4/21/2010 Chicago and a lost camera

Discovered this cool feature of Picasa today. It takes a group of pictures and creates a collage automatically, but allows you to edit it as well. Most of these were pictures I took today on a walking tour through what is known as the Gold Coast of Chicago. However, they also include our little Cube rental car and one of our cab drivers, too. The Bishop Plumbing truck was seen at the Archdiocese of Chicago's home. Thought that a bit funny...
I lost my camera today when it fell out of my jacket pocket in a cab. I realized it immediately, but by then the cab was gone. So how did I get these pictures? Two days several phone calls later, I got my camera back. Pure luck since we had no idea even what color of cab we were in. Kathy thought she remembered the cab number, so that's what we started with. Amazing piece of luck!
We took the train from where we were staying into the city, walked around for quite a bit--very windy. Guess that's why it's called the Windy City. I had to buy a jacket since I had left my coat in the car. It was very pleasant weather when we started; who knew it would be so cold in the city. We did a walking tour of the Gold Coast area (http://www.chicagotraveler.com/neighborhoods/gold-coast-feature.htm); lots of magnificent mansions bulit in the late 1800s and on, including even a Playboy Mansion and a place called the Three Arts Club where women lived and trained in the arts. One of the homes we saw was designed by Frank Llyod Wright when he was just starting out with a firm in Chicago. I'd recommend the area to anyone visiting Chicago. Not sure how far we walked today; I left my pedometer back at the hotel again, but we did do quite a bit of walking and I tracked our route a couple of times on the phone. Doesn't look too accurate on some, but it shows where we have been a bit of the time. The first route is the walking tour in the Gold Coast area.  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/688940
http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/688809