Carved ornamental wooden capital in the Auditorium Building, 430 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Adler & Sullivan, architects. Via Atelier Teee on flickr.

James and I headed to Chicago for a few days on an art and architecture vacation. We're also seeing the Chicago Opera Vanguard's production of "Greek" by Mark-Anthony Turnage. We're meeting people for drinks on the 4th. E-mail for details if you would like to join us.

Spotted in the Historic District during our trip in October.

Spotted in a square in Savannah, GA last week. I hope it won't be needed on Tuesday.

This amazing antique carousel was one of two set up in plazas in Segovia the day we visited. The golden stone you see behind it is the Roman aqueduct.

Update: James said he didn't think it was really antique, and he is correct. It's made to look that way, but the two we saw were created by la MACHINE in Toulousse, France in 1999.

Still getting caught up with email and work stuff. Posting will resume soon.

I will add more as I have time to flickr.

We'll be back on the 16th, and don't plan to blog much. It's a vacation!

Here are some recommended events while we're gone. Remember not to spend so much money that you can't attend the Nurture Art event on June 4.

Benefits

• Smack Mellon Kentucky Derby party and benefit on May 5
• White Box benefit on May 8. You can view items online now.
• Soho Rep, one of my favorite theater companies, has a benefit on May 14 -- performances by Matt Dillon, Tim Blake Nelson, Joe Pantoliano, Meryl Streep, and Lili Taylor in short works.
• Exit Art 25th Anniversary benefit and art auction on May 3.

Theater

• We know half of the people involved in a new play titled God's Ear presented by the New Georges. We're going after we get back, but if you go soon you can get discount tickets. Go to SmartTix and use the code PRE10 to see it for $10 May 2-6.
• The Experimental Text Festival at Ontological looks fascinating, and includes visual artist's Jason D. Szalla's directorial debut: "Copy 8852 is an alcohol fueled, candy flavored transcribed, circum-conversation about River Phoenix, Pop Culture, and Contemporary Art. Anonymity will be the new celebrity. Now and then in the Viper Room a museum can be found . . ."

Olive tree in Juan Carlos I Park, in Madrid, photo by R. Duran found on flickr

James and I are going to spend some time in Madrid and Barcelona, plus some wine areas such as Rioja or Navarra, in May. Feel free to email any tips or leave comments.

Update: How funny. We didn't plan it that way, but we're going to be in Barcelona during the last day of SWAB (art fair), so we'll have to stop by. Our friends at DCKT Contemporary, Leo Koenig, Mixed Greens, and Samson Projects will be there.

Stone building on grounds of Locust Lawn

Ground Hog coffee house and motorcyle company in Wappinger Falls

James, Mom, and I rented a Mini Cooper convertible from Zipcar on Friday and took a road trip to the Hudson Valley, including Cold Spring, Wappinger Falls, and New Paltz. I highly recommend seeing Huguenot Street in New Paltz, with houses dating from the early 1700s. I can also recommend the Foundry Cafe in Cold Spring for lunch, and the Ground Hog in Wappinger Falls for coffee or a meal.

I put up some photos on Flickr of the trip.

We only have one computer on the trip, and James is a slow blogger, so I'm not posting much right now. Go read him instead.