VIVID!

What an amazing surprise to arrive in Sydney with a city-wide display of light! 

The administrators of Sydney dreamt up a brilliant way to draw people into the city during its ‘low’ season…winter.  The weather is still perfectly delightful – average in the 70’s – but still they wanted to see what they could do to bring people in.  This intense 2-week festival launched 5 years ago and has grown exponentially each year.   I can’t even imagine what it will be like in years to come. 

This year’s festival is May 24 to June 10 and commences each evening at 6PM concluding at midnight.  People are out, street vendor food, music, INCREDIBLE light shows all over the city…small and large!  I tried to take pictures, but all lights are moving, so it was impossible to truly capture the essence of the art with still photography.  I did take some short videos with my camera (inferior quality at best), but really and truly…you need to go to experience it for yourself!

The video is of the display on the Contemporary Art Museum.

A City Break

When you are wanting to get away from routines and do something different, a great American city might do the trick! WE have so many great choices: New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, St. Louis, DALLAS, etc… Now if you travel for work, you might think this isn’t such a great idea, but experiencing a city with someone you love vs. on business are two totally different things.

We just spent the weekend in Chicago. The weather was beyond perfection! A great respite from the heat of Dallas. Chicago is an easy town to manage in a weekend…or two… We did not get to it all, but that just means we get to go back some day.

As far as hotels go, the choices are top notch… The Peninsula and Park Hyatt are the usual top picks smack in the middle of Michigan Avenue. The James is a funky modern hotel that has awesome suites at reasonable prices – and great for families! The Four Seasons was recently re-done and is all sparkly and new and is well located just a block off Michigan behind the mall – no matter where, I always love the Four Seasons. W & Westin also offer some great options…

During the summer months, the city puts on a Jazz concert in the park (Millennium Park Bandshell) on Thursday evenings! We went, it was awesome. Great music, great people watching, great weather, great company, all around greatness.

The art in Chicago is world class! We went to the Museum of Contemporary Art for the Olafur Eliasson exhibit. The museum is just a block off of Michigan and is a worthy destination in itself. Great collection! The Art Institute of Chicago also offers a stellar collection and is directly across the street from Millennium Park.

The Frank Lloyd Wright tours are great, the Shedd Aquarium isn’t as good as the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, but is worth the visit. The Field Museum…wow! The Navy Pier – not for me….but apparently it is for a lot of people, because it was jam packed. Baseball, football, theater, etc, etc, etc. Get the picture?

So, make it an ‘Art Weekend’ or ‘Sport Weekend’ or ‘Food Weekend’ etc… Chicago has a lot to offer and is worth going back again and again.