Mist, Cold, Baseball?

July 2.

No, those three words don't go together.  Especially in the summer in Chicagoland.  But there they are.  July 2 usually means hot and humid, iced tea and water, mosquitoes and sweat.  But not today.

Friends of ours invited Fernando and me to a White Sox game with them.  They had enough tickets for themselves, their four youngest children, another family of four (also good friends with us), and two tickets left for Fernando and me.

Above, we waited in the parking lot at U.S. Cellular Field.  We were there early enough that we had to wait until the doors opened for fans to enter, about an hour before game time.  Plus, we wanted to wait as long as possible because, frankly, it was cold outside.

The view from the parking lot was pretty cool, I must say.  I'd never been to the Sox ballpark before, and I loved seeing Willis Tower appearing through the low clouds.

Walking up the ramps to the gates into the seating areas.

Okay, those nose-bleed seats were steep.  I got a little discombobulated climbing the stairs to our row, and I couldn't look down into the field until I was sitting.  The view was phenomenal, though!

So, we watched the men on the field roll up the tarp.  A few minutes later, they rolled it back onto the field.  Then they waited some more.  We wondered if the game would end up being canceled--it was misty-rainy but not real rain, and we were really hoping it wouldn't turn into the real coming-down-from-the-sky stuff because even though we were semi-under the overhang above, it was drifting in in little waves.

Finally, they decided to go ahead with the game, and rolled the tarp up for the last time.

I took this picture below because it's not a typical sight for a summer baseball game in Chicago:  a vendor hawking hot chocolate.  Our friend M. bought one for me later in the game--I was so cold!

So glad we got to see fireworks for the one home run of the game!

Our friends asked me to take a picture of the scoreboard, just so we could show everyone the actual temperature on July 2 in Chicago:  55 degrees!

Even with the mist, and a partially-filled stadium, the view was amazing!

Caught at second base--Yer out!

A view of the misty rain in the stadium lights.

We went into the ninth inning tied, and got up to bat still tied.  This was our last chance!  The Sox got runners on first and third, and the Angels pulled their center fielder into the infield to help with getting an out and going into extra innings.

I caught the below shot just as the batter was about to hit the ball--it was a hit!  The runner at third ran home, crossed the plate, and the Sox won the game!

I didn't feel really cold until we got up to leave--then the shivers started!  I stopped on the ramps down long enough to snap a picture of the South Side of Chicago, looking west.  It sure was pretty, but I was happy to get back into the car.

At home that night, I actually turned on the heating layer of our Sleep Number bed!  Despite the cold and damp, we really did have a fun night together, and this treasured memory is already tucked away for later enjoyment.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Sweet Silver, Part II

In my last post, I covered about a third of our wonderful, amazing trip to Paris.  Now it's time for Part II.  We started out our actual anniversary (Wednesday, September 12) with a long walking tour, starting at the Louvre.

After much cajoling, Fernando made the obligatory pose. :)

We then walked toward the "little arch."

L'Arc de Triomphe de Carousel, the "little arch" built to commemorate Napoleonic victories.

From the little arch, we walked into le jardin du Carrousel for some self-portraits, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  Fernando strategically stood in front of a statue of a naked woman.  Yeah, pretty much all the statues and carvings are of naked people--the art of the day.

Then it was on to le jardin des Tuileries.  Even in September, this was just the prettiest garden!  Don't you just love the colors?

Le Jardin des Tuileries, looking back toward the Louvre.

We came upon an ornamental pond, and stopped to rest (my back and Fernando's knee--us old folks lol!) and enjoy the water and fountains.

Fountain in the ornamental pond at le Jardin des Tuileries.

It's always time for a self-portrait!  (Love my camera's timer!!)

Once we felt rested, we continued our walk into place de la Concorde to admire the Obelisk.

The Obelisk, place de la Concorde.

From there, we walked to les jardins des Champs-Élysées and enjoyed all the flowers and greenery.

Les Jardins des Champs-Élysées.

Our walk took us on the road between le Grand Palais and le Petit Palais.  I thought le Petit Palais was much prettier.  :)

Le Grand Palais.

Le Petit Palais.

Our wonderful "walking tour" book took us through this little garden, tucked away in a corner behind le Grand Palais, hidden from the hustle and bustle.  It was very quiet, with stone walkways, arches, and ponds and brooks weaving throughout.  Such a little garden, but so enjoyed by us!

Le Jardin de la Vallée Suisse. This charming garden is tucked away behind le Grand Palais, and boasts stone walkways, arches, and bridges, and a little brook babbling its way through.

At that point in the day, we were both very hungry.  We continued our walk onto avenue des Champs-Élysées with the intent of finding a restaurant along the famous avenue at which we could dine in style for our 25th.  We passed by the first, since I couldn't understand their posted menu, and it looked too contemporary for us.  We stopped at a second; I could read the menu, so we went right in and were seated.  Our server handed us our menus, and then we noticed the name of the restaurant:

Restaurant Louis Vingt-Cinq.

How neat is that, for our 25th anniversary?  Sweet!  And the food was good--we took two hours to eat our three-course meal (entrée--appetizer, plat--main dish, and dessert--dessert!).  Part of that was the service was very slow.  But we think that was normal--Europeans take a long time to eat; they love the conversation and time spent just as much as they love to enjoy their food.

Dessert was crème brulée waffles with pistachio ice cream.

Our final destination lay at the end of the avenue:

L'Arc de Triomphe.

Here's the iconic view from the top of the Arc:

Time for photos!  I tried to get the Eiffel Tower in the shot, and then I tried to teach Fernando how to take a picture with my awesome camera.  He did a great job, too!

I'm just as goofy as Fernando is.

We had an awesome and amazing anniversary--the best ever.  :)



Back to life,
Christine

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Sweet Silver, Part I

I've been spending quite a lot of time over at my my photography blog, creating posts--a travelogue of sorts--about our special anniversary trip.  If you don't know yet where we went, you'll know now.  Keep reading!

We had never had a honeymoon, and this year we celebrated our silver anniversary!!  Back in March, Fernando announced to me that he wanted to take me to _____ for a week.  So we planned, researched, emailed, reserved, purchased, and went to...

...drum roll here...

this place.

Okay.  Here's a city panorama with a more recognizable sight.

Here's our trip, from the top:

Time to pack.

Waiting at O'Hare for our flight. 

Layover in Helsinki, Finland!

The door to our building in le Marais.

The inner stone courtyard of our building. Our appartement opened up into this courtyard.

Fernando had a croque madame for our first lunch in Paris.

The column at place de la Bastille, near our appartement.
In memory of the Revolution of 1830, which saw a king put back on the throne.
On the top sits the Spirit of Liberty holding broken chains.

 Le Palais du Luxembourg et le Jardin du Luxembourg.

Sanctuary of St. Sulpice.

Dinner one night!

Our first view of the Seine River was glorious!  Pont Marie is that first bridge.

Our first visit to la cathédrale de Notre Dame, at night.

Fernando locked the door to our appartement and we were ready to head out for the day.

Fernando posed with a goofy and slightly creepy street performer while we waited in line.

Tickets to the top!

Waiting for the elevator.

The Willis (Sears) Tower is that way.

Enjoying the view from the third level.

Parc du Champ de Mars.

We went to this ice cream stand on Ile St. Louis every night for five nights.  :)

Ice cream at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis.

Fernando willingly carried my tripod several different times so we could get some night shots--and some self-portraits.

We posed in a little square on Ile St. Louis.

One rainy day, we visited the church, Sainte Chappelle.  Absolutely beautiful.

Lower sanctuary of Sainte Chappelle.

Upper sanctuary of Sainte Chappelle.

We bought the cheapest umbrellas we could find, and they proved...cheap.

Fernando's umbrella collapsed on one side, and mine--well, see below.

Launched like a parachute!

Back at our appartement, armed with a rotisserie chicken and some veggies we had bought a few days earlier, we made our own dinner.

The next day, as was our little custom, Fernando stepped on over to our local boulangerie to purchase croissants and whatever other treat he felt like, and brought them back "home" for our breakfast.

Our boulangerie, 25 steps from our front door!

Here's what he rbought home this particular morning:

Croissaint et pain au chocolat.

 
And here's what I made for the rest of breakfast:

French toast with strawberry topping.

That's it for Part I.  What a special time we had!!


Back to life,
Christine

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Visit my photography website