Chicago is a city: of soaring and gleaming architecture, of towering views, of Lake Michigan shoreline, of Crown Fountain, of the mirrored “Bean,” of serpentine bridges, of The Chicago Theatre in “Everyone’s Neighborhood,” of Marina City’s corncobs, of pizza, Italian food and hatch chili, of art from Gauguin to Calder to El Greco, of temples of worship, of colorful murals and diverse neighborhoods, of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway, of rusted figures walking in a crowd through Grant Park, of the University of Chicago, of the old Pullman factory with its integrated town and amenities, of the Chicago Cubs, and of the impossibly turquoise Chicago River.
Our top 10 sights to see in Chicago were:
10) Riverwalk
9) BahΓ‘’i Temple House of Worship
8) Pullman National Monument
7) Ukrainian Village
6) Pilsen murals
5) Agora in Grant Park
4) The Art Institute
3) Chicago 360
2) A lakefront bicycle ride
1) Chicago River Boat Architecture Tour
This “video/slideshow” encapsulates our three day trip in August of 2020.
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This is my first ever “video.” Hopefully I can improve over time as I’m able to figure out more special features of iMovie and, especially, as I’m able to incorporate more actual video into the slideshows.
Thank you for watching! π
I think this is amazing for a 1st Video. I’m sure I wouldn’t have managed half as well as this. Very clear and the movement was just slow enough. You saw more than we did on our 3 days in Chicago but then I think we saw different things. We did the usual – Frank Lloyd Wright tour, the Sears Tower and Hancock Towers (are they sill there?), Riverside Walk, the Art Centre, the River, the public statues and art forms, the theatre, the Aquarium etc., but we also sought out the places where our movie gangsters lived and where the films were shot. The Chicago tourist board was reluctant to divulge this at the time (1999) but I think things have changed now. Also, we took two tours with the volunteer guides ‘My Chicago’ who showed us ‘their’ private Chicago and ours even managed a backstage tour of the Chicago Theatre and the same at the CIBC Theatre – a highlight for me. One night we spent at the Chicago and two nights at the famous Comedy Store which was fantastic. But philistine that I am, the highlight was our stay at The Drake, a treat to ourselves as it was a wedding anniversary trip, and it was so luxurious that I was often keen to return to it much earlier than I would normally have done and to hell with culture and sightseeing! It was March and there was a roaring fire in the lounge where we had tea/coffee in the afternoon and our room overlooked the riverside drive, or was it the Magnificent Mile – I can’t remember now. All I know is that if I were to go back, I’d have to stay at The Drake!
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Thank you, Mari. It took me forever to make it, as I had to climb a steep learning curve! I had never tried to make a movie before, so I hope the next one will be easier (and less time consuming).
It sounds like you were able to delve in deeper into Chicago than we did. I don’t know if we could have done the things you did because it was during COVID and also before vaccines. We were trying to do most things outdoors, and for the few indoor venues, we had to wear masks and had timed entries (like to The Art Institute and Chicago 360). The Frank Lloyd Wright tour was booked, so we weren’t able to do that. Looking for homes of movie gangsters and places movies were shot would have been a fun thing to do. Backstage tours of the theaters must have been interesting, but I don’t think theaters were even open at that time. Of course, live venue entertainment was completely out. The Drake sounds utterly romantic and luxurious. Of course now you probably couldn’t sit in the lounge without masks. Certain things were simply out of our reach because of the pandemic, but we still had a great time just walking around outdoors (although it was quite hot in August!).
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That was excellent! Definitely looks like βmy kind of townβ – magnificent buildings, street art and even bagpipes.
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Thanks Anabel. A very steep learning curve here, but slowly I hope I can learn more tricks of the trade. Also, I need to focus on taking more actual video. It will be a fun year experimenting in this form.
Chicago is one of my favorite cities. I think most everyone would love it. I hope you can make it one day. π
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So do I! Feels like an unobtainable dream at the moment. Some day, if life becomes more normal again.
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You never do things by halves, Cathy! How long did it take you to put it together? The background music was pitched just right too. Not intrusive. And your zoom in and out was steady. Mine always makes me feel seasick. Never been to Chicago but I sure as heck want to go now!
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Thanks so much, Jo. I had a very steep learning curve since I’d never made a video before. It took me a very long time, probably about three weeks altogether. I used iMovie, which comes with my Mac. I didn’t know I’ve had it here all along until my son in Nicaragua told me about it!
As for the zoom in and out, that’s a feature of iMovie called the Ken Burns effect that does it automatically. You can set where you want each zoom to start and end and then it does it automatically. I found the music on Epidemic Sound, which Peta from Green Global Trek told me about. I wanted something jazzy and bluesy since Chicago is known for that kind of music. Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. I’m just sorry I waited so long in life to visit. π
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Technology is pretty amazing if you have time and patience for it, Cathy. I’m too much of a clutz! Enjoyed a couple of games of croquet this morning and now having lunch before the sun moves off the patio π€π
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Nice! Sunshine and croquet? I can only dream of such. Today there is snow and ice on the ground and it’s 32F degrees. And no sunshine in sight. π¦ Have fun!
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π€£π
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I love this new format of few words and letting the video tell the story. What a fantastic city. That art gallery I would love to look around. In fact I would just love to visit Chicago after seeing this post. But know I never will.
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Thank you, Pauline. Even though it’s time consuming to make a video, it’s more fun to experiment with this medium rather to painstakingly write about everything (which most people don’t read anyway). Chicago is a great city. I wouldn’t mind living nearby and exploring a lot more. But those cold Chicago winters – I don’t think I could take those!
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Jack made lots of videos of our travels around Australia and they are all on DVD’s. Never did anything with them. But I know how time consuming they are to create. I would want to hibernate if I had to go back to living in a cold climate. I have lived over hear since 1960 and though I find the humidity hard to put up with I would find the cold even worse.
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I also have a pile of old videos of when our kids were little; I need to take the time to figure out how to convert them to digital. We don’t even have a player for the type of videos we made. It’s fun to make these digital ones.
I usually don’t mind winter, but I guess I like a very specific kind of winter. One with sunshine and temps above 40F. We have been below freezing most days this January, with gloomy skies and a fair amount of snow and ice. Not my favorite type of winter! π
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You would love winter over here Cathy. I do…
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Love that bean π I really need to do more exploring around Chicago now that I live so close
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Oh, did you just move to the Chicago area? I hope you’ll find time to explore it more. I can’t believe I’ve waited so long in my life to visit. We loved it, although we were there in August when it was a LOT warmer than it is now.
I see you are publishing a book in May. Congratulations! It sounds very interesting. I’ll have to put it on my reading list. π
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I did last March! π With Covid plus a bunch of other moving adjustments we haven’t had a ton of time to go exploring yet, but I’m hoping later this year when some of that dust settles we can snoop around more. Although we did manage a day trip to Chicago during the summer and yes, it was very warm.
Yes – my debut comes out in May and I am very excited/nervous! If you do read it, I hope very much that you enjoy it.
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Thanks M.B. I look forward to it. π
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That picture is FAN.TAS.TIC!
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Thank you so much, Pit. The picture or the “video”? Just curious… π
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Loved it! My home town. There is so much to do there and now I see I have to put more things on my list for the next time I’m there. One of my all time favorite cities and you captured it well!
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I’m glad you enjoyed my little video of Chicago, Toby. I have to say it was one of my favorite cities as well, and I didn’t grow up there as you did. So much to see and do! I could definitely visit again. π
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I didn’t really grow up there as I left when I was 9. But every time I “go home” it does feel like I’m going home. My cousin always says “welcome back home” when I visit. My sister and I are going in June to see our aunt and uncle for a long weekend. I sure hope I can squeeze in a visit to the Art Institute! I have to watch your video again and write down the stuff I’ve never even heard of and put them on a list to visit.
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Well, I think if you lived there till 9, you did grow up there! You just did the rest of your growing up elsewhere. π I hope you’ll enjoy your visit in June to see your aunt and uncle. The Art Institute is huge; we obviously couldn’t see it all while we were there, so we just picked a couple of areas to focus on. The architecture boat tour is so much fun!! π
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By the way, I have a video coming out this Wednesday about Minnesota, the southern half. I’ll do the north two weeks later. What a fun state to visit. π
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Oh yay!! I look forward to seeing those. It is a fun state but the winters are dreadfully long. This one seems especially long probably because I had hoped to be moved by now. Damn pandemic….
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Have you figured out where you’ll move when it’s safe to do so? I’m following your retirement move with bated breath! π
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Nope. I need to get back to my pros/cons list. John thinks the answer will reveal itself. Hmmm….meanwhile, we booked flights and hotel in D.C. for my birthday(and retirement celebration) in May!! Will you be around? I found two art galleries that I’ve never been to so hoping to get to those. Maybe we could meet at one of them? I’ll email you shortly. Hope you’re having a nice Sunday! We’ve got sun and relative warmth in the 40s so I’m going to take a walk OUTSIDE for a change, whee!!
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I’m hoping the answer will reveal itself to us as well. I hope a wider European war doesn’t break out, ruining our lives for our retirement years. I look forward to seeing you in May! π
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I know what you mean about a wider war. I’m looking forward to seeing you both as well. Yay!
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It’s so nice to see you back here Cathy, I am yet to watch the video though! π
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Thank you! I guess you are going by NiNa now? It is easier if we have a name to use when conversing with you. π Yes, I’m back this year just doing video/slideshows of my travels. That will be all I’m doing for at least the next year. I hope all is well with you. π
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Yes Cathy! I will look forward to watching more of those, Is it like a full fledged youtube channel? I got one too. My first book is about to get published so am looking forward to that.
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I do have a YouTube channel, I guess, and I’m adding to it bit by bit. Congratulations on your first book being published. What is it called? I’ll have to check it out. π
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That’s amazing Cathy! I am so excited to see all of these bits. What’s the link to your channel?
Thank you so much! I am humbled and will put out the details about my book soon and about a beautiful person too β¨β₯οΈβ¨
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Can’t wait to see it! As for my “channel,” I don’t think I’ve made it into an official channel but my page calls it a channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL7b7c_3u5lh6BB2Mcd4-cQ/featured
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Okay I just found it Cathy, this is the channel link you should be sharing : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL7b7c_3u5lh6BB2Mcd4-cQ/featured
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Thank you!! I have no idea how you got to this, but now I’ve changed my original comment to you to include the right link and I’ve also included the link in my latest post. You can see I’m still learning how to do this whole YouTube thing. Do you have a link for your channel? Can you also tell me how you got to this?
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Cathy, here’s a link to my channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTDJIAN5J5esg1o6oEpMPRg/featured
On the Youtube page, click on your profile icon (the one that has your photograph or some photograph – on the extreme right top corner). Click on Your channel>>on the top where you see the website address that’s the link to your channel. Hope this helps π
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Thanks for sending your link (I subscribed) and for telling me how to share my channel. What fun!
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Hey Cathy this is not linking to your youtube channel, what’s the name of your channel?
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Thanks for setting me straight! xx
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The link that you sent me is the analytics to your channel and that can be only accessed by you xx
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Oh, I thought it was a weird link!
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