More From Chicagoland...Stuff We Ate.

Finally! More photos and yammering to share from my summer trip to Chicagoland. I had such a great time with Jackie and Scott...I'm already thinking of planning another trip during Fall Break.

I'm not really a huge fan of hot dogs and no way would I think about eating one with all that "Chicago Style" stuff piled on it. However, because I am a hopeless superdork, I decided that I HAD to go to Superdawg during my visit. Mainly, because I'd seen it on a PBS documentary called "A Hot Dog Program",  but also for the building(I dig Googie arcitecture) and for the giant hot dogs standing atop it....none of which disappointed! The hot dog was dang tasty for a plain hot dog...hey...I can hear you...stop snickering at me.

Scott, w/a Chicago style Superdawg.

I sampled Jack's chocolate milkshake...fantastic! And in case you didn't believe me when I said I was a  superdork...here's proof...I took a photo of the box the hot dog came in.

We also ate restuarant in the 'Burbs called Portillo's. 

The atmosphere was really fun...the gal you see at the counter would call out a number and whenever someone went to pick up their order...she'd grin and rhyme the number.  "Number Two...I've got a meal ready for you!"

Portillo's  had a little bit of everything on the menu...including their own version of the Chicago dog, I, however, opted for another classic....Italian Beef....Lord. Have. Mercy. 

Then there was the Hollywood Palms...a resturant/movie theater. Our servers actually brought out a meal while we were watching a movie!  For whatever reason, I didn't take any photos of the individual theaters, which were all decorated in a different movie genre theme, but there are photos of those here.  I did manage to get a photo of one of two bars.

And what trip to Chicago is complete without amazing pizza? I give you Giordano's. Amazing is an understatement.

My favorite restuarant was Ann Sather.  I loved everything about it! 

....from the Swedish style decor to our waitress (who looked alarmingly like Ed Begly Jr.)... 

..to the ENORMOUS & delicious cinammon rolls... 

...to what has got to be hands down the best breakfast sandwich and potatoes I've eaten in my life.

 I would ride the train 5 hours just to eat at Ann Sather again. 

Expect more Chicagoland photos and yammering at a later date...

Riding the Rails to Chicago

A week ago today, I took the Amtrak to Chicago's Union Station to visit my sister Jackie and her husband Scott who live in the Chicagoland 'burbs. I was, of course, soooo excited to be visiting my sister but I was also pretty hyped up about the train ride! It was my first time riding the Amtrak(and traveling any distance alone).

I know what you're thinking and yep, I really am that big of a dork.

Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call the Amtrak ride "exciting" but it was an inexpensive way to get from Point A to Point B and avoid driving alone for nearly 7 hours. And yeah, call me a dork, but it was actually fun to ride the train.  I shelled out an extra 16 bucks for business class and am glad I did. I had plenty of room and the seats were comfortable. The train was clean and there were no creepy/weird people riding with me...in case you worry about that sort of thing. Not that I worried about that beforehand...at all...

The snack bar and dining area was in the back section of my car. I took a break from my seat(it's there in the photo above on the far right...see it?)to head to the dining car to read for a bit.

 I enjoyed watching the scenery which consisted mainly of small towns and farmland as we went by. The side to side rocking motion was sort of expected and didn't bother me at all. It was all very train-like and again, I quite enjoyed it.

Two years ago when I visited Europe, we took a train trip from Wroclaw Poland to Krakow--Vienna--Prague--Dresden Germany--back to Wroclaw. WHY do I not have photos of those trains?

Despite the lack of photos trust me when I say I enjoyed those trains a bit more than the Amtrak. The European trains(with the exception of the train from Germany back to Poland--eeeeew) were newer and nicer than the one I was on last week. Of course the scenery in Europe was much more beautiful that that between Carbondale and Chicago. Among other things we rode by rivers, lakes, fields of sunflowers, quaint little homes with flower-boxes, and at on point a friggin' castle on a hillside!!! It was truly amazing! On the other hand, I don't recall a dining car in the European train experience. I do remember that we packed our lunches and/or breakfast each time. However, those lunches and/or breakfasts consisted of chocolate filled croissants and/or cheese and crusty handmade bread. I ate a Sara Lee banana nut muffin and a Pepsi on the Amtrak. Hmmm. I guess the European trains (run down stinky Germany-Poland train not included) still have a bit of an edge.

BUT STILL...I will absolutely take the Amtrak again. I'd like to take it on a longer trip, actually. Should you ever get the opportunity, I say you should ride the rails too!

I'll be jabbering about my trip more in my next post.

Where Kellie Sees the (near) Future

Today was the last day of school for our students! This means I have four more work days until I am free until the first week of August! FREE! To do absolutely nothing that I don't want to do! Oooh how I like the sound of that! What, you ask, do I have planned? I'll tell ya!

• sleeping late
• playing with the dog...one Miss Mya Claire, more widely know as "Goat-Dog"
• catching up on plenty of reading
• Cooking...yes, you read it correctly. I will cook this summer. Me. Mmm Hmm. Someone might want to notify the news media about this. Just sayin'
• Sewing...aprons, lunch bags, clothing(gasp!), monsters, etc.
• Couch time & movies
  
• quilting, hopefully lots of it!
• a train ride to Chicago and a 5 day stay with my kid sister
• Not Working!
  

The (near) future is looking mighty good, y'all!

FINALLY!

Summer break arrived this week! It was way overdue thanks to the 2009 Ice Storm of Death that we suffered through this past Winter. But it's here and I am so looking forward to it! My plans for the summer include:

1. Rehearsal for Grease(I'm in our community theater production of Grease!!! Did I tell you?)
2. Reading
3. Catching up on Movies/DVR'd things
4. Sewing
5. Catching up on some things that need to be done around the house.
6. Maybe a few day trips for shopping/antique malls/flea markets
   

Now I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but last summer I went to Europe, and that was enough excitement to last me years! Besides, we start back to school on August 4th! Yikes! So only a few weeks of actual summer to enjoy this year and the less I'm doing, the longer it'll seem, right?

The most exciting thing going on this summer??? We're getting a puppy!! Yay! I am so excited...I've wanted a dog forever! I love dogs, and growing up, we always had dogs around the house of every shape size and mixed breed! And even though he only had maybe two dogs growing up, Mark loves any and all animals.

We've worried about having a dog in the same house with 2, then 3, then 4 cats. But we've finally decided(after 21 years) that we have plenty of room in our home(and hearts) for one more set of paws...and there are sooo many dogs out there looking for homes that it was time for us to do our part to help them! I've been scouring Petfinder non stop and have made a few contacts that didn't work out...but have kept up the search and now I have an appointment to meet up with this little sweetie on Monday. Her name is Mya...she's another rescue dog that I saw on petfinder.com. Her info is here. I'm praying that we pass the application process and home visit and that Mya passes the "cat test" so that we can adopt her.

Ah, Vienna...

While I enjoyed and was blown away by every place we visited in Central Europe, I must say that if I could only visit one of those cities again, it would be Vienna. Both old and new, quaint and metropolitan, relaxing and exciting, it is truly an incredible city.

Here are some random impressions a month later. Why did I not keep a journal while I was traveling??? Anyways...

• The city was extremely clean and neat and orderly.
• We were out fairly late and rode on the subway quite often and I never once got a creepy or unsafe feeling. I get those feeling in the parking lot at WalMart here at home.
• I did a lot of people watching on the subways and I think(or perhaps want to think) I was pretty good at distinguishing folks from Vienna vs. the German folk and tourists. Austrian people are pretty people y'all.
• GREAT food!
  
• Expensive. Expensive. Expensive.
• Cultural experiences are literally around every corner.
• Some of the most beautiful architecture I've ever seen was in Vienna.
  
• A day and a half is not nearly enough time to experience this marvelous city.

Despite the fact that ours was a whirlwind tour and we saw only a fraction of the city, I was completely taken in by Vienna and if I could, I'd be back there tomorrow.

Now, for some photos. Waaaay too many to photoshop and straighten. Just tilt your head slightly if they look a little crooked.

This is one of my favorite photos...I have no idea what this building is, it looks like a hotel to me...we were waiting to catch the bus that goes around the Ringstrasse when I snapped it.A film festival was going on while we were there. We meant to go back and catch a least a bit of it but got completely distracted by the Wurstelprater. Which was AWESOME. Photos to come...
Parliament building. Absolutely gorgeous.


Taking a break from sightseeing on the Parliament stairs.

One of Vienna's most famous residents. When I make it back to Vienna, I'd love to visit the home of Mozart.Speaking of Mozart...Jackie and I had a full body shiver inducing conversation w/a creepy man who was most likely NOT Viennese(dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes) in a Mozart costume outside the Vienna Opera House. His wife(also dressed as Mozart) was equally creepy. I won't go into details but let's just say this guy was into "open marriage". Blech...there I go full body shivering again. Let's get that whole scenario out of our mind w/a nice photo of the four of us as we approached a palace, shall we...OK. That's enough for one post. I have a ton more photos from Vienna, but I'll save those for another day.

Smocza Jama!

In my last post, nearly a month ago, I posted some photos of the Wawel(Va-vell, not Wa-well as I mistakenly called it to some students at school--such a dork) Castle in Krakow. While there, we discovered the dragon's den or smocza yama was available for public viewing. SO view it, we did!

The story of the Wawel Dragon goes something like this.

Many years ago a nasty dragon flew into the city of Krakow and inhabited a cave beneath the castle. When he wasn't inhabiting his cave, the dragon was wreaking havoc on the town. The townspeople were terrified and distraught due to the mean and nasty (dare I say dragon-like) demeanor of the dragon. So much so that at the advising of the king's royal council, they began to offer up sheep and goats as a sacrifice and to prevent the dragon from turning on and gobbling up the townsfolk. This satisfied the dragon, but not for long...he began to peruse the royal fields for dessert. The king sends out his bravest knights to try and kill the beast, but none are a match for the dragon. Just when the king is at his lowest and fears nothing can be done, a lowly cobbler knocks at the castle gate. The cobbler convinces the king to trick the dragon rather than try and defeat it by force. The cobbler takes a sheep as offering the next morning...but not just any sheep...this sheep is made from tar and sulfur. The dragon gobbles up the sheep and suddenly feels a horrible burning in his stomach...he flies to the Vistula and begins to drink from the river. Unable to satisfy his thirst or stop the burning, the dragon drinks so much that his belly grows bigger and bigger and bigger until.....you guessed it...he explodes into thousands of pieces. The king and the townsfolk rejoice, the cobbler is greatly rewarded and of course, the king gets a brand spanking new pair of dragon skinned boots.

This is the version I've been reading to the students at school anyway...in other versions of the story not only livestock but also townsfolk especially young girls are the dragon's food of choice so once per month a virgin is sacrificed to the dragon. Ends up the only one left in the town is the king's daughter and she is promised to anyone who can rid the land of the dragon. The cobbler prevails and ends up marrying the kings daughter. For the kids at school, I've been sticking w/the first version.

The entrance to the dragon's den was about a million extrememly narrow stairs leading straight down a winding staircase into the cavern.I ask you, is it possible to visit a Dragon's Den and NOT ham it up a little? For some of us, it is impossible.
This is our dragon, Smok Wawelski.The kids at school were especially in awe of this photo of the dragon statue breathing fire. They did a lot of "ooohing and Awwwwwing"!
Now, I tend to have a runaway imagination and I absolutely love books and movies in the fantasy genre, so it was extremely easy for me to imagine that this cave was the home to a nasty, fire-breathing dragon once upon a time! While I did see some absolutely amazing and breathtaking sights in Europe, I will say that visiting the Smocza Jama at Wawel was one of the coolest things I've ever done.