we went away very happy.

Exploring Milan

We seem to go to Italy less frequently than we did when we initially moved to the Cote d'Azur, which is a bit of a pity. Maybe our passion for Italy has been replaced by a passion for Japan ? Be that as it may, I was looking forward to visiting Milan again, it's been a few years since our last visit. Our "excuse" (as if one was needed?) was the World Expo, which was taking place in Milan this time around.

We decided to stay just outside Milan, in Rho, where the expo is actually taking place - and went for AirBnB, as we do more and more often these days. After an uneventful drive up from Nice, we arrived at Rho just in time for dinner. After meeting our hosts (a lovely elderly couple), we hit the town of Rho. Dining options seemed limited, so we ended up going to the local restaurant recommended by our hosts. The food was OK, but not quite worth the long wait (there was a big group there, which slowed things down). To make matters work, the credit card machine was broken, and we didn't have enough to cash to pay the bill. So off we headed, hunting for a working cash machine with money on it, which didn't turn out to be an easy task (in this day and age??). Well, we eventually managed, and the restaurant owners were kind enough to give me a discount and gave me a free digestif for the hassle ;-)

The next day, on Saturday, we headed off to visit Milan (our tickets for the expo were for Sunday and Monday). We've already seen the main sights of Milan, so were quite happy to just randomly wander around. We start off on the Piazza di Duomo, the main square in Milan, the main attraction of which is  (obviously) the impressive Duomo (cathedral) of Milan. I had hoped to visit the rooftop of the Duomo (apparently it's a pretty cool thing to do), but put off by the ridiculous queues to the ticketing office, we opted not to... So after a brief stroll in the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, an impressive shopping gallery just next to the Duomo. 

From there, we continued our stroll around the town centre, eventually stumbling upon Piazza Mecanti (Merchant's square), a medieval square located right in the middle of Milan. It really qualifies as a hidden gem - we never came here during our previous visit - which is a bit surprising since it's right next to the Duomo. Anyway, it's a really beautiful little place where to sit down and relax, and enjoiy the beautiful medieval buildings dotting the square. A real rarity in an otherwise largely modern city.

We then walked down the impressive Via Dante (lined up with national flags, in honour of the Expo, I suppose) to the impressive Castello Sforzescpo, located in the big Sempione park. Built in the 15th century, it was one of the biggest Citadels in Europe. Today it houses an impressive collection of museums. We just had a stroll around, taking the beautiful poppy fields around the castle walls.

By now, my stomach was grumblig, so after consulting our trusty Milan Tripadvisor guide (we recently discovered the TripAdvisor city guide Apps, that can be used off-line - pretty useful when you are abroad!) we ended up in a bakery-restaurant called Patti, where I had the most delicious Cotelletto alla Millanese I've ever had in my life. And those gressini they served before the meal were just, in a word, amazing. So, big thumbs up for culinary Milan, then!

Our apetites sated, we continued our exploration of Milan. After randomly walking around the afore-mentioned Sempione Park, we ended up in the Triennale building - a design museum (naturally, there is bound to be one in Milan - it being one of the capitals of European Design). It's a pretty cool museum, with a huge collection of design of various kinds on display. Plenty of Finnish design (Iiittala, Pentik, Aalto and so forth) on display as well, yippee! The theme of the museum was food (nice choice!) - to tie in with the World Expo theme "how to feed the world".

We continued randomly strolling around Milan, taking in the Arco Della Pace (where, on one side of the arch, there was an anti-gay marriage demonstration, and on the other side, an anti-fascist demonstration ;-). We then made continued strolling around, heading towards the Piazza Garibaldi train station. We stopped for an aperitif at the fancy 10 Corso Como, a rather stunning cafe from an esthetical point of view, almost like having your aperitif in a garden! You do pay for the site, though ;-)

We finished our tour of Milan in Piazza Gae Aulenti - a sort of showpiece for modern architecture. Fountains, fancy shops, cafes, just the place for a Milan facelift for the 21st century, I suppose one could say. Well worth a visit - shows yet another face of Milan.

We ended up dining in a rather disappointing touristy restaurant near Piazza Garibaldi station - the place was pretty packed, but pretty much all the diners were foreigners, always a bad sign... We chose more wisely for luch!

After dinner, we got the train back to Rho, very pleased after a day of pretty intensive exploration!

Back cycling in the Massif d'Esterel!

Time to take out my new mountain bike again. Cycling seems to be the main form of exercise suitable for my body (apart from swimming), due to the problems I've had with my feet over the last few weeks...

So off I headed to the Massif d'Esterel, to meet up with Gilbert and Philippe, my usual cycling partners. We did the same tour as last time - starting at Philippe's place in Les Adrets, we headed via Saint-Jean-de-Cannes on to the Col des Trois Termes. And then after some uphill cycling, back to Philippe's via Les Adrets.

A rather stunning beach @ Toulon

Normally people from Nice go to Toulon mainly for one reason - to visit Ikea. And that's what brought as to Toulon this Sunny Saturday as well. We had a table to change (we got the wrong colour last time around). Things started off rather badly this time around too - seems that the table was composed of two boxes, and that we had left the other one at home! NOOOO.... Thankfully, turned out we'd actually picked up one of the boxes when we bought the table in the first place - so no need for a round-trip back to Cagnes (and full points to Ikea's customer service!).

After a "delicious" Ikea lunch, we decided to head off to the beach before driving back to Cagnes. After consulting Mr. Google, we ended up in a nice little secluded beach East of Toulon - a real private little heaven, a little rocky bay with its own little port and small hamlet. It wasn't the best possible place for swimming, with all the rocks and cliffs making access a bit difficult, but still much preferable to your typical overcrowded Cote d'Azur beach.

Barbeque in the Vesubie Valley

I've been doing Italian conversation for a couple of years now, and am getting along fabulously with my group. So I was quite happy to accept Henriette's (or Erica, as her Italian pseudonym goes!) invitation to come along for a BBQ, especially when I heard where it was taking place - Berthemont. Berthemont is a village located in the far away Vesubie Valley, in the Park National de Mercantour (in the Alps, basically).

So basically, Henriette and her husband have a house in the Alps, as well as a flat in Cagnes-sur-Mer, for when they miss a bit of urban life and the beach. Not a bad life, eh?

They're property in the Vesubie Valley is, in a word, stunning. The view from their annex, where the party was at, is quite simply great. The place is surrounded by mountains. No complaints about the big garden either.

The party was great fun. Most of our group could make it, including our teacher Annamaria (who's pregnant, and has been replaced by another Italian lady, Anna, over the last few months. Glad to hear everything is going great for her!), Laure, Virginie, Lucie and hubbies.

As expected, the food was fantastic, and the grand finale was, well, grand! (we finished with a pyramid of Champagne glasses, pretty cool!). All in all, not a bad way to spend Ascension Thursday! Grazie mille, Erica e Christian!

East Village and Harlem

Our second day in New York started in East Village, a part of Manhattan we didn't really get to visit on our last trip. East Village used to be a less-than-glamorous part of New York, a real melting pot where immigrants from East Europe, Italy and other parts of the worlds all migrated and mingled. Later on, it was the playground of hippies and the Beat generation. These days, it's gentrifying again, as one can expect, but still retains some of that alternative culture atmosphere, apparently... We were keen to find out!

We started out by visiting the Tenament Museum, a place that brings that immigrant past to life, apparently. We took a tour that told a tale of a typical Irish immigrant family that lived in the area. Very interesting & sort of interactive kind of experience, which tells a personal tale while setting it in an interesting historical context. Well worth the 20 bucks entrance fee!

After a nice lunch in a decently-priced burger joint, we headed for the legendary Saint-Mark's Place, which is kind of the main street of East Village, at least from a spiritual and historical point of view. There are plenty of historic buildings here, bringing back memories of the area's more distant and upscale past (Alexander Hamilton's house is located here, for example). More recently, the place became the favourite part of town for the hippies - a few quirky shops in the area serve as a reminder of those crazy days. A pretty cool street to wander down, all three blocks of it!

Saint-Mark's Place ends in Tomkin Square Park, a nice piece of Greenery, still a focal point for students, artists and other cool people. The sun was out and it was getting a bit hot, so we decided to head for an ice cream. After a quick consultation of Tripadvisor, we ended up having our sugar rush at The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop (c'mon, how could we pass up on a place with a name like that?). It was all very gay (I mean, one of the ice creams was called Salty Pimp, LOL), but hey, what's most important, the ice cream was excellent!

We ended our visit in East Village by checking out Saint-Mark's church (for which Saint-Mark's Place is named, unsurprisingly). Dating back to 1660, it's the 2nd oldest church in New York. The place was shut for visitors, but a janitor kindly let me in and even let me take pictures.

And then, it was time to head down to Times Square for what I'd been looking forward to for quite some time - a proper Broadway Show (Mathilde got me tickets for a stand-up comedy show by none other than Jeff Garlin, of Curb your Enthusiasm fame). After a walk around the theatre district, we made our way to the show. So how was Jeff, then ? In a word, brilliant. The warmup acts were OK, but Jeff really gave me a sore belly after all the laughing. What was brilliant was the guy's ability to improvise and interact with the audience - true comic genius!

We finished our perfect New York day with a nice dinner in a South African restaurant.

The next day, the plan was to visit Harlem properly. We started off by heading to Morning Side park. Amazing, how things can change in a couple of decades. Today, it's a lovely oasis of Greenery - yet 20 years ago this was one of the dodgiest places in New York, full of drug dealers and other dodgy characters...

After quickly checking out the massively impressive Gothic Revival style Cathedral of Saint-John the Divine (it's the 3rd largest church in the world), we headed for breakfast (must get ones priorities right, after all!) near Columbia University.

We then headed off to stroll around the campus of said educational institution. This venerable university is the oldest one in the state of New York, the 5th oldest in the United States, and naturally one of the country's Ivy League Universities. To quote wikipedia, Notable alumni and former students of the university and its predecessor, King's College, include five Founding Fathers of the United States; nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court; 43 Nobel Prize laureates; 20 living billionaires; 29 Academy Award winners; and 29 heads of state, including three United States Presidents. 'Nough said. The campus was just as one would imagine of an Ivy League University, with a nice Alma Mater statue watching over it all.

After visiting the impressive Riverside Church (built by none other than one John D. Rockefeller), we headed off to check out General Grant National Memorial. Completed in 1892, it pays homage to the Civil War hero (and later president of the United States) Ulysses Grant. There's an interesting museum recounting the "heroic exploits" of Mr. Grant (well, heroic, even if most people tend to be of the opinion that his victory of General Lee had more to do with the industrial might and superior numbers of the Northern states, than the military genius of Mr. Grant). Well, be that as it may, an interesting place to visit.

We then headed back to explore Harlem. And what an interesting neighbourhood Harlem is. It still has a very afro-american feel to it, with folks chilling out in the streets - the place really has a neighbourhood feel to it. I really hope the place retains that unique spirit it has kin spite of the inevitable pressure of real estate prices going up and all that. The gentrification can definitely be felt in many parts of Harlem, with the old Victorian-Era brownstone houses being restored and sold at no doubt lucrative prices...

We checked the main sights in Harlem, starting with the interesting Shomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, a public New York City research library, possibly the largest archives on black history and culture in the USA. Quite an interesting place to visit, a pity we didn't have time to stay for very long.

By now it was time to have a bite to eat after all that walking around in the heat. Our cool Airbnb host Daniel had recommend a place called Dinosaur Barbeque for lunch, and, well, we (or maybe rather, I) just couldn't pass up on the opportunity to have lunch in a place called that. The name is pretty descriptive, big portions and family fun all around. Just the way I like American food.

Our appetites sated, we continued exploring Harlem. We checked out Striver's Row, a collection of late 19th century houses, which was where the succesfull Harlem residents lived after world war I, when African-Americans started moving into Harlem.

The next stop was Apollo Theatre, a real New York and Harlem landmark (such names as Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie from the Swing Era, or more recently, Bill Crosby and Richard Pryor, made their names here). Still going strong, apparently.

But we just really enjoyed walking around Harlem and taking in the very special atmosphere of the place. Unfortunately, we had a flight to catch though. So after saying by to our host Danny (who is so far the coolest Airbnb host we've had the pleasure of dealing with), it was time to head off to the airport.

So how to best sum up our 2nd visit together in the Big Apple ? Well, saying it's one of the great cities in the world is kind of stating the obvious, but well, there you go. It's one of maybe 10 cities that you could easily visit 10 or 20 times during your life time and barely scratch the surface of the place... And just to hammer in the point, Harlem was a real revelation - a place unjustly neglected by tourists (lucky for us, though!). I believe we shall be back one day!

Back in the Big Apple

We continued our American adventure with a few days in New York. We arrived at LaGuardia airport on time, and took the bus into the Big Apple. We were staying in Harlem this time, something I was really looking forward to. Harlem, of course, is the place to explore Afro-American culture in New York (and in the States in General). We were dong Airbnb again, and were able to find our flat without any problems. Our host was the super-cool Daniel, an actor whose done a fair bit of Broadway and a bit of telly too (he even had a bit part in House of Cards, how cool is that ?), who gave us plenty of excellent advice on what to do in Harlem.

It was getting late by the time we'd settled in, but we were still keen to get out and explore Harlem. It was pretty much just as I'd expected. It's still got a very afro-American feel to it, even though it's quite multi-cultural in general (plenty of African immigrants from places like Senegal bringing their own touch to the place). Thankfully, Harlem is a pretty safe place these days - it used to be one of the most dangerous places in New York just a couple of decades earlier. It's gentrifying rapidly - I hope the place is able to retain it's cool and laid-back feel in the years to come... We decided to have dinner in a real Harlem institution - the Red Rooster (which was, funnily enough, founded by an Ethopian-born guy who was brought up in Sweden !). Great place for roasted chicken, that's for sure! Loved the vibe of the place too - with live music livening things up!

We started the next day with a proper, filling, American breakfast in Harlem, after which we headed towards Central Park - the plan was to take on the grand-daddy of American museums - the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or more simply known as "The Met"). Now, The Met has it all: an amazing Egyptian collection, Greek sculptures, Art Nouveau design, furniture, American art, Classical European Art, and one of the greatest Impressionist collections in the World.

Seeing it all in one visit is basically Mission: Impossible. So we decided to concentrate on the stuff that we usually like - 19th/20th Century European Art, in particular the Impressionist stuff. I can confirm that their collection is impressive. We also took part in a guided tour taking in their Japanese collection (of course!). All in all, The Met is of course one of the mandatory places to visit in New York, even though I think we preferred the Art Institute of Chicago in the end I think (seems better laid out, friendlier and also importantly, much less busy. What was funny about the Met was that listening to some conversations, I had the impression of being in a Woody Allen movie... ;)

After a rather indifferent lunch in a posh Italian place near The Met, we headed down to the financial district for the afternoon. Mathilde fancied a bit of shopping, whilst I was quite keen on visiting the Groud Zero City and the museum they'd created there. The reconstruction around the site is pretty much all finished now, with the One World Trade Centre building having been completed just a couple of years earlier. Standing tall at 1776 feet (full points to anybody guessing what that number symbolizes ;-), it's the 4th tallest building in the world (and the highest in the Western hemisphere).

There is also the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on the site of the original world trade centre. Two reflective pools have now replaced the site of the original buildings, and the memorial museum is actually mostly located under ground. It's all quite tastefully done I thought, and the museum is really interesting an informative. What I liked about how it was done is that while it pays due respect to the lives lost, it's all quite restrained, and thankfully keeps "non-political" (I was expecting something more "patriotic" than this, so was positively surprised).

We headed back to Harlem for dinner, deciding to try out the Cecil, just down the road from out flat.  It was a pretty nice little place, serving kind of Afro-American food with a modern/international twist. It was a pretty fancy place for having dinner, with a nice and classy atmosphere. The dishes on the menu seemed really interesting and original - even if the food didn't quite live up to the promise (I don't know, maybe it comes from living in France, the home of haute cuisine - but fancier dining in the US is often a bit disappointing to me...)

More Windy City

The plan was to continue our exploration of Chicago with something everybody tells us is an absolutely mandatory experience - an architectural boat tour. Before the tour, we decided to have breakfast by the Mag Mile - we ended up sitting outside at a cafe just by the Chicago Tribune Tower. I feel it's necessary to write a few words about this magnificent building - one of the architectural highlights of Chicago. Built in 1922 in the neo-Gothic style after a competition (Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen's entry actually came second!). One interesting detail about the building - the exterior integrates rocks from various famous buildings from all over the world. Nice idea.

Breakfast out of the way, it was time to head back to the river and catch our boat. Expectations were high thanks to all the good things we'd heard but also the rather steep price tag... And we were certainly not disappointed! Should you ever be in Chicago, this really is one of the mandatory things to do. The 1 1/2 hour cruise gives a great insight into the colourful history of Chicago's architecture. It's interesting to note how the Great Chicago fire of 1871 kind of wiped the cityscape clean, allowing a bunch of creative architects out-impress each others with the most fantastic designs imaginable. This all was made possible by Chicago's location as a major transportation hub and business centre.

There are too many highlights to list here in this blog - but I suppose I ought to mention Sears Tower (oh, sorry, it's actually called Willis Tower these days...), which was the highest building in the world from 1973 to 1998. Today it's the second highest building in the USA and the 12th highest in the world. It's not the prettiest skyscraper in Chicago, but for sure it's one of the most impressive ones...! Quite interesting how it's built up actually - the skyscraper is actually built as a kind of 3x3 matrix - all of the tubes go up to the 50th floor, whereas only 2 tubes remain at the top (all part of a master plan to make the whole thing stand up).

So, fantastic way to spend the morning, then. We spent the afternoon walking around the Gold Coast neighbourhood.  It's a historic neighbourhood that was built up and flourished after the Great Chicago fire. It's where the Creme de la creme used to live (and still does - looked like a pretty trendy place). It's the place to check out pre-skyscraper architecture in Chicago, plenty of impressive Victorian townhouses to be found in this part of town. Oh, and one more important fact: the original Playboy mansion was located here!

We stopped for a coffee at a real Chicago institution - the Public Hotel. Pretty atmospheric place for a surprisingly reasonably priced coffee. There were pictures of what we supposed were famous people - unfortunately we're not familiar enough with local history to recognize most of the folks featured in the photos.

We continued our walk by heading into Lincoln park, or more specifically Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a kind of rare attraction in the USA, since it's completely free! Unfortunately it was kind of closing down for the day when we arrived, so we didn't see that many animals. Still a pretty nice place to walk around...

For dinner, it was time to try another real Chicago speciality - Chicago style deep-dish pizza. We decided to go to one of the most famous places in Chicago for pizza - Giordano's (these days a chain of restaurants, actually). Now, I knew that Chicago pizzas are known for being, well, rather filling, but I still figured I'd be able to handle a medium-sized pizza. Except that it's apparently for 4 people. So, delicious as the pizza was, I ended up opting for the doggy bag option... So, yet another must-do-activity-in-Chicago ticket off the list then!

The next day (2nd last day in Chicago :( ), we decided to head off and explore South Chicago. We started with a quick stroll around Chinatown. Chicago's Chinatown, even if it is a proper Chinatown, does not quite compare to what New York or San Francisco has to offer. Also, it lacked the usual hustle and bustle one would expect to find in a "proper Chinatown" - I suppose mostly due to the fact that it was early morning. Well, we had a very cheap breakfast, at least.

Our next stop was the Prairie Avenue District. It's another part of Chicago that was very fashionable after the Great Chicago fire, and there are still plenty of impressive townhouses left that hark back to those old glory days when this was the place to be for the movers and shakers of Chicago. This historic district also houses the oldest house in Chicago - the Henry B. Clarke House (these days a museum). The house has actually been moved twice - the original location was much more centrally located.

hWe then carried on back towards the loop, or rather towards Museum campus, a part of Chicago that assembles a bunch of important museums as well as an aquarium and planetarium. The Soldier Field (where the Chicago Bears, the local football team, plays) is also located here. It's a pretty nice part of town to walk around, but we weren't feeling very motivated (we'd done a lot of walking over the last couple of days - and my lousy feet weren't getting any better!), especially since the sun kept away hidden behind a cover of clouds). We were treated to some great views over the lakefront and the Chicago skyline, though.

Time for a major dose of culture then - we decided to tackle the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the greatest art galleries of the USA, kind of Chicago's answer to the Metropolitan in New York, I suppose. It's certainly a big place, with loads to see. We spent about three hours there in total before reaching a state of saturation (with a break for lunch at Al's Italian Beef again!), mostly concentrating on the impressionist and modern American works of art. I also liked their collections of miniature room replicas from various periods and geographical locations. What can I say ? One of the great art galleries in the world...

For dinner, we decided to try a proper Chicago steakhouse - Gibson's steakhouse. The verdict ? Can't say there was anything wrong with the meat as such, but I was still underwhelmed.

The next day, 'twas unfortunately time to pack our bags and leave Chicago. But, we did have a few hours in the morning to kill before that. We decided to start our last day in Chicago in style - with a proper American breakfast at Yolk. Muffins, fried eggs & potatos, bacon, bring it on!

The weather was quite gloomy, so we opted for a museum, rather than yet more walking around. After quick consultation of our Tripadvisor App on our smartphone we decided to check out the Driehaus Museum. A good choice. The museum is located in a historic townhouse of a rich Chicago banker. Rather than an accurate restoration of the old historic house, it's a kind of showcase of the interior design, furniture and tastes of the Art Nouveau era in Chicago. We really liked the place - all in all a pretty informative visit, and a great way to wrap up our Chicago tour.

We felt rather sad to leave (well, we had a few days in New York to look forward to, so no reason to complain I would say). Chicago was a real relevation for us. I would say it's almost as much a must-place to visit as say New York, Paris or London. In short, a world class city that has it all: architecture, parks, great restaurants, culture, sports and a character all of its own. One of those places I could well imagine visiting again, in spite of the rather long flight...