Best of 2009 Travel: Part 1 of 10 - The Modern Wing

*To kick off 2010 I've decided to recap my top ten favorite travel adventures of 2009. I had the good fortune to spend time in 24 states and 2 Canadian provinces and visit 36 units of the National Park Service. After such a banner year of traveling I can hardly wait to see what the next year has in store for me. I'll cover one destination each day for the next ten days. Without further delay I present, in no particular order, my top ten favorite travel destinations of 2009.

The Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, Illinois

Italian architect Rezno Piano has been opening museums all over the country in the past few years. Cities from Atlanta to San Francisco to Los Angeles have been graced by Piano’s work with varying results. One of the finest of Piano’s recent designs is the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The venerable encyclopedic art museum expanded its square footage on the northeast corner of its campus opening up views from the new structure to Millennium Park. A delicate steel footbridge arcs gracefully from the upper level of the expansion down to the park, forging an even stronger connection between the two venues.

The stark white interiors of the addition are a clean palette for the museums stellar modern collection offering a new home to favorite’s like Magritte’s Time Transfixed. My only concern is that the new wing is slightly too segreated from the rest of the museum, encouraging visitors to skip the rest of the treasures that the museum holds.