A Night at the Opera

Took a break from my self-imposed lockdown and

took a day to go into Chicago.

Caught the early Amtrak out of Kewanee station, as per usual.

watched some videos on the train ride.

The most relaxing way to travel into Chicago.

After stopping at my hotel to drop off my backpack, I walked

to Beatnik on the River.

A cute, funky little restaurant on the Chicago River, obviously.

Avocado toast...

...and the cinnamon roll.

I was walking a lot, so I let myself have the sweet treat.

Beatnik is a nice place, if a bit over-priced. The food is certainly good,

and the service is fine. It was a nice meal to start my day in the city.

Because I had lots of time, my next stop was a short walk down Randolph Street.

In a recent episode from The Constant podcast, I learned about the Thompson Center building.

It was built to be the State of Illinois Center, to be used by public officials.

It's now closed, so I couldn't see the interior.

It was designed by Helmut Jahn and opened in 1985.

The salmon pink color dates it a bit, it reminds of that color you see on 

school buildings of a certain time period. According to the podcast,

Jahn was going for a red, white, and blue color scheme.

The curved side of the glass is impressive, and the slant away from the

street results in a reflection of sky, instead of the surrounding buildings. 

The result opens up the block space.

The objections to the building came from workers who spent the most time

inside the building. The cooling and heating systems were short-changed from 

the start, and were not up to the challenge to heating the building in the

cold Chicago winters or sufficiently cooling it in the hot summers.

The building was eventually closed, all the businesses taken out,

and it was sold to Google, who will renovate it and make it

a Chicago office. Which puts the public space into private hands.

Which means I may never get see the interior.

Which brings me to another thing.

I am not a Chicago noob. I visit once or twice a year, at least, for

various reasons.

Why is this the first time I've heard of this building?

I've taken the architectural tours.

Also, there is a Pedway in Chicago that has never shown up

on maps for me until this year. The Pedway is an underground

tunnel systems that connects several locations throughout the Loop.

After all the time I've spent on Google Maps Chicago, why has it never popped up for me?

I feel like I've been living in an alternate timeline and just now popped into a different one.

So, for my next visit, I may try to find the entrances to the Pedway.

Speaking of things I would have found by now, this must be relatively new.

The Medieval Torture Museum on State Street opened in 2021.

Which is why I'm only hearing of it now, I suppose.

It's an interactive exhibit space. 

You walk through each section and see all the ways people have

invented to torture, maim, and kill one another

A head press.

I feel this way sometimes during boring afternoons in the office. 

HAHA

The usual things are there: guillotine, gallows, the wheel, the iron bull.

But also some I have only heard about in passing, or never at all.

Shoes that break the wearer's feet, chairs with spikes and vices to

squeeze answers out of victims, a basket full of snakes, a barrel full 

of stinging and biting insects, constraints that cause cramping and pain.

And so many more.

If you are interested in this kind of thing, have a fairly strong

stomach, and don't mind a bit of gore, it's an absorbing visit.

After some shopping at a couple stores along State Street, I made

my way to my hotel.

I grabbed a light meal of a falafel wrap and a salad and

checked myself into the Club Quarters on the Loop.

From my hotel it's a ten minute walk to the opera house, 

the main reason for this weekend's visit.

Changed into a nicer outfit for the occasion.

I arrived early enough to get my bearings, admire the building and grab

a glass of champagne.

This was my first time at the opera.

So why not make my first opera nothing less than world class?

A gorgeous theatre.

Love the art deco styling.

I had also arrived early to hear the pre-show talk.

This gives a preliminary discussion of the opera, Aida, and

also gave me a chance to see the theatre from the floor.

Took a peek into the orchestra pit.

March 9 was opening night of Verdi's AIDA.

I had read about the story a bit before the trip.

I didn't want to be too lost in the plot.

They performed the opera in its original Italian,

but above the stage was a screen displaying subtitles,

so we knew what they were singing.

Just stunning.

My seat is waaaaay at the top in the upper-most balcony.

My view. Not too bad, really. And these old theatres were

built in a way to push the sound upwards.

The performers did not use microphones.

Which is just amazing.

Down the stairs to the first floor.

Opening night was sold out!

It was a wonderful show. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The singing, the costumes, sets, and the dancers were thrilling.

It is one of the largest operas, with full choruses and groups of dancers.

A great night of theatre :-)

Somehow, I managed to take an overnight trip on Daylight Saving weekend.

So I set two alarms to make sure I didn't miss my early train home.

I love the early light over the Chicago River.

One of my favorite views. I never get tired of it.

A lovely day in Chicago. Lots of walking, tasty food, and glorious opera.

Now it's back to the self-imposed grounding to save money for the next trip out of my cage.

🎶🎻🎺🎩