In my previous post I mentioned our visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens' Wonderland Express, the annual holiday display of model trains meandering through replicas of the famous skyscrapers and historic landmarks of Chicagoland, all of which are made of natural materials. The craftsmanship is just amazing; the details and use of natural materials so unique. Here are some of my favorite buildings and landmarks: As a train crosses over the Michigan Avenue Bridge, replicas of famous skyscrapers such as the Sears Tower, Tribune Tower, AON Building and John Hancock Building stand along miniature conifer trees and poinsettia plants.
Behind the replica of Chicago's Union Station sit the Chase Tower and the Wrigley Building with its clock tower.
The detailing on the building replicas is so exact: even the famous Art Institute lions, with their unusual names of "On The Prowl" and "In An Attitude of Defiance", have on their Christmas wreaths.
Both the Museum of Science and Industry...
and the Field Museum were surrounded by miniature conifer trees, poinsettias and other festively-colored plants.
The trellis criss-crossing over the Great Lawn of the Pritzker Pavillion lies in front of the curls-of-tree-bark, Frank Gehry-designed band shell. It's all surrounded by small lighted conifer trees and multiple-colored poinsettias.
It's winter, so the new Maggie Daley skating ribbon has to be featured.
It's quiet now that the Bears season is over, but the stadium looks beautiful surrounded by poinsettias and dwarf fir trees.
Not only is the Michael Jordan statue in front of the old Chicago Stadium, but a tour bus holds a replica of one of the Blackhawk's Stanley Cups.
Plants such as Blue Carpet Juniper surround the famous Water Tower.
The Chicago History Museum is surrounded with beautiful greenery and bright red poinsettias.
Chicago is the home of President Obama, and his family home looks festive surrounded with beautiful red plants
There's even a miniature replica of the Picasso sculpture.
This video shows you how volunteers and experts assemble the tracks, trains, greenery and buildings and how it all comes together, down to the snow falling on the delight visitors, both young and old.
Wonderland Express is open annually from the Friday after Thanksgiving through the New Year's weekend.
Thank you for visiting.
A Great Europe Trip Planner
All photos were taken by me. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
We recently visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It was my birthday, but my husband got the gift because we discovered one of the 37 speciality gardens is the Model Railroad Garden. Being the train fanatic he was like a kid in a candy store.
Set up over a 7,500 square foot area, the Model Railroad Garden showcases 18 different-sized model trains, ranging from toy-size to sophisticatedG-scale (garden-scale) model trains. The trains run on 17 different railroad tracks (totally over 1,600 feet of track), over bridges and through tunnels. The train tracks are grouped in several different settings titled Landmarks of America, complete with replicas of dozens of famous buildings or landmarks. Miniature trees, shrubs and people, all intricately made from natural materials, add to the composition and sound effects to complete storybook-like settings.
The famous curves of Lombard Street (complete with a car driving down the hill), a miniature cable car and the iconic San Francisco houses showcase the Santa Fe train speeding by.
Pikes Place Market is Seattle's original farmers market established in 1907. In the photo below miniature town citizens watch as the Santa Fe passes by the market stores. Despite its name, the Santa Fe railway never actually made it to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The SS Natchez, the New Orleans paddle wheeler with its pine cone paddle wheel, floats on the Mississippi River as the Amtrak train flies by.
Three houses depict the French Quarter in New Orleans as the Amtrak and Rock Island trains speed behind them. The Rock Island train line was important because it initially connected Chicago with the Mississippi River.
An impressive Baltimore and Ohio train travels in front of the White House where Marine One is stationed. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the most important railroads in the history of the mid-Atlantic region rivaling the Pennsylvania Railroad.
A replica Lincoln Memorial has both the Baltimore and Ohio and Chicago and Northwestern trains rumbling by it. At its height, theChicago and Northwestern railroad operated over 12,000 miles of track in seven states.
George Washington's home of Mount Vernon shows the Baltimore and Ohio train passing behind it.
Independence Hall has a miniature Liberty Bell in front of it with the Illinois Gulf Central train in the background. The Illinois Gulf Central train was called the Main Line of Mid-America with its primary route connecting Chicago to New Orleans.
The Statue of Liberty has the same Illinois Gulf Central train in the background.
Mesa Verde National Park complete with the Sun Temple shows a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train steaming by. The Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. for the first half of the 20th century, acquiring over 800 other rail lines and companies.
Napa Valley has the Napa Valley Wine Train traveling past the miniature vineyards. If you plan to visit the Napa Valley area soon, think about booking a multi-course lunch and train ride through the wine country on the vintage-restored Napa Valley Wine Train.
The famous Hollywood sign sits behind the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, Mayan-revival-architecture Charles Ennis house as the Illinois Gulf Central train speeds by.
There are several other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed replica houses in the garden such as... Taliesan West in Scottsdale, Arizona
Fallingwater in Bear Run, Pennsylvania
And his home and studio located in nearby Oak Park, Illinois.
Also in the Hollywood theme is Graumann's Chinese Theatre with the same Illinois Gulf Central train.
With Mount Rushmore in the background, the Pennsylvania Railroad freight train steams by the Mitchell Corn Palace.
A working Cape Cod lighthouse has a miniature iconic VW bus sitting in front of it with the Rock Island train about to cross over another twig bridge.
The Baltimore and Ohio train speeds past Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home in Springfield, Illinois. This photo shows some of the meticulous planning that it took to put this garden together with the railroad tracks crossing each other and two other "twig" bridges.
Another of the "twig" bridges...
U.S. Cellular baseball field...(husband's team)
And of course, the north side baseball team's park complete with the famous rooftop apartment buildings (Go Cubbies!).
The Chicago Botanic Gardens are FREE to enter. Visitors must pay to park, but military veterans enter FREE. Many visitors bicycle to the gardens. Learn more about the beautiful gardens here.
Thank you for visiting,
A Great Europe Trip Planner
All photos were taken by me during my visits to the Chicago Botanic Gardens in August, 2015. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Here are some interesting snippets of travel news I've recently come across on the web...
THIS ONE DOESN'T SURPRISE ME:
Given that 66% of Americans are overweight...USATODAY.com writes, "Airbus pitches wide seats as U.S. fliers get bigger" Airbus is pitching several U.S. airlines on the idea of an A320 jet with
aisle seats that are three inches wider than the plane's other seats. Bloomberg news explains: "Adding two inches to one-third of the seats in an A320 would hand U.S. airlines
a marketing tool that they could target at the obese population, which has
swelled to more than one-third of U.S. adults"
Size does matter at the world's biggest penis museum: The Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavik houses the world's largest collection of penises and penile parts. The
museum acquired its first human penis in July 2011.
Here is an article from UK's Telegraph from 2008; a recent USAToday article is here and you can watch this Youtube video about the museum.
GIANT BULL HEAD DRAWS DRIVE TO SOUTH DAKOTA SCULPTURE PARK:
Cartoonlike buzzards wielding a knife and fork, anvils and oversized mallets might seem like an odd way to welcome tourists, but Porter Sculpture Park is no typical roadside attraction.
The
vultures representing reincarnated politicians are just a few of the
more than 40 quirky creations originating in the mind of Wayne Porter, who uses his blacksmith know-how and appreciation of history to turn twisted concepts into metallic works of art. The
park's signature piece is a 60-foot-tall Egyptian-style bull's head
that stares down Interstate 90 motorists as they head out to South
Dakota's Black Hills. Porter
spent three years creating the 25-ton monstrosity out of railroad tie
plates, dubbing it the "World's Largest Bull's Head" on a nearby
billboard.
REMOTE BANGOR MAINE AIRPORT IS HOME OF UNRULY PASSENGERS:
From Yahoo.com: Given the size of the place, the name "Bangor International Airport" might seem a little grandiose. But the airport actually gets an outsize share of international visitors. Of course, many of them are accidental tourists who would rather not be here at all. Because
the airport is on the far northeastern edge of the U.S., incoming
trans-Atlantic flights confronted with terrorist threats or unruly
passengers are often diverted to Bangor, population 33,000.
It's the last major U.S. airport for jets headed east across the
Atlantic and the first for incoming flights, and though it has only a
single runway, it is more than 11,000 feet long, long enough for the
space shuttle.
The diverted flights represent a
tiny part of activity at the Bangor International Airport, which is home
to a Maine Air National Guard wing and serves as a busy refuelling hub
for military aircraft carrying personnel and cargo to and from Europe
and the Middle East.
Since
2004, the airport has handled 21 cases in which aircraft had to land for
security reasons, compared with 388 for fuel, 139 for bad weather, 50
for medical emergencies and 49 for maintenance problems, Caruso said.
You can read the entire article here. Now for some serious interesting news:
From Mexico to the Caribbean, AirTran has nonstop service to a variety of
exotic international destinations like Aruba, The Bahamas, Bermuda, The
Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Fly nonstop on AirTran between the following cities:
Domestic U.S.
Cities
International
Destinations
Atlanta
Aruba, Cancun, Nassau, Montego Bay, Punta
Cana, San Juan
Austin
Cancun3
Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (BWI)
Aruba, Bermuda, Cancun, Nassau, Montego
Bay, San Juan
Chicago Midway (MDW)5
Cancun*
Ft. Lauderdale
San Juan1
Denver
Cancun
Milwaukee
Cancun
Orange County4
Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos, Mexico
City
Orlando
Aruba, Montego Bay, San Juan
San Antonio2
Cancun, Mexico City
Tampa Bay
San Juan
International flights are operated by AirTran and are not available for
purchase from Southwest Airlines. Checked bags will not be transferred between
any Southwest Airlines flight and AirTran flight.
*Subject to foreign Government approval
1Ft. Lauderdale – San Juan service will start on
05/24/2012. 2San Antonio – Cancun & Mexico City will start on
05/24/2012. 3Austin – Cancun service will start on
05/25/2012. 4Orange County – Cabo San Lucas & Mexico City will
start on 06/03/2012. 5Chicago Midway-Cancun service will start on
06/03/2012.
MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO CELL PHONE TALK:
A new survey from flight comparison site Skyscanner has revealed that 86% of
people do not want mobile phone use to be permitted on planes, as it’s "annoying
to have to listen to other people’s conversations". From travelindustrywire.com: The overwhelming result comes just after Virgin Atlantic announced it would
be the first British airline to allow mobile phone calls during flights, on its
London to New York route. The calls will cost £1 a minute and sending a text
will be 20 pence, significantly more than when on Terra firma, meaning that
business users are likely to be the primary market for the new facility, at
least to begin with. Even though many people welcome improvements in general Internet connectivity
allowing them to jump online in more and more places around the world, there
appears to be a markedly different attitude when it comes to mobile phone
conversations in confined spaces. If mobile use was available onboard, 48% said they would send texts, 35% said
they would surf the web, 10% would send email, whilst only 6% would actually
make and take calls. Furthermore only 1% of those polled said they would pay more to fly with an
airline that offered mobile calls.
Speaking of cell phones...
TOP 11 TRAVEL APPS:
However, for those of you who can't live without your smart phone, this article lists out the 11 top travel apps.
Stranded at the airport? Download the HotelTonight app to book a room only for that night; the TripItapp allows you to consolidate all your electronic travel confirmations into one place; Yelp is a Yellow Pages directory for your phone; want to know the latest currency conversion rates? Download the XE Currency app; the Tripadvisor app needs no explanation (NOTE: Tripadvisor is the first place I go for hotel reviews.) To see the other recommended apps read the article here.
LOVE EUROPE'S HIGH SPEED TRAINS?
Introducing Italy's newest high speed train service: Italo. (NOTE: I'll be checking this out for next year's Italy trip!)
It currently operates two daily round trips over Italy's
high-speed core Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples train line. You can read the www.chicagotribune.com/travel article here.
HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE:
75 years ago today the Golden Gate Bridge opened. Since it opened in 1937, more than 2 billion vehicles have crossed the
1.7-mile-long bridge named after the Golden Gate Strait, the entrance of water
to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.
This CBS Sunday Morning episode shows some original footage of bridge workers hundreds of feet in the air; back then they didn't wear any safety harnesses. The chief engineer designed the use of movable safety netting beneath the construction site which
saved the lives of many otherwise unprotected steelworkers. Of eleven
men killed from falls during construction, ten were killed (when the
bridge was near completion) when the net failed under the stress of a
scaffold that had fallen. However 19 men were saved by the net; they created a group called Half Way to Hell Group.
Look out for the suicide phones. At either end
of the Golden Gate Bridge you will see emergency phones with signage
letting people know that they have options other than to end their
lives. Although this is a bit morbid, it is an important part of the
history of the Golden Gate Bridge because each year there are people who
commit suicide by jumping off of the bridge. There is even a
documentary, called The Bridge, about this issue. It’s a highly
controversial topic because some people in the city want to erect nets
to prevent this from happening and others don’t want the bridge to have
these nets.
I had the opportunity to experience European high speed rail for the first time on my last trip to Europe. For the first leg of my journey to Bruges, I took the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Antwerp. Now, riding a train is not a novelty for me--I ride a suburban commuter train every day, twice a day, to my job in the city. But comparing the two experiences would be like comparing a Range Rover to a Dodge Neon.
First of all, a reservation is mandatory on any Thalys train. Before you even get on the train, you already know you will have a seat. No standing in the vestibule because you are one of the last to board; no sitting on the steps on a copy of the latest train newsletter so your bottom doesn't get dirty. You'll have an actual seat for this train ride.
Secondly, what comfortable seats! If they had these seats on the airplane, I might sleep better on that overnight flight. Soft velour upholstery with deep-cushioned comfort and the back bump to support your lower spine. Adjustable headrests so you can just lie back and enjoy the ride, and enough knee room for those persons of above-average height.
I wish they had these seats on overnight flights!
And the ride! As smooth as if we were gliding on butter! No jostling from side to side, feeling as if you are a martini being shaken, not stirred. No delays for signal or switching problems. And as we traveled alongside the busy highway, the cars filled with morning commuters seemed to be standing still, we were traveling so fast. Sitting there in the window seat with the morning sun shining on my face, I could have easily fallen asleep and remained on the train all the way to Paris. But since I was only going as far as Antwerp, I had to force myself to stay awake for fear of missing my connecting train to Bruges.
Thank you for visiting, A Great Europe Trip Planner
