[MSJ] - Day 17: Bean There, Done That

Walking to the L

I took advantage of the rain this morning to sleep a bit and get some housekeeping done. I went to the Oriental Institute, the building across the street from the con building (Saieh Hall), with Emma and Tyler to take advantage of our TA, Ted's, office hours. The econ building was apparently closed, which was why he was set up across the street. I went primarily to ask a question that Josef had about the problem set but thought it would be nice to take a walk and grab breakfast at a café. The walk was nice, but the café ended up being closed, which meant I went for a very early lunch after chatting with Ted.

Julia, Jeffrey, and Alex on the L

Afterward, since the rain had let up, we (Emma, Tyler, Rylee, Jeffrey, Alex, Jasper, and I, plus Dana, Julia, and Jessica from House Thangaraj) took the L into downtown to see the bean again and also just to explore. The trip on the green line took about half an hour, and we came out right in front of the Art Institute. We walked around the museum to where the Bean is and proceeded to take lots of pictures. Emma had brought a good camera, so we have lots of nice pictures of the afternoon. I won't be able to put those pictures on the blog tonight since she hasn't downloaded them yet, but as soon as she does I'll put some of the best ones up.

So cheesy!

I had a hot dog at a stand next to the Bean, with the typical Chicago bright green relish and mustard, and then we slowly started walking towards the Mag(nificent) Mile, the biggest shopping street in Chicago. We stopped several more times along the way to take pictures and take in the views of the river and some nice open squares.

We walked along the Mag Mile, stopping at several stores along the way. We tried on nice clothes, then looked at the nice price tags and put them back. Nevertheless, I love shopping, and visiting shops with friends in a big city is always fun. This afternoon really made me realize that I should go into San Francisco with friends more often when I get back home. We did buy some things; I bought cheap sunglasses and a Bean Christmas ornament at a tourist shop, then some cologne later on. Rylee bought some clothes, and we all window shopped a bunch too.

I was told that we should dress
up for a dapper dinner

For dinner, we opted for a Chicago classic, deep dish pizza at Giordano's, a famous Chicagoan chain of American-Italian restaurants. This was a throwback to the first meal we had on the Thursday we flew in since it was the same restaurant and the same location. Two weeks seems like an eternity! After eating way too much food and bringing some back with us, we started on the walk back towards the L stop. We briefly thought about going to the Art Institute, but then learned that it was closed. We'll have to go back another time!

The ride back was uneventful, and now I'm going to sleep after a busy day. Tomorrow morning will be a trip to the gym to work off the slices of deep-dish!