Today was an early start as I had two different museums to hit.  I hopped in a taxi and headed off to the Field Museum first.  Lucky for me it was pretty empty right after opening.  In the main hall one of the first things you see is Sue, a large T-Rex skeleton.  She is the largest most complete T-Rex ever discovered.  It's a little hard to tell, but she's pretty impressive.

There were two main exhibits I was looking forward to seeing.  Since we're on the subject of dinosaurs, I'll just start there.  There is a whole exhibit that easily and accessibly tells the history of the earth.  It's a great one for kids and besides, who doesn't love dinosaurs?

I just think this one is funny because he looks like he doesn't have a head.  It's there, it's just REALLY small.

See, I told you it was there!

Now this one was HUGE.

 
The other exhibit was all about Egypt.  The museum actually bought two rooms from a minor prince's tomb and actually build a replica of the rest of the tomb around these two rooms.  It's pretty cool to feel like you're walking through the real thing.  That leads you down to the rest of the Egyptian collection.  It's a pretty good one, though of course The British Museum set that standard a long time ago.

There are quite a few other interesting exhibits all over the museum.  There was an interesting on on the Maharajas but no pictures were allowed.  It showed some amazing clothes and jewelry from the British colonial days.  Another great one was all about the natives of the Americas; Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, etc.  There was also a huge exhibit of Native American artifacts and clothing.

Then it was time for the museum I was dying to see.  The Art Institute of Chicago. 

I knew going in that there was an amazing collection of Impressionist art waiting for me.  There were also some amazing stained glass panels done by Marc Chagall.

For the most part, I don't like to take pictures of art as it never turns out as well as a professional shoot.  So here's my one picture.

And now here are some internet shots of the rest of the paintings I saw.  These are the notable ones.

And here are the ones that made me stay in the museum for hours.  And possibly made me a little teary eyed.  Possibly.

Next it was time for a little shopping.  I braved the cold to walk to the Macy's that now inhabits the Marshall Field's building.  And when I say cold, I mean ice on the ground, I can't feel my nose cold.  Lucky for me, the wardrobe I've been preparing for England seems to be holding up.  Fleece lined leggings are the bomb! I only got a couple of shots, but this building is amazing.  Huge, but amazing.  Sadly I couldn't find anything there.  Why do I never have luck at Macy's?

Then it was a rather chilly walk back to my hotel.  My traveling cohort flew in today so it was time to meet up and watch the Golden Globes.  Nothing like snarking the whole show with someone who 1) likes almost all the same things you do  2) DISLIKES almost all the same things (dresses) you do and 3) has similar taste in men!

Tomorrow the real work will begin.  We have an early meeting with the clients to run through the presentation and then we start checking the footage around 2.  The real rehearsal will begin at 4:30 and then it's showtime!  Looking forward to a nice evening after it's all done.  Plus a little bit of time tomorrow morning.  I still haven't seen everything I wanted, but so far Chicago has impressed.  I would say it definitely warrants a return trip!