Winter break, a period during which students usually go back home (sometimes for good. Bye bye to the "one semester exchange students", it was so nice meeting you ). But not all do so, including me. I thought I would take advantage of already being on the other side of the Atlantic ocean to travel more. Breaks are the only moments I chave enough time to explore farther around Philadelphia.
Part I.
Spending Christmas and the following days on campus. On December 26, snow fell over Northeastern American cities. It added a very magic atmosphere to the city and to the campus especially because it is quite empty during breaks.
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| Mini Christmas Chicken - Chestuts are expensive in the States so we improvised our stuffing by replacing them with red beans. Guess what, it still tasted like Xmas |
Part II.
Washington DC. This was my second time in DC, except this time I was a better tourist and visited the National Mall, its museums and saw the White House.
The city is worth stopping by for a couple of days, the Mall is really monumental and impressive. But as compared to Philadelphia and Chicago, it lacks a little something I would call "charm".
Part III.
Spending the New Year's eve in New York City. I was not discovering the city for the first time and stayed a very short time so didn't visit much more. However it was the place to be in terms of meeting up with friends, many persons I had met during the semester or friends from school were there.
On January the first I met up with Keturah, an American friend I had met at Brown more than a year and a half. It was great to catch up!
Part IV.
January 2nd, heading to Chicago for 4days and a half in America's capital of architecture, a reputation which revealed to be justified. It's by far one of my favorite cities. People should think of visiting it more. Of course NY is something to see, but Chicago equally deserves to be part of people's imagination when they think of America.
It may not be next to an ocean like NYC, but Lake Michigan is big enough to feed the illusion of standing in front of a sea.
Architecture, History and Art. These are the three key words to summarize what I sensed of Chicago.
Architecture is a very obvious one, downtown is plenty of magnificient sky skrapers. The highest tower is the Willis (or Sears) Tower and the third tallest one in North America. However the best view is considered to be the one you see from the John Hancock Tower.Trump Tower at the same time and while having a glimpse of Lake Michigan. Not the tallest building, but the best way to see the the Willis and
Tip: Instead of paying to have access to the observatory, it is worth paying a drink at the Signature Lounge on the 95th floor.
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| On top of the John Hancock Tower, from which "the most beautiful view of Chicago" can be seen | . |
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History. Chicago witnessed many key events of American history and has always been a major center for industry and agriculture. Spending few dollars to visit the History Museum sounds like a good plan. Plus, you get to be next to old town which is a really cute district. That day was probably the coldest (24°F, around -7° at the end of the afternoon).
Art now and for two reasons. Firstly, for the public pieces of art which are scattered in different corners of downtown: Calder, Miro, Picasso, DuBuffet and Chagall are few examples.
Secondly, for the
Institute of Art of Chicago which gathers one the America's most impressive collection of modern European and American Art. They have Grant Wood's
American Gothic for example
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| Calder |
