Summertime in the (2nd) City, Parte Dos

We catch the train to Chicago from the Deerfield station and if you have an eidetic memory, you might recognize this as the station Rebecca De Mornay left from then had her way with the weird scientologist actor in the movie Risky Business:

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Saturday, though, we went to the Botanic Garden and watched a chef from Karma, an upscale Asian fusion restaurant, show us how to make a great spiced tuna block.  As he does his thing, the audience can see his table top in a large overhead mirror – nifty.  Near the end of the 40-second clip, you may catch a glimpse of the finished product resting on salad bed.  The dressing for that was a terrific sesame ginger vinaigrette that I’ll make when I get to Miami Beach (ask if you’d like the recipe, which also includes soy sauce and chili oil).

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v18937037JqRssZXt

The Garden also had a bonsai competition.  Here’s the first place winner and one that wasn’t even in the running, but had a price tag of $2,600.

After the Garden we had a wine tasting of our own at home, three Malbecs from the Mendoza region in Argentina.  Actually, two Malbecs and one, by Tilia, that was a 50/50 mix of Malbec and Sirah.  Malena introduced me to the 2007 version of this and it was the first wine I actually liked.

The 2008 Tilia Malbec Sirah, while not quite as good as the 2007, was the clear winner with the 2007 Terrazas Malbec a reasonable second-place finisher.  The 2007 Santa Julia Malbec is now cooking wine.

Next day, Sunday, we went to Chicago.  This shot is taken from a water taxi on the Chicago River.

I really like the way the river is “embedded” in the city, a living integral part of what makes Chicago Chicago.

When we got to Navy Pier, the first thing we noticed was a Turkish flag.  Then the music.  Then  [35 sec.]

Turns out it was the Turkish World Festival  [14 sec.]

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v18937349JRhbJKtT

But we came for the afternoon Latin music in the beer garden and there we found Bolivian dancers [53 sec.]

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v18937351XSYZNErg

Don’t know what happened to the sound quality on that clip – maybe it was the air show being held a few miles north, with some of hot-doggers coming in over downtown Chicago [16 sec]

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v18937407jKjpC7gP

So what’s going on in your neck of the woods?

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