I love having Lena in Chicago because she likes the same things that I like, so her favorite weekend is also my favorite. If she had a mini-vacation (which I hope she did), I also had it!
She arrived on Friday, and we even had some time to talk, but I was too tired to stay up late (on Thursday evening, my Amazon Fresh order was delayed, and I had to wait until 11:30PM!). But the next two days, we had a blast!
I made salmon and broccoli quiche for breakfast. My balcony is in the middle of repair, but they allowed us to but the furniture back during the non-working hoursMillenium Park had only two entrances open because of the 20-years celebration, and some parts were permanently closed, so we had to go through security multiple timesWe were the first to enter the Art Institute on Saturday, and it was my third time to see the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit.We also saw the Christina Ramber retrospective, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.Then we went to the Member’s Lounge Bar… and took tons of pictures of ourselves. BTW, Lena talked me into wearing a dress that day, saying that her only opportunity to wear a dress was when she visited me in Chicago.
Then, we went to the Chicago Architectural Center.
There, we saw two exhibits. One was the Skyscrapers Exhibit.And another one was about reshaping of Chicago LoopIgor told me that there will be a Metra Exhibit at the Millennium Park station on that day, so we went to see it!The only bad thing about this exhibit was a complete lack of any information!Then, we met with Lena’s co-workers and went to the Bridgehouse Museum. It is located inside an actual bridge house, so you can see the working of a movable bridge, and also learn about the history of Chicago RiverThe view from the top floor
Then we walked along the River Walk all the way to the Lake and then kept going along the shore. I mentioned several historical attractions we were passing by, and when I realized that Lena never saw the Chicago Fine Arts Building, I dragged the whole company there.
Then, we had an early dinner in the Gage, and then Lena and I went to the concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Millennium Park. I got the VIP tickets almost by accident a couple of months ago, not even realizing the magnitude of the event :). It turned out that the lines to the Lawn were gigantic, and the capacity was reached an hour before the concert started.
We felt so lucky being so close to the action. Later we found out that Mayor Brandon Johnson was in the audience as well!The crowd that didn’t get in
Nobody told us that there would be fireworks at the end, and then the countdown started. The problem with VIP seats was that you could not see the fireworks from there, since they came from behind the Pritzker pavilion!
I could only see them on the screen (Lena made the previous video since she stepped out for a couple of minutes)Beautiful Night ChicagoFunny story: when we returned to Rogers Park, we saw our very own celebration!
My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future.
I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life.
As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.
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Hettie's Reflections 