Day 1/2: My cousin and I decided to take a weekend travel trip to Chicago, since I'd never been, we took the train, since I that'd be the best way to experience the Midwest. We(mostly me) went with the intention of walking and using public transport to get around so we could try to take everything as much as possible. The night started out horrible. The train was 5 hours late, and getting into Chicago at 3 am only to try to find another train to a cab, was even worse, especially with the city's reputation and shady characters roaming around at night.
The ride was more than pleasant, and we met some cool people, and had a fun ride once the train actually arrived. The morning however, started out so perfect to make up for the day before. Great weather with the perfect lighting photographers drool over. I don't usually find that I want to take photos of myself (especially not early in the morning), but when I sat up out of bed and saw such beautiful light, how could I resist! The rest of the day pretty much remained moderate all around: mid 70s with a cool breeze on your face and the warm sun on your back, with a blue sky and cotton candy clouds. It turned out to be a one shot day. Traveling with someone who doesn't understand the wanderlust tendancies of a photographer, I only ended up with about 1 shot of anything I could get close enough to shoot without making my traveling buddy feel weird and uncomfortable. So, instead of sticking around uncomfortably and working it, I went all in blind on single shots.
Although I've been told what great museums Chicago has, it's too expensive to try to visit any when you're a broke (and cheap!) tourist, but we found lots of fantastic places to visit that didn't cost anything. The cultural center had a cool exhibit on Marilyn Monroe, and also 2 other photo exhibits, one of which was Stephen Wilkes's photos of Ellis Island, and it was all "yearning to breathe" FREE. Fun shouldn't have to cost anything. Although, a long wait and $12 to the top of the Sears tower was something.
"Creativity has to start with humanity, and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer." -Marilyn Monroe
Public transport was pretty enjoyable also, although, most of the time I felt like the guy below and other . In the city that never sleeps, you've got to multi-task your commute with your sleep. Besides, it's a fun ride.
Form ever follows function? Maybe. But it's still pretty. Civic Opera Building.
