The Art Institute of Chicago is truly one of the world's best collections of art.

Spanning ancient through modern art, the massive location on Michigan Avenue is too big to explore thoroughly in a single day. Instead, focus on hitting the masterpieces - what the museum is known for.

Surprisingly, the AIC has one of the world's most complete selections of impressionist works. Some highlights are many Monets and Caillebot's "Paris Street, Rainy Day". Don't miss the spectacular post-impressionist works either.

For more information, visit their website here.

If you like art, this is the place for you. I personally went for the first time many, many years ago because of that movie "Ferris Bueller." I wanted to see in person "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. It then became one of my favorite pieces.

The only thing better than shopping all that weekend and Moonstruck's peanut butter shakes was the show that happen to be going on at the Art Institute that showed the making of Georges masterpiece. Beyond what I ever thought and could imagine, it made me fall in love with it all over again. Of course, it pleased me to death that my husband enjoyed the show and now has a newfound respect for the copy in our living room.

Very nice--I spent a whole day here. There is a wide collection of paintings (over 2,000 works), including Picasso, Monet, El Greco, and many, many more. There is a beautiful sculpture garden in a glass-enclosed arboretum. I was very excited that I would see my all time favorite paintings in this museum--Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, but I was very disappointed to see it was on loan. It should be back in Chicago by now, though. I paid the $7 student admission price. Regular admission is $12. The Gallery Audioguide is a very worthwhile way to spend $4. Let me say, in keeping with the budget theme of my journal entry, that the museum is free on Tuesdays from 10:30am to 4pm.

Website: www.artic.edu

Centered right in the middle of downtown, guarded by two huge sculpted lions, this is a treasure of art. One of my favorite women Impressionists, Mary Cassatt, has a wall of her works on these walls. THE BATH, an oil of a mother bathing her daughter shows such maternal instinct, and from a women who never married or had children! Her mentor, Degas, also has works displayed here.

A room downstairs holds minitures of scenes from various periods of architecture in dollhouse settings. The attention to detail is incredible! You can look through the tiny windows & see pocket-sized gardens or views of terraces. Teeny books and spectacles lie on library tables. There is a fabulous gift shop, don't forget!

This was, hands down, the best art show I've ever seen. It was obviously a labor of love for the people who arranged it. Some of Van Gogh's best, including several on loan from New York and Amsterdam that I'd never seen before. I cried because the story of Van Gogh's attempt to create an artist's community with Gaugin and another painter were so sad. They really told a story with paintings carefully paired with excerpts of the men's private letters. We were also shown how they influenced each other. One tip -- just say no to the audio tapes. God, just let the beauty flow through you! I believe that this exhibit has now left Chicago, but if you hear of it coming to a museum near you (and you like passionate painting) then get thee hence!

In any case, the Art Institute is a gem all on its own.