Tag: chicago

Merry, Merry Chicago Concert

Yesterday, I was at the CSO holiday concert – what a delight! It was a last-minute decision; I was not sure I would fit it into my schedule comfortably. I decided just a couple of days before the concert, and I also invited one of my friends with her daughter. It was their first time for both of them in the CSO, and I like to take people to the CSO for the first time almost as much as I like to teach people to skate!

It was a very good concert, very festive, the one which helps to feel the holiday magic. I can recall a couple of more exciting shows, which would tell a story (like the one based on O’Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi or the one about the Christmas truce during WWI), but this one was still very good.

The best thing was that the CSO returned to the holiday tradition and presented “Christmas in Chicago” at the end (and as it ought to be, it was not on the program). I think it was in 2018 when they did not sing this song, and I was so upset with it that I ended up not going in 2019!

SO this year, the concert is back, and Christmas in Chicago is back! 

And for those who for some reason never heard this song, here ae official lyrics:

Christmas in Chicago – lyrics

Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas

It’s just what Christmas ought to be

Snowflakes fill the frosty air, skaters frolic on the square

And on State Street dazzling windows are a beautiful sight to see

Christmas in Chicago, as hearts fill with wonder

Lights sparkle all along Magnificent Mile

I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas

At Christmas all Chicago wears a smile

The City of Big Shoulders wears a robe of winter white

The lion statues wear their wreaths of green

Picasso’s sculpture wears a cheerful multicolored glow

Reflected from the city’s Christmas tree

Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter

And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall

I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas

It’s like no other Christmas at all

Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas

It’s just what Christmas ought to be

We’ll make a trip to carol at the zoo in Lincoln Park

We’ll sing for kangaroo and chimpanzee

We’ll warm up with hot chocolate there and then we’ll go downtown

To Marshall Field’s and sit on Santa’s knee

Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas

It’s just what Christmas ought to be

Sleigh bells ring on horsedrawn cabs near Water Tower Place

Church bells peal from steeples ’round the town

Salvation Army Santas add a joyful ring-a-ling

The Loop is filled with happy Christmas sounds

Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter

And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall

I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas

It’s like no other Christmas at all

Chicago’s kind of Christmas is a magic kind of Christmas

It’s like no other Christmas at all

Yesterday, I was at the CSO holiday concert – what a delight! It was a last-minute decision; I was not sure I would fit it into my schedule comfortably. I decided just a couple of days before the concert, and I also invited one of my friends with her daughter. It was their first time for both of them in the CSO, and I like to take people to the CSO for the first time almost as much as I like to teach people to skate!

It was a very good concert, very festive, the one which helps to feel the holiday magic. I can recall a couple of more exciting shows, which would tell a story (like the one based on O’Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi or the one about the Christmas truce during WWI), but this one was still very good.

The best thing was that the CSO returned to the holiday tradition and presented “Christmas in Chicago” at the end (and as it ought to be, it was not on the program). I think it was in 2018 when they did not sing this song, and I was so upset with it that I ended up not going in 2019!

SO this year, the concert is back, and Christmas in Chicago is back! 

And for those who for some reason never heard this song, here are official lyrics:

Christmas in Chicago – lyrics

Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas

It’s just what Christmas ought to be

Snowflakes fill the frosty air, skaters frolic on the square

And on State Street dazzling windows are a beautiful sight to see

Christmas in Chicago, as hearts fill with wonder

Lights sparkle all along Magnificent Mile

I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas

At Christmas all Chicago wears a smile

The City of Big Shoulders wears a robe of winter white

The lion statues wear their wreaths of green

Picasso’s sculpture wears a cheerful multicolored glow

Reflected from the city’s Christmas tree

Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter

And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall

I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas

It’s like no other Christmas at all

Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas

It’s just what Christmas ought to be

We’ll make a trip to carol at the zoo in Lincoln Park

We’ll sing for kangaroo and chimpanzee

We’ll warm up with hot chocolate there and then we’ll go downtown

To Marshall Field’s and sit on Santa’s knee

Christmas in Chicago is my kind of Christmas

It’s just what Christmas ought to be

Sleigh bells ring on horsedrawn cabs near Water Tower Place

Church bells peal from steeples ’round the town

Salvation Army Santas add a joyful ring-a-ling

The Loop is filled with happy Christmas sounds

Christmas in Chicago is music and laughter

And singing carols here at Orchestra Hall

I love Christmas in Chicago, that’s my kind of Christmas

It’s like no other Christmas at all

Chicago’s kind of Christmas is a magic kind of Christmas

It’s like no other Christmas at all!

And that’s exactly how we felt!

Continue reading “Merry, Merry Chicago Concert” →

A Weekend Filled With Holiday Activities

Last weekend, when Lena visited me, we went to the Christkindle Market. Lena didn’t have an opportunity to visit it for many years! It turned out that she didn’t even know that Chicago’s official Christmas tree was moved to Millennium Park!

By then, I visited the marked four of five times, and there was no problem getting in, but there was a huge line to enter that time! The line circled Daley Center twice, and although it was moving pretty fast, it took us 35 minutes to get inside.

Inside, the market was packed! However, it turned out that people didn’t really look around – there were food stands with no lines at all, so we were able to get our drinks (I brought the mug which I got during one of my previous visits, and Lena got a new one), and then food – this time, I chose a “kilometer” sausage.

Continue reading “A Weekend Filled With Holiday Activities” →

Christmas Is Back: Caroling At The Cloud Gate

This particular concert yesterday was not very interesting, but I am happy that the tradition returned, and I hope to come to one more concert!

The reflection of the city lights in the Bean is one of the most captivating pictures you can imagine!
Continue reading “Christmas Is Back: Caroling At The Cloud Gate” →

Christmas Is Back: Christkindle Market

That’s how many other people and I feel. Christmas is back. Almost all of the Chicago Christmas activities and attractions returned this season, and people are eager to participate.

One of my most favorite things is the Christkindle Market on Maley Plaza. It was online last year, and I am so happy that it is back this year, even though the prices are even higher!
I already went there three times: by myself, with the youth from ODS on Monday, and with mom and Igor today.

I bought a star for the shelter (because nobody can remember where are the stars I bought two years ago, and in any case, the residents are all new).


On another visit, I bought the roasted nuts – a large bag of three different kinds. I need to buy one more so that I could also send some to my friends who love them:).

And today, we all got the anniversary Christkringle mugs:

Yesterday, it ended up being too crowded, and it was hard to see things, so I need to make sure to take mom there one more time.

Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting

I forgot to write about the actual start of the holiday season: the Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. For many years, I attended it regardless of the weather, first with the kids, then on my own. I stopped attending it after the tree was moved away from the Daley Plaza to Millennium Park. The first reason was that the tree should be close to the Christkindle Market; they belong together. Second, the new location is less convenient. You have to be in a specific place to see what’s going on by the tree, and the first year I observed that most people who gathered to see the tree were able to see nothing.

Then, it was the Laquan McDonald unrest. It was quite horrible when people were already marching towards the Loop, and Mayor Emmanuel was lighting the Christmas tree. It is no wonder that people started pulling the lights off the tree and doing other damage to it.

Because of all that, I stopped coming to the ceremony, but this year, everything was different!
After not having a ceremony last year, we had it live! Also, this time around, there was more space to watch, and also, several large screens were projecting what was going on on stage.
Igor took my mom to the event, and one of my friends joined us. As usual, mom was first complaining that it takes too long to get there, and she did not want to inconvenience anybody. Then, she complained that she could not see anything, and then she said that the show with Ded Morozes on the boats in Saint Petersburg was better. Nevertheless, she asked both Igor and me to send her the pictures, and she asked several times how the show was called and for how many years it was on, and then sent the pictures to all her friends.

Fireworks after the tree lighting

Stories Of The Great Chicago Fire

On Wednesday, I attended the first live event organized by Chicago Architectural Foundation since before the pandemic. They told us that the last event happened on March 10, 2020). I purchased the tickets the first day I saw this announcement, which was when the infections numbers were still high, and it was hard to tell in which direction things would be evolving.

The event was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, and it was called “The Tales of the Night Chicago Burned.” The storyteller Scott Whitehair spent months researching the topic. In the Chicago History Museum archive, he searched for diaries, letters, and articles, which captured the lives of the ordinary people who lived in Chicago 150 years ago and witnessed that dramatic event.

The presentation was 75 minutes long. Whitehair chose the stories of five people and followed them through two days that two nights while the city was burning, and morning when the fire started to cease.


It was such a powerful and emotional presentation! Also, the author connected the Great Chicago Fire with the pandemic, and he talked about how the city will be rebuilt: not from the ashes as it was one-hundred-fifty years ago, but how it can come to life, and how we all can help.

The venue: Spertus Museum building

I am so glad that things are coming back :). Can’t have enough!

Black Cinema – It All Started In Chicago

I listened to this show on WBEZ when it was first aired (about ten days ago), and meant to go back and find the link on the WBEZ site. Then, Igor emailed me about the same show several days later, and I thought – I have to post it – and then life happened…

So, before I forget about it again – here is it! Like many other things, Black Cinema started in Chicago Southside. Like it happened to most of the silent movies – almost none survived. Still, we know something about the first producers and actors, and what these movies were about, and how they were received.

When you visit that link, please make sure not only to read the story but also listen to the recording of the episode – it has more interesting facts!

Maggie Daley Park

Last Saturday, we tried the idea that Anna and I had been talking about for a very long time. Namely, Anna and the girls visited just for a day to do some activities in the Loop without stopping at my place.

That day, the CSO had the very first children’s matinee since before the pandemic, and I bought tickets for Anna and Nadia. Originally, I thought that both parents would go, but that didn’t work with John’s schedule. At the very last minute, Anna arranged to take Nadia’s best friend with her.

Fortunately, the weather was great, so it was easy for me to babysit Kira while everybody else attended the concert.
Kira seemed to be intimidated by the crowd by the Bean and didn’t want to leave the stroller, but she was very fascinated with the chairs at the Pritzker Pavillion and spent good thirty minutes putting them up and down:).

After the concert was over and we all had lunch, we still had three and a half hours before their train back to Milwaukee. We went to Maggie Daley Park. That was such a delight! We never went there before, except for one time during the pandemic when most things there were closed.

OMG! Their playgrounds are so amazing!

This is a big ship with several boats attached
You can make if fell like a storm 🙂
A very detailed notice on the other playground
And that other playground is a steamship!
And yet another playground is a lighthouse with a slide!

I had to leave earlier to go to ORD to meet Boris, and the girls almost missed the train 🙂

Open House Chicago 2021 – Part 2

The next neighborhood we visited was Bridgeport. I never knew Chicago had a maritime museum, but there it was! The building where the Chicago Maritime Museum is located is a former Spiegel Catalogue Warehouse, on the banks of Bubbly Creek (Now, it’s a Bridgeport Art Center, and the Maritime Museum is in the basement).

The museum is wonderful; honestly, it’s a pity it is so far from the Loop! If it were closer, I would take more people there :).

One of the curators explained to us how the large ships could not sail in the Chicago River because it has so many bends
Continue reading “Open House Chicago 2021 – Part 2” →

Open House Chicago 2021 – Part 1

OHC is an event I try not to miss. Although some years I was in Helsinki that very weekend, and some years, the weather was really horrible, I would make it more often than not.
Each time we go together, Igor comes up with a route we never did before, and each time we explore new places (at least, new to me :))

Last year, there was no OHC due to COVID, and this year, there were way fewer sites than in pre-COVD years, which Igor declared to be a positive thing: planning became easier.

On the first part of our OHC tour, we went to the Back of the Yards neighborhood. The first stop was The Plant – a former slaughterhouse and meat-packing facility converted into a green technology site, housing 20 businesses, including indoor and outdoor farms, beer and kombucha breweries, a bread bakery, and other emerging food producers and distributors. Bubbly Dynamics, who owns the facility, tried to preserve the features of the original building. You can see the signs on the walls identifying different stages of meat processing. Also, the toilets are located in the former walk-in refrigerators. That might sound funny, but I felt very uncomfortable closing a heavy door behind me and putting the latch down. It almost felt like the temperature was about to start dropping right away.

Approaching The Plant
At the entrance
Algae everywhere!
Continue reading “Open House Chicago 2021 – Part 1” →