March 16, 2005 We visited Hull-House. It was founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and her friends who had decided to live in an economically poor working neighborhood and start a social experiment there. Jane Addams was one of the first US women with a university degree. She was the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1931.

March 16, 2005 While we were waiting for the proffesor to come, we enjoyed the drawings and jokes that his students, children and peers had dedicated to him.  

March 16, 2005 Exiting the EL (elevated subway) in Chicago. We transferred from the Brown Line to the Blue Line to go to UIC and meet my favorite director Prof. Peter H. there.  

On Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Amy took us to John Hancock Tower which is right opposite the Water Tower. We enjoyed the lights of Chicago from the 96th floor. We felt like singing, and dancing and laughing.  

Mount Prospect High School, Arlington Hights, Chicago, March 21, 2005 That Monday I met ESL and AP senior students. In all 6 classrooms I gave a talk about my schools in Bulgaria and Arizona. The English teachers shared with me some books and teaching materials. Boyan co-presented with me - he talked about the Cyrillic alphabet, the brothers Cyril and Methodius and their disciples.

Chicago, March 26, 2005. A balloon and the American flag in front of a bungalow with a welcome message for a soldier who was coming back home from his assignment. 

In a Chicago bungalow, March 12. Our principal hostess in Chicago was Sheila. She lives in one of the 80,000-100,000 bungalows built in 1910-1940. It "the Chicago bungalow is a Chicago icon," then Sheila is our icon. She was very helpful and made our wish list for our stay in Illinois and Indiana come true. 

Chicago, March 12, 2005 This house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and was biult in 1908-1909. It was his belief that home is a sanctuary from the whole world and that is why the architecture and furniture of the houses that he designed were marked by the sign of privacy. He used plants to bring nature into the house. There is a tree in the middle of Robie House. The Robie Family moved in that house in 1910 and they spent only 18 months there as Lora and Frederick's marriage fell apart. Now this house is the property of University of Chicago. Its reconstruction and maintenance are very expensive. The reconstruction is going on and both on the outside and on the inside the Frank Llloyd Wright Preservation Trust has 8 million US dollars to spend. We visited Robie House with a group of 8 other tourists. Four languages were spoken in our group of ten: English, French, Bulgarian and Russian. It was a sunny, cold and windy Saturday in Chicago on March 12, 2005 and we enjoyed our visit to Robie House. We decided to visit Oak Park, where the architect lived from 1889 till 1909, and see more of Frank Llloyd Wright houses and especially his home and studio. 

At Frank Lloyd Wright's

Chicago March 12, 2005 This is a photo taken in front of one of the famous flower urns at Robie House. The house was built in 1908-1909 by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Robie Family. The house is an example of the Prairie School in architecture. This is the first landmark of Chicago that we visited today.

In the American Midwest

We are spending the spring vacation in the American Midwest. Since March 12 we have been in Chicago. When we arrived, Sheila met us at Midway Airport holding two bags of warm clothing for Boyan and me. The city welcomed us with the traditional banners "Welcome to Chicago" by R. Daley, Mayor of Chicago and by snow.

We are going to visit some landmarks of Chicago, Springfield, Illinois and Bloomington, Indiana. While we are in this part of the USA, we are going to use the following space for posting pictures and publishing out travel notes from the trip: http://www.msnusers.com/vionet3-blogspot-com. Today we visited one of the houses that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright - the Robie House and our first picture is there. Click on the link below it to read the caption. On Sunday we are going to be in Oak Park and visit Hemingway Birthplace House, Ernest Hemingway Museum, Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and Unity Temple.

When we have access to Picasa in about two weeks, we will publish the pictures from the trip at http://vionet3.blogspot.com and at http://boyangate.blogspot.com. If you have comments or want to ask a question, do not hesitate to drop us a line.

Hidden in a Bush

On Arizona Avenue, Chandler, looking for a shady place for a good picture, March 8, 2005.

March 8, 2005

At Hamilton High School on a sunny afternoon in the shade of exotic desert plants.

This is Vionet3

It is the International Women's Day today, March 8 and I am launching my third blog. My first two blogs with photo reportages about my life in the USA can be viewed at http://vionet.blogspot and http://vionet2.blogspot.com.