The Palmer house and the Art Institute of Chicago

El sabado se presentaba como un dia mas de la semana, trabajo, laboratorio, columnas y ademas, tormenta! guay! pero el dia me deparaba una sorpresa...estaba ensimismada en mi mundo de compuestos quimicos cuando Thomas vino a buscarme para decirme que por la noche ibamos a hacer algo especial :), no me dijo sitio ni hora, solo que me llevase algo de ropa chula. Asi que asi lo hice, todo engalanados salimos a coger el tren.
Last Saturday seemed to be just a normal day, work, lab, columns and on top of that, a big storm, great! What I didn't know was that a big surprise was coming! I was completely concentrated on my reactions when Thomas appeared in my lab to tell me we were going to do something special at night ;) he didn't tell me what time or the place, I only had to take some nice clothes to wear. Around 7 pm with our nice clothes on we headed to the "surprise place"
El sitio quedo desvelado, era Chicago, jaja!! Llegamos hasta la parada de Monroe y tras andar unos metros llegamos al destino: "The Palmer house", una pasada de hotel, gigante, donde Thomas habia reservado una cena en uno de los mejores restaurantes y una habitacion "romantica" :)
I knew very soon where we were going, it was Chicago, haha!! We arrived in Monroe and just some meters far we arrived to our destination: "The Palmer house", an awesome hotel where Thomas had booked a table for dinner and "romantic amenities" :)
Y todo hubiese sido romantico de no ser por la celebracion de una boda en este mismo hotel... Despues de la cena, que estuvo bastante bien, aunque aun les falta un toque de elegancia en comparacion con Europa, nos fuimos a dormir y al llegar a nuestra habitacion notamos que habia un ruido "excesivo", esperamos pacientemente, hasta que pasadas mas de 2 horas tuvimos que llamar a la recepcion. Efectivamente, habia una fiesta post-boda en una de las habitaciones contiguas, con gente cantando, hablando, andando por el pasillo, en fin, una fiesta :) y aqui vino el conflicto, cuando todos los huespedes de la planta empezaron a llamar a recepcion y los seguratas llegaron. El encargado de organizar la fiesta post-boda estaba enfadado porque en ningun momento le dijeron que no en el hotel y el fue muy claro a la hora de reservar la habitacion para una fiesta...con lo que la fiesta se prolongo varias horas mas, con gente yendo y viniendo hasta las 7 de la manana, resultado: insomnio :)) A todo ello hay que anadirle que Thomas es alergico a las plumas y a pesar de que especifico que necesitaba una almohada y mantas de material sintetico, todo seguia teniendo plumas. El lo pidio no una, ni dos, ni tres veces...lo pidio 4!! pero nada...y ademas, nuestra botella de champan incluida en el set "romantico" llego muuuy tarde...
Everything could have been romantic but a wedding party spoiled the night...After dinner we went to sleep and we started hearing all kind of noises, music, people talking, walking, etc. After two hours we called to complain about the noise and they told us that there was an after-wedding party in one of the rooms next to ours. Apparently we were not the only ones complaining and many of the guests started calling the hotel manager to complain. Finally, some security people arrived there to ask the party people to be more quiet, but they didn't want because they had booked the room especially for the party and no one said they couldn't do it. In the end, people kept on walking and talking until 7 am...our result was: insomnio :)) but there was something else. Thomas is allergic at feathers, so we specifically asked for pillows and blankets without them...not only once or twice, 4 times!! but, synthetic pillows never arrived, the same as the bottle of champagne included in the "romantic amenities"...
A la manana siguiente nos dirigimos a la recepcion para presentar una queja y al parecer no fuimos los unicos, por lo que solo tuvimos que pagar el desayuno y el resto de la reserva se nos devolvio :) Asi que al menos disfrutamos de un buen desayuno con huevos revueltos, panceta, tostadas, pancakes y una larga lista de cosas ricas :) Fue toda una pena, el sitio es precioso y esta considerado como el lugar de Chicago con los techos mas bonitos, aqui os dejo algunas fotos.
Next morning we went to the reception because we wanted to complain about all the noise and stuff. Apparently we were not the only ones, so thankfully we only had to pay our breakfast and we could get back the rest of our money :) At least we could enjoy a great breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes and a long list of nice food :) It was a pity that the previous night it was so noisy because the place looks really wonderful and it is considered as the place with the most beautiful ceilings in the entire city. Here you can see some pictures.


Lo importante fue el detalle, me encanto y ademas, ya tenemos otra nueva anecdota en nuestras vidas!! la titulare "la noche romantica con alergias y fiestas de boda". Pero como no queriamos parar el ritmo, el domingo seguimos con nuestro pla. En principio queriamos hacer un tour en autobus por la ciudad. Cuesta 29 $, dura unas dos horas y puedes subirte y bajarte donde quieras. Yo tenia muchas ganas de hacerlo, asi que compramos los billetes y aha!! llega el autobus de dos plantas y no hay nada de sitio arriba...vamos abajo y no se ve nada de nada, con lo que nos volvimos a quejar y nos bajamos del autobus. Esperamos al siguiente y nada de sitio, con lo que decidimos dejar esta idea aparcada y nos dirigimos hacia el "Art Institute of Chicago".
The most important thing was the intention and now we have one more anecdote to talk about!! I'll call it "the romantic night with allergies and after-wedding parties"
But we didn't want to stop, so on Sunday we continued with our plan. We wanted to go on a bus tour around the city, you can buy tickets in the street for 29 $. It takes around 2 hours and you can get on and off whenever you want. I really wanted to do it so we bought the tickets to go in the double decker bus. Unfortunately there was no room in the upper part and we couldn't see anything so we decided to wait for the next bus, having the same result, aggg!! Finally we changed our plans and we headed to the "Art Institute of Chicago".

Art Institute of Chicago

Entrada del Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago entrance

Es uno de los sitios que mas me ha gustado de todo lo que hemos visitado en Chicago y sinceramente, lo recomiendo a todos los que visiteis la ciudad. Se puede comprar la entrada por 18 $, aunque nosotros por tener la tarjeta de la Universidad solo pagamos 12. Los jueves por la noche es gratis :). El instituto es inmenso y hay galerias muy interesantes, desde arte asiatico ancestral hasta obras modernistas y contemporaneas de varios paises. Entre ellas, habia numerosos Picassos y Dalis.
La parte que mas me gusto fue la modernista y las galerias dedicadas al arte contemporaneo. Pude hacer algunas fotos, pero en algunas partes estaba prohibido hacer fotos. Fue bastante impresionante, especialmente el punto donde yo no soy capaz de distinguir entre arte y broma, pero eso solo fue en contadas excepciones.
Aqui os muestro algunas de las obras que mas me impresionaron :)
This is one of the places I liked the most in Chicago and I recommend it to everyone visiting the city. The ticket costs 18 $, but we only paid 12 with our wild card :). On Thursday night it is free!! The art institute is huge and they have really interesting galleries, from ancestral Asian art to modernist and contemporary pieces of art from many countries. They had many Picassos and Dalis.
My favorite parts were the modernist and the contemporary, especially at the point where I wasn't able to distinguish between art and joke, but that only happened in a couple of examples.
Here I show you what impressed me the most :)

Hung up by Eva Hesse

Este me dejo muy pensativa...This one left me thinking...

At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulousse-Lautrec



Venus de Milo with drawers by Dali

Torre antropomorfica by Dali

"The chemist gently lifting with extreme precaution the cuticle of a grand piano" by Dali

One of my favorites :))

Y finalmente este!! es un video de un artista que estaba cantando diferentes canciones cambiando la letra...fue alucinante. This is a movie of an artist who was singing different songs changing the lyrics...amazing!

Espero que os haya gustado! Hope you liked it!

Lincoln Park

Hace un par de semanas tuvimos un dia de fiesta, ya que se celebraba "Labor day" aqui en los Estados Unidos, asi que ese dia lo teniamos libre! Oh Dios mio! tres dias libres, un fin de semana entero sin trabajar! que ibamos a hacer? habia que planear algo, jeje!! aunque relajado, eso si! Asi que planeamos una visita a Lincoln Park en Chicago, un parque donde hay un zoo y un jardin botanico, todo ello gratis :). Ese dia fuimos a comer a una casa de pancakes aqui en Evanston (lo reservo para el texto de comida/restaurantes) y una vez con fuerzas, jeje! cogimos el tren en direccion Lincoln Park.
Labor day was celebrated two weeks ago here in the US, so we had a free Monday! OMG! three free days! one whole weekend without working! what were we going to do? we needed to plan something to do, hehe!! but still, something relaxing. Finally, we decided to go to Lincoln Park in Chicago, a public park with a botanic garden and a zoo, everything free :). That day we went for lunch to a pancake house (I'll write about it in a post dedicated to food/restaurants) here in Evanston and once we ate, we took the train to Lincoln Park.


Primero visitamos el jardin botanico, mucho mas grande de lo que yo esperaba y con una variedad increible de flores y plantas exoticas. Thomas hizo unas fotos geniales con su camara, asi que por favor, no olvideis visitar su blog: tmhermans.blogspot.com.
Aqui podeis ver algunas de las fotos que yo hice con mi camara digital, es una pena que no se pueda captar toda la belleza de las flores, eran preciosas.
We first visited the botanic garden which was a lot bigger than what I expected and with an incredible variety of exotic flowers and plants. Thomas took many great pictures with his camera, so please don't forget to visit his blog: tmhermans.blogspot.com.
Here you can see some of the pictures I took with my digital camera. It's a pity I couldn't catch all the beauty of the flowers, they were really awesome.


Despues de ver las flores fuimos al zoo y la verdad es que me sorprendio ver todos esos animales en un parque publico. Aqui podeis ver algunos de los preciosos animales que hay alli, aunque para ser sincera, siempre me da mucha pena ver a los animales en cautividad... Despues de esta visita a Lincoln Park volvimos a casa contentos y relajados, preparados para empezar otra dura semana :)
After looking at the beautiful flowers and plants we went to the zoo that was next to the botanic garden and to be honest, I was very surprised to find all those animals in a public park. Here I show you some of the species that can be found there, even though it is always sad to see animals in a closed space and not in their natural habitat. After this visit we went back home happy and relaxed, ready to start another hard week :)

Jazz Festival

Hace dos fines de semana se celebro el 32 festival de jazz de Chicago y por supuesto, teniendo a Thomas como apasionado de la musica, teniamos que hacer una visita obligatoria :) Cogimos el tren por la manana deseosos de llegar a Grant Park y disfrutar de la musica, llegamos a la ciudad y caminamos hasta el parque, donde empezamos a explorar todos los escenarios y bandas que estaban tocando. Al principio pensamos que la primera banda que vimos no era nuestro tipo de musica y no nos gusto mucho, por lo que seguimos buscando otras bandas, sin tener mucho exito...algunas bandas eran buenas, el problema era el sonido, los tecnicos podrian haber optimizado el sonido mucho mas, pero bueno, vimos varios conciertos que no estuvieron nada mal :)
The 32nd Chicago's Jazz festival was celebrated two weekends ago and since Thomas is a real fan of jazz music we headed to the city to attend the festival :)
We took the train in the morning looking forward to arrive in Grant Park and enjoy the music. We finally arrived in the city and walked to the park, where we started exploring the area with all the different band and stages. We thought that we were just a bit unlucky because we didn't like much the first band we listened to, so we kept on looking for other better ones without success...some of the bands were nice, the problem was the sound. The technicians could have done a better job, but still we could listen to some nice bands :)




Seguimos explorando la zona buscando algo de comer, pero solo encontramos comida rapida, entre los tenderetes, uno de churros :)) habia que probarlos, claro!
We kept on exploring the place looking for something to eat, but we only found some fast food. Among the tents we found a "churros" tent, so we had to try them!

American bbq. Barbacoa americana

Churros tent. Puesto de churros

Thomas with our churros. Thomas con nuestros churros

Con el estomago lleno, seguimos explorando la zona, esperando a los conciertos que habia por la noche en un escenario gigante. Mientras tanto, pasamos el rato viendo algunos conciertos que iban desde el jazz mas alternativo a lo mas comercial del mundo y yo, para ser sincera, me aburri bastante :)
We filled our stomachs and wait for the concerts late at night which were supposed to be nicer and in a huge stage. While waiting, we listened to some of the bands playing finding really alternative jazz and the other extreme, very commercial music. To be honest, I was very bored :)

Big stage. Escenario grande para los conciertos de la noche

Estabamos todo esperanzados pensando que un concierto en un escenario como ese no podia ser decepcionante. Nos reunimos con nuestros amigos Patricia e Igor y nos dirigimos al gran concierto, pero de nuevo...un rollo, jeje! para nuestro gusto, claro. Hay que remarcar que el lugar estaba abarrotado y que habia musica para todos los gustos, eso si, no del nuestro. Pero como la noche es joven, nosotros no tiramos la toalla y decidimos ir a un club de jazz donde se podia cenar y ver conciertos. Ademas, esa noche habia "jam session". Nos dirigimos a "Andy's Jazz Chicago", donde disfrutamos de una buena cena y un concierto mucho mejor que lo que habiamos visto hasta el momento.
We thought the concerts at night would be better, so we met our friends Patricia and Igor and all together went to the big concert. Once again...it was boring! for our taste, of course. I have to say that the place was crowded and there was music for all kind of people.
At that point we really wanted to listen to nice jazz music, so we didn't give up and decided to go to a nice jazz club where you can eat and listen to live music :). Moreover, that night there was a jam session. After walking for 30 minutes we arrived in "Chicago Andy's Jazz", where we enjoyed dinner and a very cool concert, a lot better than what we had seen before.

Lo mejor de la noche llego cuando empezo la jam session y tres "abueletes" con todo el carino y respeto de la palabra, se subieron al escenario. Fue increible, tocaban genial y ademas, varios saxofonistas y trompetistas se unieron, entre ellos un chaval muy joven que tocaba el saxofon que se ponian los pelos como escarpias :). La verdad es que la experiencia merecio la pena y el dia acabo genial, dejandonos un buen sabor de boca. Repetiremos!!
The best part of the night was the jam session. Three "granpas" (with all my love and respect for them) went on the stage and it was really incredible once they started playing, they sounded amazing! some sax and trumpet players joined the session and one of them was a very young guy who played like a real professional, we were really gobsmacked! To be honest it was really worth it and a great day was had by all. We will repeat!!

"The granpas" band. La banda de "los abuelos" que tocaban genial!!

Comida espanola!! Spanish food!! lekker!

La semana pasada tuve unas ganas enormes de todo tipo de comida espanola, especialmente arroz con pollo (mi comida casera favorita) y tortilla de patatas, que rica!! En casa solemos hacerla de vez en cuando, pero aun no habiamos preparado ninguna desde que llegamos a USA y ya era hora ;) Asi que la semana pasada, intentando conseguir el mejor de los sabores prepare arroz con pollo, sin llegar a conseguir el sabor que le da mi madre, eso es imposible...y al dia siguiente tortilla. La hicimos super grande porque queria que mis companeros la probasen, asi que me la lleve al dia siguiente y todos aquellos que quisieron y vinieron a comer, pudieron probarla. Creo que les gusto bastante :), si estais leyendo esto manifestaos, jaja!!
La tortilla era bastante grande y no teniamos un plato tan grande para darle la vuelta, pero al final tuvimos exito y nos quedo...preciosa!! y deliciosa!!
Por si alguien aun no sabe la receta, os voy a escribir aqui el procedimiento y los ingredientes. Merece la pena probarla!!

Last week I really felt like eating and preparing Spanish food, especially chicken with rice (my favourite home made meal) and tortilla de patatas, so delicious!! We use to prepare tortilla from time to time, but we hadn't prepared it since we arrived in USA so it was about time to do it :), so last week and trying to get the genuine flavour I prepared chicken with rice and of course, I didn't get my mother's incredible flavour and the next day we prepared tortilla. We made a pretty big one because I wanted to take it next day for my colleagues to taste it, so everyone who joined for lunch could eat a piece. I think they really liked it, so if any of you is reading this just tell the rest of the world :)
The tortilla was quite big and we didn't have a plate big enough to turn it, but we succeeded and it was beautiful!! and delicious!!
Just in case someone still doesn't know how to prepare it and wants to try, I'll write here the ingredients and how to make it. Enjoy it!!



-Patatas Potatoes
-Huevos Eggs
-Cebolla (opcional)
-Onion (optional
-Aceite de oliva (olive oil)

Se cortan las patatas en trocitos pequenos y tambien la cebolla. Se anade una buena cantidad de aceite de oliva en la sarten y se sofrie la cebolla. Se anaden las patatas y se doran, no deben estar completamente fritas.
The first thing is cut the potatoes in small pieces and chop the onions. Put a generous amount of olive oil in the pan and first fry a little bit the onions and then add the potatoes. Leave them in the pan until they are golden, not completely fried.


Se baten los huevos. Hay que poner una numero de huevos suficiente para que la tortilla no se quede seca. En este mismo bowl donde se han batido los huevos, se anaden las patatas y se mezclan con el huevo.
Wisk the eggs. The amount of eggs should be big enough to avoid the tortilla to be dry. In the same bowl where the eggs were wisked, the potatos can be added and mixed with the egg.


Todo junto se pone ahora en la sarten y se deja que se cuaje para poder darle la vuelta sin peligro. Como se le da la vuelta? Se pone un plato encima de la sarten, lo suficientemente grande para abarcar toda la superficie de la sarten: se agarra el plato y la sarten y se le da la vuelta a la tortilla. Con cuidado se pone de nuevo la tortilla en la sarten, esta vez por la otra cara y se deja que se cuaje por completo. Lista!
Now we can put everything altogether in the pan and leave it until it becomes a bit consisten so it is possible to turn it without danger :) How can we turn the tortilla? We need a plate that covers the surface of the pan, we put it on top of the pan and then grab the plate with one hand, the pan with the other and turn the tortilla. Now it should be on the plate and from here, back to the pan. After a couple of minutes it should be cooked and ready!!



Espero que os haya gustado y que la probeis!!
I hope you try it and you like it!!

Lab romance

Un video divertido para empezar manana a trabajar, especialmente para todos aquellos que trabajan en un laboratorio :). Que tengais buena semana!!!

Today I have a funny movie to show you, especially for those ones who work in a lab. I hope you have a great week!! :)

The doggie bag, analogy with the Spanish weddings. "La bolsa del perrito" y la analogia con la bolsa de las bodas :)

Despues de un dia estresante y cansado, hemos llegado a casa sin muchas ganas de cocina, con lo que solo cruzando la carretera hemos ido a "Dave's Italian kitchen", un restaurante donde por un precio muy economico puedes comerte un gigante plato de pasta. Esta vez no tengo fotos...lo bueno de todo esto es que te puedes llevar a casa todo lo que te sobra, asi que despues de hartarnos a comer, nos hemos llevado nuestros dos tuppers con la pasta sobrante, lista para comer manana! Esta idea me parece genial, no hay ninguna necesidad de tirar la comida y ademas, si te gusta lo que has pedido, lo puedes comer dos veces :) Espero que esta costumbre se extienda poco a poco en otros paises, aunque las porciones quiza no sean tan grandes como para llevarte lo que queda ;).
Toda esta historia me ha hecho recordar las tipicas "bolsas de las bodas", lo que es considerado paleto y de pueblo en Espana. Lo cierto es que yo prefiero las bodas en las que las cantidades de comida no son desorbitadas, pero ante una boda de las de entrante, primero, segundo, sorbete, carne, pescado, postre y repostre, donde es imposible comerse todo...que mejor que llevarse la bolsa?? La sabiduria de la gente de pueblo es infinita y lo que alli es considerado "paleto", aqui es de lo mas normal, solo que aqui lo hace todo el mundo y en Espana son las senoras de pueblo, las mas listas sin duda! Lo que mas me gusta de todo es que no hay que tirar nada!! nada de desperdiciar!! eso es genial!
Today after a busy and stressful day we arrived home and we didn't feel like cooking at all, so we just crossed the street to to to "Dave's Italian kitchen". It is a very cheap place where you can eat a huge plate of pasta for a few bucks. This time I don't have pictures...the good thing of these places is that you can take home the rest of the food you can't eat, so after stuffing ourselves with pasta bolognesa and carbonara we took two boxes with the rest of the pasta, ready for tomorrow lunch! This idea is really great because there is no need of throwing anything away! and also, if you like what you have ordered you can eat it twice :) I hope this concept can be extended in other countries, even though the portions in other countries are not so big.
This story reminds me of some Spanish weddings, especially the ones of people from small villages. The weddings in Spain are normally huge, lots of guests and also long and big dinners, 5 courses dinners or more. Some people take a plastic bag in their handbags and take things they can't eat anymore (stuff you can put inside a handbag, of course). This is not considered very "refined", but actually these people are right, why are they going to throw away all that food when you can take it home? What in Spain is considered "things that village people do" here is the most common thing. The most important thing is not throwing all the food away and waste it!!

Tour de nuestro apartamento. Tour of our apartment

Hoy me gustaria ensenaros a todos nuestro apartamento en Evanston. Creo que la mayoria de vosotros ha visto algunas fotos, pero ahora tenemos los muebles y parece una casa :)
Aun no tenemos nada de decoracion, las paredes estan vacias y no hay nada en las mesas o en el dormitorio, por lo que ire pensando en un par de cosas pequenas que alegren la casa y tambien pondre fotos de la familia y amigos.
En este video os enseno el apartamento en si, aunque tambien tenemos otras zonas comunes como la piscina, el gimnasio, la sala de reuniones, tintoreria y arreglo de ropa, garage para bicis, etc. El edificio ademas tiene la sala de lavadoras y secadoras, una habitacion de invitados, ascensores especiales para hacer mudanzas y un portero las 24 horas del dia, bueno en realidad 3 porteros, jeje!
Espero que os guste la casa y sobre todo que sepais que estais invitados a venir y disfrutar de Evanston y de Chicago!!! uooohhh!!!
Today I'd like to show you our new apartment in Evanston. I think most of you have already seen some pictures, but now we have all the furniture and it looks like a real house :)
We still don't have any decorative items around, the walls are empty, the tables, etc, so I have to think of a couple of small things to give some light to the house. I also would like to have pictures of my family and friends around the house.
In this movie I show you the apartment, but we also have some other common places like the swimming pool, the gym, the meetings room, the laundy room, valet, guest room, special elevators for movings, a 24 hours door person (actually 3, hehe!)...
I hope you like our house and I want you to know that you all are invited to come and enjoy Evanston and Chicago with us!!! uoooohhh!!!


Aqui teneis el link del video y algunas fotos. Here you have the link to watch the movie and some pictures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA1u2BZ4QDw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Entrada al edificio. Entrance to the building

Mesa del portero. Door person's desk

Pasillo hacia los ascensores. Going to the elevators

Sala de lavadoras y secadoras. Laundry room

Gimnasio. Gym

Gimasio. Gym

Piscina. Swimming pool

Vistas desde la piscina, al fondo Chicago. View from the swimming pool, Chicago in the distance.