Chicago Museums

I've been ODing on the world class museums in Chicago, which is truly a world class city!  I was reflecting on the fact that Chicago and Hawaii are about the same distance from the west coast, and I've been to Hawaii 25-30 times and this was my first visit to Chicago!  What was I thinking?  Yeah, the beaches are better in Hawaii...though Chitown does have beaches on Lake Michigan...but the urban amenities in Chicago are awesome!  I should have been here at least four or five times before now.  But, better late than never.  I visited the Museum of Science and Industry, and found a genuine Spitfire!  This airplane essentially won the Battle of Britain in 1940, and may well have saved the UK from being overrun by Nazi Germany.  The swastikas under the cockpit indicate that this Spitfire shot down five German aircraft.

And here's one of the Spitfire's chief adversaries, the Stuka!  This is one of only two WWII Stukas left on the planet!  This lethal dive bomber had a dive siren that added to the intimidation factor when it attacked a target.  The Stuka had an early version of autopilot that would automatically pull the airplane out of a dive if the pilot blacked out, which happened fairly often due to the abrupt loss of altitude.

And in the same museum, the U-505, the only German U-Boat captured by the Allies during the war!  The Americans turned the trick, in late 1944.  I saw a show on this on the Military Channel less than a year ago, and I thought to myself, "I would really, really like to see that U-Boat!"  And now I have!  I went aboard and took a tour.  The crew lived and worked under oppressive conditions...the temperature onboard was almost always at least 95 degrees, and a deployment lasted three months, during which nobody showered!  And enlisted men shared bunks on a rotating basis...yeech!  The officers were more privileged...they each had their own bunk.  But they still didn't get to shower.  And the mortality rate among U-Boat crews during the war was well over 50 percent.  U-505 had a captain that was quite humane and cared about his men, and thus he surrendered when he was encircled by allied ships.  There was only one German fatality, and none on the American side.  About 20 years later, the American and German captains had a reunion here in Chicago at the boat.  Very cool.

The Americans captured a ton of important stuff on the U-505, none more so than this Enigma machine.  This was the Germans' primary coding device.  A four reel Enigma machine had over 9 times 10 to the 21st power possibilities (21 zeroes), so the Germans thought their code could never be broken.  However, ingenious English codebreakers at Bletchley Park, with help from the Poles, broke the code by 1943.  But this machine added greatly to the decyphering effort. 

This is an Enigma code book captured from the U-505 by the Americans.  The binding is edged by lead weights, so the book could be quickly tossed overboard and sunk.  However, the Germans didn't manage to do that in this case.

Also at the museum is this 1895 Benz, a really early motorcar!

Now we're at the Shedd Aquarium, on the shore of Lake Michigan.  They have several beluga whales; this one appears to be as curious about humans as we are about him!

They have some fine reef exhibits at Shedd, featuring many colorful fishes. Also an excellent dolphin show that focuses on training techniques. Shedd and Monterey are both world class aquariums, but very different.  You need to visit both!

Now we've moved on to the Art Institute of Chicago.  The Institute has one of the best collections of Impressionists in the world, which is right up my alley...I love impressionism.  This is a fine seascape by Cezanne.

Van Gogh's bedroom is a classic.

And a self portrait!  It seems to me that Vincent depicted his own haunted personality very well here.  Love those short brush strokes...blow the pic up for more detail. 

Here's a beautilful Monet...the gnarled trees remind me of the oaks at my own home.

This painting by Georges Seurat, Le Grand Jatte, shows a different impressionist style...instead of short brush strokes, Seurat simply dabs paint on with no strokes at all...a style called pointillism.  Seurat added a whimsical touch...note the elegant lady on the right side of the painting, holding a monkey on a leash.

Auguste Renoir, another impressionist, painted these two young ladies.  The painting is titled "Two Sisters" but the girls were not sisters, simply models hired by Renoir. 

Many of the impressionist painters were not affluent, especially early in their careers.  I learned from a docent that the author of this work,  Gustave Caillebotte, sponsored some of his peers.  Born into an affluent family, Caillebotte, beside being a fine painter in his own right, helped his fellow impressionists on many occasions.  This painting depicts a typical Paris street scene in 1877.  I love the way the cobblestones reflect the rain.

Going back about 350 years, this is the bottom of a Renaissance painting depicting St George slaying the dragon.  Badass dragon!  But you see the spear...the dragon's gonna be toast.