Round The World and other travels

I woke up at about 7 o'clock and once again had no trouble at all being organised and ready when my breakfast turned up a little early at about 0750. This time I had decided to go for one of the inclusive offers, called The Chicagoan, which consisted mainly of a very large, genuine beefsteak and eggs. Wow - what a start to the day! Unfortunately I was in no hurry to go anywhere, because a look outside confirmed that the weather was truly dreadful. It was raining hard and, true to the city's nickname, the rain was being blown down at quite an angle. There was hardly any daylight : all vehicles were using headlights and the tops of most of the skyscrapers eerily disappeared into the gloom. Yuck!

I messed around until about 10 when, sensing that maybe the rain was easing off a bit, I thought I'd venture out. At first, it seemed like a good idea. The rain had indeed eased off and people had started to put down their umbrellas. And at least it wasn't the slightest bit cold. By the time I'd made it to Millennium Park, however, it was once again chucking it down, as we say in the UK. I rather foolishly pressed on towards Buckingham Fountain, hoping in vain for another abatement - but there was to be none.

By the time I got back to the InterContinental, less than an hour after setting out, I was well and truly soaked and made straight for the shower. The remaining part of the morning was spent writing up my diary and getting things organised for my afternoon departure. I ordered some rather tasty Penne Bolognese for lunch.

I checked out earlier than anticipated at 3 o'clock and caught a cab to O'Hare. It crawled the entire way, the journey taking over an hour. At the airport, I found the First Class check-in easily enough. The only hitch came when the TSA didn't like the look of something when they were scanning my suitcase and opened it to have a look. The offending item? - a copy of National Geographic. Passage through the main Security area was easy enough and soon I was on my way to the Admiral's Club where, as a oneworld Emerald, I was promptly redirected towards the Flagship Lounge, which in any case was much closer to my departure gate. I was given a warm welcome at the Flagship Lounge, which partly compensated for the bad news that my flight was delayed as a result of the terrible weather and was currently rescheduled for an 8pm departure.

The lounge was really very good - a definite cut above the average Admiral's Club, with an attractive selection of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres and a full, complimentary selection of drinks. I had some biscuits and cheese and a couple of glasses of Piper Heidsieck Champagne. With about half an hour to go to the latest departure time I had, I made my way to the gate.