Every city, town, and piece of countryside has its own feeling and Chicago was no exception. As soon as I exited the bus, felt the crisp breeze against my cheeks, the smell of street meat engulfing my nose, and saw the multitudes of people strutting to unknown destinations I knew I loved its vibe. Before Friday, October 14th, 2011 I had only once been to the Windy City as a young child. Then, I was more interested in the American Girl Doll Store and the giant ferris wheel on Navy Pier than anything else. Because of this lack of attention I missed
so much of what makes this mid-western city so original and so filled with artistic inspiration.
I overlooked the combinations of architecture from different times that stood so vertically strong against the pure blue sky and out onto rough Lake Michigan. Each building holding its own story, culture and grace. This visit, I left with my neck permanently strained back from trying my best to take in the shear size of those brick statues. I went up into some of the buildings at various points of my adventure and was able to see the beauties from above. Architecture has always been an interest of mine and this trip to Chicago was nothing but a treat because of the variety structure.
My first time to Chicago I missed the many world-recognized museums that line the cement streets. Most importantly of these museums, of course, is the Chicago Institute of Art. It holds both modern and ancient pieces. My 
favorite masters that can be found within those stone walls are Monet, Hopper, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso. Seeing these famous pieces that I’ve known for my whole life legitimized the works as real tangible works instead of just an ideal example for one of my classes or a printed out picture taped above my desk. I was fascinated by how I could get inches away from such important parts of culture. This venue impacted me the most of all that I visited during this trip because of its sheer size of the building, its amount of works and its variety of pieces. Every art movement was represented. I wish I could have spent the whole day in the Institute; I didn’t get nearly the same reaction with the artwork from any other venue. The galleries may have had a more intimate feeling, but none seemed to connect with me nearly as much as in the impressionist portion of the Art Institute.
This trip, there was no way I could miss the overwhelming amount of art present throughout the city. I left with my eyes tired from all the dissecting of detail I did to 
understand the variety of works. Modern street art seems to a big deal in Chicago much more than New York, Toronto and definitely Detroit. I mean Millennium Park is a whole block pretty much dedicated to public art pieces. And even just walking on the street I came across art works. Generally, I find this form of art display my favorite, but compared to the tremendous amount of variety found in the Institute I just wasn’t as blown away as I was with inside the building.
When I was a young child I didn’t venture into any galleries, but this time I looked through five different ones. I was disappointed by most of the pieces within the galleries. I wasn’t moved by any of them. Sure the point of a gallery is to showcase one or two artist’s work 
and associate an intimate feeling with the works, but that didn’t happen with the galleries I visited. Or at least not for me. While looking around the different galleries the group I was with and I were the only ones in the shops so I didn’t get that intimate feeling because of the lack of people in the rooms and lack of artwork on the walls. Instead I got a stark empty feeling and I didn’t much like it. The galleries didn’t add up to the rest of my Chicago experience.
On the whole, I enjoyed my trip to Chicago and would like to give myself at least a week in the Windy City visiting the different art venues so abundant downtown, especially the Chicago Institute of Art.
Chicago Adventure 