Amsterdam

Thursday, August 23, 2018

We're off on another adventure, centered on an 11-day cruise on the Rhine River with AMA Waterways. We arrived in Amsterdam at 8 am to spend a few days before boarding.

We dropped off our luggage at our hotel The DoubleTree Hilton Centraal Station and took a walk around town. Unfortunately, the weather was extremely cloudy with a little drizzle, but it was nice to get our bearings. 

One thing that struck me was the number of really old buildings that are still standing -- many of them leaning into each other. 

We also walked along some canals and saw the numerous houseboats that people call home. 

And everywhere there were people riding bicycles -- which required a place to park them. Here is a parking garage just for bicycles. They also swamp the street in front of our hotel (in the background).

This afternoon we went to a cheese tasting at Reypenaer Cheese shop. They paired 6 different cheeses with wines and provided an interesting overview of cheese. Some things we learned:

Cheese is aged in a building with pine shelves which add flavor -- much like bourbon is aged in oak barrels for the same reason.

Cheese may be aged between several months to 3 years. After 3 years, does not add flavor.

Cheese turns darker as it ages due to the sugars.

Cheese loses an "Angel's Share," like bourbon. However, cheese loses up to 20% of its original weight while bourbon only loses 2-8%.

Cheese should be eaten first, and followed by the wine.

We checked into our hotel afterwards and were treated to a great view of one of the 100 canals.

We stayed in this evening to rest up for the next day.

Chicago

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The weather was gorgeous this morning so we decided to take a river cruise sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. We had taken one 6 years ago, but it was a great day to be on the water. We bought tickets for a 1:00 launch and ate lunch at a nearby Corner Cafe. We sat in top of the boat with a great view, and we had an amazingly articulate and knowledgeable guide. We learned that the Chicago River runs in a "Y" and is spanned by 24 moveable "see-saw" bridges. She pointed out buildings too numerous to mention but focused on the different periods from 1871 when the city was rebuilt after the great fire to the present. One interesting fact is that the city changed the course of the river in 1900. At that time the manufacturing companies and the stock yards were pouring waste products into the river which then ended up in Lake Michigan, the source of the city's drinking water. So they dredged the river to make it lower than the lake and had the water flow backwards, much to the chagrin of neighbors downstream. We also learned that Montgomery Ward, an early retailer, worked to keep 26 miles of lakefront accessible to the public. One thing that continues to evolve is the construction of condos and other housing along the river, often rehabing old businesses and warehouses. Another tidbit I found interesting is that Merchandise Mary, an enormous building on the corner of Michigan Avenue and the river, was built in 1931 to be the distribution center for Marshall Field. During the stock crash, it was purchased by Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK's father), who owned it for 50 years and turned it into a commercial center. Tonight was one of the major highlights of the trip - seeing "Hamilton." First we had dinner at the Atwood Cafe, which had now been modernized in black and white, replacing the wood paneling and all the ambiance. But it was still nice.

Then off to see "Hamilton," which was performed at the CIBC Theater near the Art Institute. It was as spectacular as the reviews. Based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury who developed the US banking system, the show chronicled his entire life. The music, and most of the lines, are delivered in a kind of rap/hip hop style. This enabled Miranda to fit what would have been a 4- hour musical into 2-1/2 hours. Totally entertaining and would see it again.

Tomorrow we head home on a midday flight. Another great baseball excursion for the record book.

Chicago

Monday, July 23, 2018

All set for Chicago Food Tour! We chose Chicago Food Planet's tour of downtown (Chicago Chow) which turned out to be a 15-minute walk from our hotel. 

We started at Lou Malnati's for Chicago-style deep dish pizza. The Malnati father and son once worked for Uno's Pizza. When it went corporate in the 60's, the family opened their own restaurant and the rest is history. Their secret is butter in the dough.

Next was Al's Beef. Al's founder Chris Pacelli started a neighborhood Beef stand in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood in 1938. The sandwich was shaved stacked Beef, marinated in its own seasoned juices and served on a roll. This ended up being my favorite.

Third was Portillo's. After serving in the Marines, Dick Portillo and his brother Frank opened a hot dog stand in Chicago in 1963. They have since turned it into a thriving franchise, but the one we visited was original. We had the traditional Chicago hot dog topped with 7 ingredients: yellow mustard, chopped white onion, bright green sweet relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato wedge, pickled Sport pepper and a dash of celery salt. It is said to be "dragged through the garden" and was a way to lure customers to its venues.

Next Garrett's for cheese and caramel popcorn

Ended at Copper Fox, an American Gastropub. Had a brownie made of Nutella with a "drunken" caramel sauce. The brownie was invented in Chicago in 1893. Potter Palmer, who helped build Chicago after the fire, gave his wife Bertha a hotel. She wanted to have a dessert to serve her friends that was smaller than a cake and easier to eat than a pie. Hence, the brownie. We all opted to add a "Choc Me Up" drink of Vodka, chocolate liquor, chocolate syrup, and chocolate bitters.

Back to the hotel and time for the game. We boarded the metro at 4:30 which took us easily to Wrigley Field. Again, we had great seats between home plate and third base and on an upper level row with no one in front of us. Unfortunately, the Cubs were a little lackluster and were beaten by the Arizona Razorbacks. Surprisingly, we caught the metro back with very little wait. Great day!

Milwaukee to Chicago

Sunday, July 22, 2018

We took advantage of our lovely surroundings to just veg out for the morning. It was still raining some so I did take a short walk. Before we left town, we had another lobster roll from the Public Market. Great way to end the trip.

Traffic wasn't bad on the way back to Chicago. We dropped the car at the airport and took an uber to the Omni Hotel on Michigan Ave. another incredible room - a two-room suite on a corner overlooking the city. Ed was thrilled. 

We had dinner at the Tavern on Rush (across from Gibson's). I had whitefish and Ed had steak. Both excellent!

Milwaukee

Saturday, July 21

Food tour day! We love our. It's food tours and this one was no exception. We took an uber to the fashionable East Side neighborhood of Brady Street -- the ethnic district that was settled by Italian and Polish immigrants. The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful tour of 6 different places:

Zaffiro's Pizza - one of the best pizzas ever with a cracker-like thin crust, cut in squares instead of wedges to give people who want the crust, the crust, and others can eat from the middle.

La Masa - beef and chicken empanadas

Peter Sciortino Bakery - cannoli. There was a sign in the window advertising "Sunday Special" - Buy one pound of ham and get 6 rolls free. Our guide said this was a way to get people to buy beer on Sunday.

Gloriosos Grocery - 2 cheeses, Genoa salami and prosciutto and olives.

Red Lion Pub - Shepherd's pie and an outdoor human-size billiards game

Wildlife on Pulaski - pitchers of beer

Too many stories from our guide to relate here but a few notes.

Milwaukee became a great trading center because of the confluence of the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic Rivers along Lake Michigan. It grew rapidly from the 1830's to the 1880's. Many of the immigrants came from Germany and they brought their know-how of brewing beer. So from then on, the city became known as a beer town. When the Chicago fire burned most of that city in 1871, breweries in Milwaukee shipped vast amounts of beer to the ravaged populace, thus creating loyal drinkers of their brands forever.

Following our tour, the weather did not improve and we decided to go to a musical "The Producers," being performed in nearby Elm Grove. Even though we had seen the play before, it was highly entertaining. One addition was a chorus of "old ladies" all dressed in various shades of soft pink, who were Bloom's groupies.

Milwaukee

Friday, July 20, 2018

Even though it was cool and cloudy, I took a morning walk. I started at the Riverwalk in front of our hotel and ultimately made it back to Lake Michigan, catching a view of the Milwaukee Art Museum with its wings closed (before opening hours).Since rain was forecast, we decided to spend our day there. The permanent collection is far reaching, with over 30,000 works from antiquity to the present, including decorative arts and several centuries of European paintings. It could take days to see everything, so we focused on our favorites: 

The Museum has one of the largest collections of Georgia O'Keeffe's work (she was originally from Wisconsin). 

European impressionists such as Monet and Chagall

American art after 1960 including Warhol, Lichtenstein and, more recently Kehinde Wiley.

One of the more interesting pieces was "Rainbow Bridge" by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, which was composed of 12 glass spheres that reveal the colors of the spectrum. But only by walking the length of the spheres are you able to see each one. Otherwise, they appear black or clear.

The most unique attraction was South African artist William Kentridge's "More Sweetly Play the Dance," combining drawing, filmmaking and animation with a spirited soundtrack. After viewing a short video about him, we were ushered into a room with 8 large screens -- 120 ft. In length -- and almost reaching the ceiling and placed in angles. On them we watched a video procession of displaced characters led by a brass band -- some of it animated but most of the human figures were real -- set to music that was distinctly African in nature - apparently a commentary on lingering racism in South Africa.

We took a break and ate lunch in the cafe and continued our visit.

We saw a fascinating exhibit of American landscape photography from the 1880's. Dubbed "Photographing Nature's Cathedrals: Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and H.H. Bennett," it was a collection of photographs depicting Yosemite and the Dells of Wisconsin River. Their work, which involved great effort due to the nature of the craft at that time, encouraged tourism as well as preservation of these magnificent sites.

A word about the Museum architecture which is truly unique. The Quadracci Pavilion, built by Santiago Calatrava in 2001, has huge white wings of glass, concrete and steel that open and close with the hours of the museum. It resembles a bird spreading its wings and taking off over Lake Michigan. The structure adjoins the original museum built in the 50's by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen.

After spending almost 4 hours there, we returned to our room for a brief respite and then headed to the ball park to see the Milwaukee Brewers play the LA Dodgers. Ed pre-bought parking so we were not far from the stadium. Although it was raining, we were in luck because the stadium is enclosed. We had great seats - front row of an elevated section behind home plate. We had a great meal of Bar-B-Q. It was an enjoyable game, although the home team didn't win.

Milwaukee-Chicago

This year we get a "Two-fer" for our annual Major League Baseball trip. We needed to fly to Chicago to get to Milwaukee, so why not do both!

Thursday, July 19

Happy 43rd Anniversary to us! What a great way to spend it. We caught an  8:30 plane from Louisville and arrived at Chicago at 9, rented a car, and were in Milwaukee by noon. Checked into our spacious room at the Residence Inn Marriott which is in a former Gimbel's Dept. Store overlooking the Milwaukee River. We walked a short distance to the Public Market in the historic Third Ward. This is a very trendy, upscale market with restaurants, delis, a wine bar, gourmet candies, etc. We opted for a lobster roll at a seafood bar, which was delicious. Then we walked around the nearby neighborhood which has been restored and peppered with other bars, eateries, boutiques and businesses.

Tonight we celebrated our anniversary in style at Sanford's, a small, sophisticated restaurant on the edge of the Marquette campus since 1989.  Dinner was spectacular and a perfect celebration.