The Rio Guide – If you’re trying to beat the high cost of accommodations in Brazil, renting an apartment (often times a luxury one at that), may be an affordable option.

Wanderlust and Lipstick – Seattle pal, Beth Whitman, explains how she arranged for dental work to be done in Bangkok.  A good experience with an economical price tag.

Travellious – Kelly’s on a road trip with a bunch of Seattle area travel bloggers.  Destination?  Chicago for BlogHer.  Her recommendations on cheap eats in the windy city made me hungry just reading it.

New York Times – An interesting look at the ethics on reviews and sponsored posts done by bloggers.  Do print journalist standards apply, or should there be a different standard?

Photo credit:  SXC

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Here are the Top Ten on the list:

1. Empire State Building
2. The White House
3. Washington National Cathedral
4. Thomas Jefferson Memorial
5. Golden Gate Bridge
6. U.S. Capitol
7. Lincoln Memorial
8. Biltmore Estates
9. Chrysler Building
10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial

As I browsed through the list, I noticed that although I have visited 59 of the buildings on the list, I have only written about a handful.  Those that I have written about include:  Empire State Building  (1), Lincoln Memorial (7), Washington Monument (12), Supreme Court (15), Rockefeller Center (56), TransAmerica Pyramid (61), Corning Museum of Glass (136), and MoMA (146).

You can get the full list of 150 at the AIA 150 website.  AIA member architects provided the nominations, and voting was conducted via a Harris Interactive poll.

How many of these buildings have you seen?

Photo credit:  wikimedia

______________________________________________________
 

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

So what’s significant about Murakami?  He is one of the most significant artists of the under-40 age group to emerge from Japan, with art choices heavily influenced by pop culture and traditional Japanese art forms ““ a blending of east and west. 

His style is called “Superflat,” and is a post-modern style with flat plains of color and graphic images.  His art evokes comments on consumerism, sexual fetishism, and pop culture, and is frequently referred to as a current day Andy Warhol.

Unlike Warhol, however, who took low culture and turned it into high art, Murakami takes low culture, repackages it, and then makes it available to everyone, high and low, in a wide variety of forms.  His artwork has been packaged from everything from t-shirt and key chains, to paintings, to high fashion.

Fashionistas take note:  Murakami is the mastermind behind LV’s Monogram Multicolore canvas handbags and accessories, moving the brand beyond the standard gold monogram on a brown bag, to multicolored monograms on white and black bags.  He also inspired the 2005 Cherry Blossom logo, with smiling faces in pink and yellow flowers.  I was not familiar with Murakami’s art, but I was with his LV affiliation.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is located at 220 East Chicago Avenue, in the heart of the Magnificent Mile.  It is open Tuesday, 10 am-8 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. 10 am-5 pm, and is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. 

Suggested General Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors, and free for children 12 and under and members of the military.  Admission is FREE all day on Tuesday, compliments of Target.  Discounted parking is available (validation required) in the parking garage adjacent to the museum. 

Via The Lobby

Photo credit:  flickr

___________________________________________________

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Relaxing around the house and eating leftovers?  Watching football?  Listening to holiday music and putting up the holiday decorations?  Or are you one of the many, many people who will be heading out to the stores for the kick off of the holiday shopping season?

No matter how we may rebel, there’s no getting around the fact that the upcoming holiday season means shopping.  I hope to make that process a little easier for you, by showcasing a variety of products and services that would make great gifts for travelers and travel lovers.

Today’s suggestion is a city map.  While you may need a map for a variety of reasons (planning a route, figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B quickly, trying to decide which way is north), many times what you really need is a map to tell you where things are.  That’s why I’m a big fan of the Red Maps series.

For example, if you are looking at the New York City – Midtown Red Map, you would know that if you come out of the front door of Sak’s Fifth Avenue (Fifth Avenue between 49th & 50th) and turn right you will find:  St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Armani AX, H Stern, Gant, Gianni Versace, and Cartier.  If you had turned left, you would find American Girl, Benetton’s, and Sephora.  And across the street from Sak’s you will find Kenneth Cole, Cole-Haan, and the promenade to Rockefeller Center.  This is the stuff that you really need to know when you’re in a city environment.

Red Maps aren’t just about shopping either.  It lists the streets, parks, major attractions, of course, and also museums, stores, libraries, hospitals, neighborhoods, galleries, hotels, gardens, and lots more.  These maps won’t be the only ones that you need, but they are a wonderful resource for getting around the city core.  I have several.

Red Maps are available for U.S. cities:  Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City (Chelsea, Downtown, Midtown, SoHo), Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.  International cities available:  Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Venice.  They retail for around $6, and are also available in multi-packs for large cities that require more than one map.

You can purchase Red Maps at Amazon (aff), and at many bookstores.  You can check here for a list of stores in your area.

If you have travel lovers on your shopping list, you’ll want to be a regular reader of Fly Away Café.  You can subscribe by email in the subscription box in the left side bar, add the RSS feed to your reader in the right side bar, or simply come back to this site every single day.

Happy shopping!

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Location:  A statue of “Death” in a Chicago Cemetery.

Photo credit:  Jon Rochetti, c. 2006

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

If you’ll be in Chicago during Halloween time, you can join the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s tours of Graceland Cemetery.  There are two tours, offered on a variety of dates during October.

The tours are two hour walking tours, with guides providing lots of little tidbits of information about the eternal residents of the cemetery.  The tour stops at the plots of many famous Chicago figures, including many from the novel, Devil in the White City.  A bit morbid, perhaps, but the cemetery tour is also a chance to see beautiful architecture and monuments designed by noted sculptors and architects.

The Graceland Cemetery tour is available on Sundays through October at 2 pm.
 
The Graceland Second Look tour is available on Sunday, October 29th at 1:30 pm.  It explores an older part of the cemetery, including some Victorian monuments and graves of early Chicago notables.

Both tours meet inside the cemetery entrance, at the northeast corner of Clark Street and Irving Park Road.   Parking is available inside the cemetery.

Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students.  Reservations are not required.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Enjoy!

Even before the Chicago Fire of 1871, civic leaders realized that the city’s lakefront was something that should be protected to be enjoyed by all Chicagoans. 

Chicago’s Grant Park (map) lies between the downtown business “loop” and The Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave.) and Lake Michigan.  It covers 319 acres and hosts three exceptional museums: the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute, and the Field Museum of Natural History, along with many of Chicago’s favorite icons.

Much of the park is actually landfill from the Chicago fire and the city’s first underground subway system. An old tunnel system was built to hold underground telephone cables but after construction was completed, the owners secretly installed 24-inch gauge railroad tracks and used the tunnels to deliver goods and mail until the 1950s.  You may recall the 1992 Chicago River tunnel flood. Same tunnels.

At the center of the park is Buckingham Fountain, one of the world’s largest fountains, was built in 1927.  If you have the opportunity, don’t miss the dazzling light and water show nightly during the summer from 9-10PM. (Free) 

Croatian-born (then Austria-Hungary) sculptor Ivan Mestrovic’s sculpted a pair of horse-mounted Indian warriors, known as “The Spearman” and “The Bowman” (the latter scene in the photo above). They are located at the main entrance of Grant Park at Congress Plaza (Congress Dr. between S. Michigan Ave. and Columbus Dr.)  At 17 feet high, the statues were erected in 1928. Mestrovic is widely recognized as one of the world’s most renowned post-Renaissance religious sculptors.

The Pritzker Pavilion replaced the old Petrillo Band Shell when Mellinium Park within Grant Park was opened in 2004.  It’s host to all types of music and festivals including the Grant Park Music Festival – the only remaining free outdoor classical music fest in the U.S.  The Pavilion seats 4000, plus has room for 7,000 on the lawn.  Although the festival runs much of the summer, other concerts and performances including ballet, dance, jazz and other types of music and performnances happen almost nightly.

Cloud Gate or “The Bean” as it’s affectionately known (or not so affectionately) to locals, is a steel sculpture that’s been highly polished so that it has an almost mirror quality to it. Take your self-portrait in its reflection and try to find a seam”¦ impossible!!! 

Crown Fountain is another recent addition. Incorporating two 50-foot LCD panels behind glass; the two main towers project images of over 1,000 faces of Chicagoans while integrating a water show. Walk the porcelain fountain and see if you feel like you are walking on water. 

There are numerous other statutes, parks-within-parks, statues, flower gardens and wonderful views of Chicago, but best of all, Grant Park is one of Chicago’s best places to just sit and watch the world go by.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Here’s another guest post from my friend, Jon Rochetti.  If you didn’t read his post about the Art Institute of Chicago, be sure to read it after you finish here.  The great photos are his as well.

——————————–

If you are a fan of Saturday Night Live, Second City TV or comedy in general, The Second City is Chicago’s comedy and improv treasure. Its alumni list boasts a virtual who’s-who of comedy – John and Jim Belushi, Mike Myers, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chris Farley, plus many more. 

If that’s not enough, if you don’t leave a show with a sore face from smiling and laughing too much, you are probably comatose.  The current and 93rd review ““ War! Now in its 4th Smash Year pokes fun at politics and current events including immigration, terrorists, the American family, gas prices, Fox News, white slavery, George Clooney, the hip-hop culture and the Iraq war, leaving nothing out of bounds.  Regardless of your political slant, ethnic background or current citizenship status, you’ll be laughing at the outrageous, edgy and always funny skits. 

Nightly shows (except Mondays, twice on Fridays & Saturdays). Tickets range from $12 (Mondays) to $24 (weekends). Cocktails and lite fare served. 

Location: 1616 N. Wells St. near North Ave., Chicago, IL 60614. Parking is available within a block or two ($6 – $15). Second City is also within a 3 block walk to the “El”.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

——————-

The Windy City”¦The Second City”¦City of Broad Shoulders”¦The City of My Youth – Chicago.

I visited Chicago last weekend in a role I haven’t been in years – a tourist.  Usually I visit old friends or travel for business; but this trip was a brother/sister trip to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday and her first trip “home” in over 15 years. 

After visiting childhood homes, old schools, parks where we played as children and even the church were my parents were married, we toured some of the city’s more famous sites. 

First stop ““ The Art Institute of Chicago, America’s answer to Paris’s famed Le Louvre.  Most known for its extensive collections of Impressionist paintings, it’s a must stop for any art lover.  With a collection of 270,000 painting, prints, sculptures, photos and other styles of art covering over 5000 years, there’s something for everyone, including the kids.

Some personal American favorites include the iconic Edward Hopper Nighthawks, Grand Wood’s satirical American Gothic and numerous pieces by modern American pioneer Georgia O’Keeffe.

One of the often missed exhibits is not actually a piece of art, but a room.  Before the turn of the last century, famous Chicago architect Louis Sullivan (of “form follows functions” fame) co-designed the Chicago Stock Exchange with his partner Dankmar Adler (one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s teachers).  The original building has long been gone, but the main trading room, the building’s showpiece with molded plaster and stenciled walls and fantastic decorative colored glass ceiling, can be viewed in its original condition.  It was maliciously reconstructed within the Art Institute in the late-1970s.

But the Institute’s mainstay is its comprehensive collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings.  Among the extensive collections are works by renowned painters Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Renoir (in photo at right), Degas, Manet and Lautrec.  Even if you are not a fan of this style of art, a slow walk through the Impressionist galleries gives you a glimpse at some of the world’s most important, famous and priceless paintings.

The Thorn Miniature Rooms are a little (or big) girl’s dream. Originally styled after elaborate doll houses and actual period rooms from the 1700s through the 1940s, the Thorn Rooms are a collection of 68 miniature rooms covering architectural interiors and related decorative arts in the European, American and Oriental styles.  These rooms, mostly using a one inch to one foot scale, became world-famous in the 1930s while being exhibited at the 1933-4 Chicago Century of Progress and later at the World’s Fairs in San Francisco and New York.

For the boys (or big guys) its on to the hall of Arms and Armor ““ a collection of 225 suits of armor, firearms, swords, daggers, pole arms and other pieces dating back to the 15th century. Some of the most interesting pieces are the various battle axes; some decorative, others designed just to kill and maim your enemy. 

Another often missed section is the Decorative Arts galleries display over 1500 truly amazing glass paperweights and a collection of Renaissance jewelry and precious objects. 

There’s more to see, so plan on at least a couple hours, all day if you’re an art lover.  And don’t forget the photo op in front of the famous Art Institute lions.

Admission is $12.00 for adults, $7.00 for kids, students and seniors. Free for kids under 12. Additional admission fees charged for special exhibits.  Check for hours, but most days open 10:30 – 5:00. One or two evenings a week are free after 5PM. 

Location: 111 South Michigan Avenue at Adams St., Chicago, Illinois 60603. Phone: 312-443-3600.  Paid parking is available in the surrounding area and at the city’s Grant Park / Millennium Park garages. The museum is also accessible by the second city’s famous “El” (subway).

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

I disagree with most of them, believing that they are things you need to do at least once in your life.

Read my reasoning here, compare with MSN writer Jon Douglas here, and then weigh in with your own opinion.

1. San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf:  C’mon, it’s free.  And on a sunny day, it’s a nice walk with a view of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
2. Chicago’s Sears Tower:  OK, sure, you could go to the Hancock Tower instead, but you’ve got to see the view from one of these tall buildings.
3. Washington DC’s Spy Museum:  Maybe it’s my inner James Bond, but I had a good time here.  I went through the museum with a couple of co-workers, and we found plenty to look at, giggle about, and while away a rainy afternoon.
4. Las Vegas Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef:  Agreed.  Over priced and over rated.
5. New York City’s Times Square:  You’ve seen it on the New Year’s Eve Countdown, television news broadcasts, and in countless movies, and you need to see it in person.  You don’t have to stay there, and I certainly wouldn’t eat there, but you do need to see it.
6. London’s Changing of the Guard:  True confession.  I’ve never been to London.
7. Seattle’s Experience Music Project:  It’s in my home town, and I’ve somehow managed to never make it there.
8. Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace:  It’s a shopping mall and food court in a cool building.  Walk by it, take a look, and keep on walking.
9. Hollywood:  Checking out the Walk of Stars is free, and you can alway try to find the star of your favorite actor.  The rest of the neighborhood has little to offer.
10. Dublin’s Guiness Storehouse:  I’ve missed this one, too.
11. Orlando’s Animal Kingdom:  I tend to shy away from most things in Orlando.  Everything’s a little too plastic, too contrived, and too expensive.
12. Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa:  It’s one of those landmarks that you probably just have to see, even if there’s not much else in the area.
13. Chicago’s Navy Pier:  I’ve missed this on my numerous trips to Chicago.
14. Las Vegas’ Stratosphere Tower:  Pass on this one, not worth the time or money.  But if you’re playing in their casino, see if you can manage a comp.
15. London’s Madame Tussaud:  Never been to London.

Post from: Fly Away Cafe