Having a work site in Chicago is quite nice. I stayed at a downtown hotel and walked three blocks to meet Leah at the Grand Lux a classy restaurant with good food. Leah always manages to find excellent restaurants. We then dashed around Michigan Ave. trying to find an empty taxi to take to the Lyric Opera where we heard Carmen with Denyce Graves. I had seen her several years ago at Houston Grand Opera and she was just as good as she was then. We sat next to two young women who had purchased a subscription series just so they could hear Denyce Graves - they couldn't get individual tickets. These young women had never been to an opera - very brave to buy a whole series!