The BEAN at the Millennium Park in Chicago

 I had returned to Chicago for a short visit after 25 years and was astounded by the overall beautification of the City that had taken place in these years and was more particularly impressed with the number of new sculptures that had been installed at various locations. One such installation is the BEAN - the more popular name of a shining steel structure at the Millennium Park ( within the Grant Park) formally called the Cloud Gate. The structure is the creation of Anish Kapoor, a Bombay (India) born British Architect and has remained a major tourist attraction ever since its installation as a part of the Millennium celebrations. Its close resemblance to a bean simply translated to the nickname. Frankly, it is also the more popular name. The reflection of the Chicago skyline with its famously tall skyscrapers in the neighbourhood on various sides of the structure is really very attractive and it's common to see numerous visitors standing in front of the Bean and taking their own photos reflected on the outer shell. We were no exceptions!









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SPLENDOURS OF FALL : USA : PART 2

Image
  We had planned to visit Ferrum in Virginia in the first fortnight of October as my past experience indicated that the Fall Colours would be at their glorious best by around the 10th. Much to our disappointment, however, there was hardly any change in foliage colours  and the trees remained more green than any other even on the 15th. So we chose to extend our stay in Ferrum till the 24th and continue to enjoy the warm hospitality of our gracious hosts – Supriya and Rathin Basu. We would now leave for Chicago on the 25th. Fortunately, the leaves started to change colours faster soon and thereafter we were able to witness some magnificent display of Autumn Colours on trees all around. The weekend of 17/18 October turned out to be a wonderful reward for our patience as the Blue Ridge Parkway, in general, and the Mabry Mill area, in particular, put on a splendid show of a riot of colours, although it was still not at the peak of Colour Spectacle! Many of the photos of the fall co...
Read more

Reaching for the Sky: A Trek around Annapurna: Thorong La and Beyond : 1987

Image
 After an arduous climb that started at 3 AM we finally scrambled up to the Thorong La at 17,769 ft, by far the highest point on the 190 mile "Around the Annapurna Circuit". All the breathlessness, the drowsiness, wanting to go on no more and stay put on a snow-ridge, seemed to vanish in minutes, as if by sheer magic. On a photo-shooting spree I looked back to where we came from and was delighted to get a fabulous panoramic picture in two consecutive shots. The golden / orange tent of an unknown trekker in the foreground added a mysterious, magical touch. The two separate but congruous photos were merged and the resultant picture is posted here. Sorry, the photo dates back from October 1987 and with my limited skills I could not produce a better picture and I simply do not know how to get rid of the line of merger.If the climb up to the Thorong Pass was tough, the climb down to Muktinath on the other side of the Pass was no less tougher. We had to literally scamper down stee...
Read more

FUN WITH COFFEE

Image
 There's a lovely little coffee shop on the City map nowadays. Pit Stop Cafe on Rajdanga Main Road, in the lane just after Gateway Hotel if one's driving westward from Ruby More,. Excellent Latin Coffee (Brazilian, Colombian, Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, Guatemalan) plus Ethiopian, Tanzanian, Sumatran.and Papua New Guinean coffee  vying for your custom! A quiet place  ideally suited for one to reflect or read or just dream on ! On a major sporting event day just hang around for a giant screen telecast ! The co-owner Saptarshi (Ghosh) is a wonderful host. Pit Stop Cafe has become Sipra and mine regular Saturday afternoon haunt. Loving it !
Read more