The Langham Hotel – from our conference room looking down to the lobby level.
The view from my room at the Langham Hotel. I absolutely love Chicago – my first big city adventures were here as a child.
I was in Chicago for a meeting over the weekend. Headquarters for our weighty deliberations was the Langham Hotel on Wabash, right near the river. Just three short blocks to Nordstrom’s in one direction, and backing up to Smith & Wollensky’s where we had an activity Friday night, this is a hotel to put on your watch list. It is exceptional, and we were lucky to get in on a room-filling promotion because normally it is priced way out of range for a meeting of the board of a not-for-profit. The service goes above and beyond. The secret to being able to address you by name is a radio headset that lets the doorman alert the bellman, who in turn alerts the front desk, each passing on your name and description with the hand-off. It’s an extremely effective method of making you feel welcome and special from the first encounter!
From my room, looking northward – the beckoning lights of dusk.
Looking straignt down at the bustle around our hotel and the Trump Tower, across the street.
The Langham is an historic hotel name. Though the Chicago hotel is located inside a modern skyscraper, once you enter, a sense of history permeates the atmosphere without you being able to exactly put your finger on just what creates that impression. The hotel is also filled with art worth discovering in its own right.
The Langham Hotel I loved these pendants, and the view straight through.
From the high, broad windows of my twelfth floor room, downtown Chicago lights and bustle beckoned seductively. The room was large, very elegantly decorated with lots of neat details … right down to the packaging of the toiletries in the bathroom.
But my post today is about my walk. I followed hours of being cooped up inside the hotel conference room with a long walk with my camera before returning to Milwaukee.
This was Saturday afternoon. It was warm (near 40 degrees) and sunny, so I headed to Millenium Park to see the Cloud Gate, which I think I have heard referred to as “the egg.” I had just one lens with me on this trip – on purpose. I am trying to understand my wide angle lens and see what I can do with it. I am discovering that old habits are hard to break and shots I would have loved to get with my go-to lens (35-200mm) were just not possible with this one. So it was a bit hit or miss, but perhaps I will be somewhat successful in showing you the beauty of a mild, mid-winter Saturday. You be the judge!
Chicago is a city famous for its architecture and architects. I had pretty much forgotten this fact until I started writing this post and labeling the pictures and collecting the links for you. I am planning another trip just to focus on that. Meanwhile, here you will get a little taste. You’ll also get a taste for the amazing public art that is Millennium Park. Plan to spend some time roaming around the park and enjoying this resource.
The walk back to the hotel took me under the El.Editing the pictures afterwards, and playing with the hdr effects, I achieved a look like old postcards. See what you think of these:
jetsytravels 
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