Chicago - Frank Lloyd Wright

One of the highlights of our Chicago trip was the visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, about 20 minutes from downtown Chicago on the train.  It was very easy to get to on public transit and there is no need to take a bus tour.  You would want to walk to the house anyway when you get to Oak Park because there are a lot of houses in the neighbourhood that was designed by Wright.  The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust provides a self-guided tour that includes a list of houses with street numbers so you can do a walking tour of the historic district.  Some of the houses have very obvious Wright design elements but a few of them were quite common, on the outside at least.

The Studio Tour had to be booked in advance as there were limited tours in a day and it had to be guided.   The rooms are not very big relative to the size of the group and no pictures were allowed at the time of our visit.  But they will now allow photography for a $5 fee, worth paying if you are a  photographer.  The Wright house had a lot of interesting nooks and crannies but the highlight for me were the windows, both in the house and in the studio.

The visit to Wright's Unity Temple was a wide open self-guided tour and it was quite fun.  I could take all the photos I wanted and even got a stint on the pulpit!  I love the windows and the lighting.  The Church has set opening hours so check it as you walk by on your way to the Wright Home and Studio to make sure you don't miss it.

Entrance to the Home and Studio

Lots of these amazing windows

The approach to the octagonal study

The walkway to the studio

Some Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes in Oak Park

The Unity Temple - the solid wall on the lower level was meant to cut out noise

Entrance doors to the Temple

Inside the temple 

Inside windows atop the church hall

Next post:  the last one on Chicagot - the Stained Glass Museum on Navy Pier

City Parks - Rouge Park and Milliken Park

Toronto is full of walkable parks right in the city.   In our efforts to get into shape for a more strenuous hike coming up, we visited two parks in Scarborough in recent weeks.  The Rouge Park at Meadowvale and Sheppard and Milliken Park at McCowan and Steeles.

Rouge Park has attained National Urban Park status whereas Milliken Park is relatively small.  You get more of a hike feel at Rouge Park and could spend the whole day hiking while at Milliken you would be mostly walking on paved paths throughout and you could probably do a couple of loops around the park in an hour.  But it's exercise with a view,  without having to drive hours to get to a hiking trail and lots of photo opportunities in both places!

Rouge Park pond at the south trail head of the Cedar Trail

The pond at the north end of the Orchard Trail 

Shady Orchard Trail 

The Little Rouge River beside the Orchard Trail

At the top of the Vista Trail, they have built a viewing platform that looks out on the bluffs  around the river - should be a vantage point for viewing fall colours.

 On the other hand, at Milliken Park,

you can take a nap on the manicured lawn 

Enjoy the spectacular flower beds

Look out for a Monarch

or catch a ball on the green

Or watch the birds!

Stare at the trees

Watch the Canada geese land on their practice flights

Just keep walking...

Niagara Parkway

One of my favourite day trips was to Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The main reason is the scones at Taylor's Bakery on the main drag  They are the best scones ever, with fresh local fruit - peaches, cranberries, blueberries.  I always get a half dozen as that's the best deal at $5.99 with no tax.  They are worth the drive, if you like fluffy scones.  






Of course, that's never the only reason we made the hour and a half drive (on a long weekend more than two hours) from Toronto.  We would usually catch a play at the Shaw Festival.  But this year, we decided to not put ourselves on a schedule and just take it easy. 

We started with a leisurely lunch at Benchmark, the Niagara College Canadian Food and Wine Institute's restaurant (read my post Learning to cook in farm country), thankfully avoiding the hungry hordes at Niagara-on-the-Lake.   We popped into town just long enough to buy the scones and peek into the chocolate shop - almost passing out with the intensity of the sugar aroma.  But if you've never been to the town, there are many interesting shops and it's definitely worth a stroll through.  

  

You will notice bicycle rental shops in town too.  There is a bike trail starting from the town all the way to Niagara Falls along the Niagara Parkway.  It is also a hiking trail but we did a small section of it and found the fumes from the Parkway too much on a high traffic weekend.  But some of my favourite stops are the Whirlpool and the Botanical Gardens.  You see below the cable car ride over the whirlpool, one of the more dramatic sections of the Niagara River.

The Botanical Gardens are a real gem.  The best time to come is earlier in the summer when the roses were in bloom.   But the formal gardens are always spectacular in any season.  Entry is free to the 99 acres of gardens, you only have to pay for parking.  

Stunning "Black pearl" an ornamental pepper plant

This reminded me of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris

The centrepiece

Every time we were on the Niagara Parkway, the debate always came up as to whether we should go on to the Falls.  It was so near and yet so far!  We were concerned about traffic and the crowds, especially on a long weekend and we were always right.  But we always gave in to the desire to even get a glimpse of the falls.  It's still the most magnificent and exciting falls ever!   And so we drove on into the traffic nightmare.  I hopped off just to take some quick shots but also found that I couldn't get too close because of my precious camera!    The wind and the spray had to be just right to get the right close up.  And it's only in closeup that you could feel the palpable danger and excitement generated by the falls.  It would be another reason to come back...maybe in the winter...

American falls on the left and Canadian falls on the right

The Canadian Falls is still my all time favourite wonder!

The Ex

We used to have to take our kids to the CNE every summer until they became teenagers and then they went by themselves.   Friday night was our first visit in almost 20 years.  Our main reason for going - the free Don Mclean concert, and what a smashing performance it was!  Before the concert we checked out old haunts like the Better Living Centre and the Food Building.  They were a bit of a disappointment - I used to think of these places during the CNE as sources of new ideas and showcases for innovation.  Now the Better Living Building has a farm and a casino. The Food Building is giant food court and the Direct Energy Centre one big mall with so called "international goods" which you can find all over Toronto.  

What hasn't changed is the midway with the rides and the money swallowing game booths.  There also seems to be lots of shows and celebrity chefs.   The skating shows and the horse shows are still attractions.  It's definitely worth going if you're young enough to enjoy the rides or if a performer you like is appearing at the multiple concert venues on the grounds.  Check out the CNE website for what's on.  Below are some snapshots of the CNE 2012.

 The Midway

Enticing!

 

Anna Olsen - celebrity pastry chef

One of many "international" shops

Prize-winning sandcastle

Sand angel

Fountain still pretty

Kendel Carson and Dustin Bendall - the opening act - great fiddling from Kendel!

Don Mclean!

Lit up fountain

Ferris wheel at night

Dufferin Gates