Dan couldn't make it on Monday because of work (work? what'sthat?) and so Alycia took me on a tour. She had planned to do an architectural tour on a boat to see Chicago's landmark but it was drizzling and foggy, so we took the car.
At breakfast at one of the local places Orange, I had a huge stack of different pancakes but couldn't finish them. They were good though!
I had some pictures developed and bought a book for Alycia to thank her for everything she had done for the cause.
The perfume, by Patrick Sueskind
Set in 18th century France, Perfume relates the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, "one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages". Endowed with an incomparable sense of smell, he apprentices himself to a perfumer and becomes obsessed with procuring the perfect scent that will make him fully human. In the process, he creates perfumes—presumably based on pheromones—that powerfully manipulate human emotions, murdering girls to take their scent.
We strolled through downtown Chicago and admired the different historic and important buildings and the stories behind them.
We also passed the Wrigley building, who made a fortune selling chewing gum, and became the sole buyer of chicle from Guatemala.
The company originally only sold soap and baking powder, but in 1892 William Wrigley Jr, the company's founder, began packaging chewing gum with each can of baking powder.
The chewing gum eventually became more popular than the baking powder itself and Wrigley's reoriented the company to produce the popular chewing gum.
In response to a land reform law passed in Guatemala in 1952 which ended feudal work relations, the Wrigley Gum Company refused to continue buying Guatemalan chicle.
The Chicago Art Institute, what a great place, comparable to the Smithsonian of washington!
It has an exquisite collection of Asian sculptures, bronzes, a great gallery of paintings and the architecture of the buildings themselves is awesome.
There was a Matisse exhibition that was more about the technical aspect of his work but showed clearly the Japanese influence, present in many of his contemporaries. a wonderful afternoon!
To digest so much art and culture, I needed a beer. Fortunately the Berghoff was close. It is a German style pub and restaurant, very traditional, similar to the Malzmuehle or Sion in Cologne.
We tasted 7 different kinds of beer, hilarious, and I enjoyed especially the Amber, the Hefe Weizen and the Pale Ale.
All this came with sauerkraut and finger food and I had a delicious Reuben sandwich to top it off.
I accompanied Alycia to walk her friend's dog and then we met with Maryjane, Terry and Meryl at Phill's house for a very special meal, cooked by Chef Phill himself: Hong Kong steak, cooked in a wok and accompanied by rice and vegetables. A delicious meal, and the Marques de Riscal was good too.
Phill presented Terry with a mysterious woodworking tool, a spring loaded center punch, which led to the most hilarious jokes and laughter.
I was honored to become a member of the Rotary Sailing Fleet was was officially inducted into the Chicago fleet by Commodores Phill and Terry. So now I will have to start a fleet in Guatemala!
After dinner I went back to the boat and slept like a baby. I had the weirdest dream about getting lost in a car on a golf course! Maybe it was the Baileys I had before going to bed.
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