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Thursday 11 June
Jan dropped me at Heathrow at 07:20 for a 12:20 flight, so lots of hanging around. It wasn't till after I'd spent some hard-earned Jobseekers allowance on a Costa Latte Massimo that I thought to try blagging my way into the British Midland International Executive lounge on the strength of my Silver card, which I qualified for when commuting to Aberdeen and which expires this month. Success - free snacks and drinks!! (I do like a nice large single malt or three with croissants at 10:00 am). Whiskey for breakfast made me think of Le Mans, which is also this week, with this being the first one I've missed since 1997.
Heathrow to Chicago was an uneventful 9 hour flight, Although the flight was full-ish, I was alone in the back row so had three seats to myself until a bald guy with a ZZ Top beard sat on the other end. He had started out in Djjbouti, flown to Rome then Heathrow to get home to Seattle for 3 weeks holiday from drilling for oil. Being back row is quite good as you can recline the seat without people behind you huffing and puffing (like I've been known to do when the person in front reclines!!). There were less kids on the flight than I'm used to from the Florida flights, which was a bonus. Quite why people think their 1 year old will enjoy Orlando when he screams throughout an 8 hour flight is beyond me, but I digress (and I'm coming over all Grumpy Old Man)
I hardly slept at all and passe the time doing some detailed research on my itinerary, using Frommers USA guide, which is a must for this kind of trip. However, remind me not to fly United again. I didn't mind it not being a jumbo but they charge for all drinks except water, and tea/coffee with your meal. Virgin and BA are free all the way! The in-flight entertainment was American too - well, I suppose most films are international but the Americans do churn out some dire TV.
Immigration at Chicago was the usual 50 minute wait, with drugs dogs sniffing around you, although they do seem to have given the immigration officers here more hours in the Customer Skills classroom than some I've come across. Transfer to the hotel was easy on the hotel shuttle, and the hotel (a Candlewood Suites) is very comfortable - three room suite with 2 TVs, a walk in wardrobe and kitchenette with a massive fridge/freezer, a microwave, and a dishwasher!! There's a good gym (useless for me I know!!) and a BBQ outside which I could cremate something on if I wanted.
I dithered for a while about whether to go downtown one night 1 - this hotel is about 18 miles from downtown, and I have no car until Monday. The reception guy told me that the public transit was easy, safe and cheap so I decided I would, taking only a moderate amount of money (for safety purposes). I was going to use their bus to get back into the airport to catch a train. However some guy offered me to share his cab, which I accepted without thinking through the cost. He dropped me downtown (near the Hancock building, which is taller than the Sears tower, and really quite spectacular) and of course my share of the cost virtually wiped me out of drinking and journey-home money. Still, I managed to find an Irish bar (they get everywhere don't they?) and sink a few Hoegaardens (Dutch beer) before asking someone whereabouts was I and how do I find a Blue Line train to get me back to the airport. I eventually got back to the hotel about 1:00 am and was flagging as that was almost a 24 hour day for me.
So, there's the first proper update. I hope they will get more interesting during my journey, so stick with it for a day or two more please! Connection speed permitting, all my pictures will go up to Webshots (for backup purposes rather than publication) - I'll include the link in a later blog.if there's anything interesting to see which isn't here.
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