How to explore a city inexpensively

Accommodation can be a major expense for a visit to any city, but once you've got that looked after you can still save a lot of money during your visit to the city itself.

Nice weather

We've been fortunate that we've had decent weather since we showed up here. Perhaps we really did bring the Mexican sunshine with us!

Megapixels and Memory Cards

It's a pretty safe bet that everybody who travels has a camera. But I think a lot of people don't realize that digital cameras have come a long way in the last couple of years and that you don't need to spend $1,000 to take decent pictures. Having just bought a new camera, I thought I'd give a little primer on the electronics and what 99% of you don't need.

Beer

Sorry for the late blog post today! But it was totally out of my hands...they turned the power off at 8:02am, and it didn't come back on until almost noon!

Chicago Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace Hotel

We have to put out a special thank you to the Best Western Hawthorne Terrace Hotel in North Chicago. When we decided to profile the city of Chicago, the Hawthorne Terrace , only a ten minute walk from Wrigley Field stepped up to the plate and offered us a place to stay.

Beautiful day

It would seem the Mexican sunshine arrived in Ottawa with us! It was a beautiful Sunday yesterday with sunshine and perfect temperatures around 23C (73F). First thing on the agenda was a 5 km (3 mile) walk.

Chicago to Ottawa

You would think it would be fairly simple to get from Chicago to Ottawa. And it should be, but for us it was an all day affair.

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

We didn't leave ourselves enough time to see the whole thing...just couldn't seem to drag ourselves outside at a decently early hour even though it was a beautiful day. And then, we got sidetracked into buying a new camera!

The Field Museum of Natural History

First of all, I have to qualify this by saying that it was only in March that we visited world class museums in Mexico City. Not to say that the Field Museum isn't world class, it's just that I think we are "all museumed out"!

The Shedd Aquarium

Yesterday morning we took the bus down to the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. They are pretty much across the street from each other and we chose to do the Shedd Aquarium first.

City Segway Tour - Chicago

You may or may not have heard of a "Segway". Introduced to the world almost 10 years ago, they are a two wheeled electric mode of personal transportation. Two things have hindered their popularity, even though they are a VERY neat mode of transportation.

Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise

The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise aboard Chicago's First Lady Cruise's is certainly one of the more popular ways to learn more about the skyline and some of the more interesting buildings. The one and a half hour cruise takes you down the Chicago River and onto both branches where the river splits.

Adler Planetarium

We slept in yesterday morning, and then had to write three blog posts! So we didn't actually get on the bus towards downtown until about 11:00am. We had three more events planned for Wednesday, the Adler Planetarium, the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise, and the Chicago City Segway Tour.

Urban Kayaks - Chicago

This was a very cool experience! It's pretty neat going kayaking to begin with, but to do it while weaving your way around the skyscrapers of Chicago was absolutely fantastic!

The Willis Tower

The highest building in North America. Formerly known as the Sears Tower, this 108 story building was the tallest one in the world from 1973 to 1998.