Now it's time to go home after 2 weeks here. Our flight wasn't until 3.50 pm and it only takes about an hour to the airport so we didn't have to get up really early. This is always the worst part of the holiday, I hate travelling back more than going. It was particularly bad this time as they seem to make the trains to the airport with no room for anything and that includes people, so everybody is crammed on with cases, even the elevators in the airport were small with everybody packed in but on we fought.
Half the battle is getting rid of the bags so after that was done we went and had a beer and used the free 30 minutes of WiFi that the tight buggers give you before you have to pay, all other airports I've been to its free but this time we didn't have to hang about as long because we had only just over the 3 hour check-in time to wait and with 3 different devices you can get 30 minutes on each.
17:00cdt
Now we were sat on the plane somewhere over Canada I think in an economy plus seat by the window, it's better to squash in with somebody you know and there is only 2 seats on each side of the plane and 3 in the middle so we seem to have lucked in on this flight. On the way here we were in the normal cattle class which when some bastard in front puts the seat back in front there isn't enough room to get passed the armrest. No wonder they give you a free beer on these flights still is better than flying with Virgin Atlantic but only just.
18:00cdt
They brought food around if that's what you can call it, always something that involves rice so you wouldn't think that they couldn't screw it up but this a plane after all. Hopefully, they will turn the lights off soon so all the annoying bastards go to sleep.
9 am GMT
The plane landed on time and we got through customs in 15 minutes, the bags were first off the plane as well which helps, we had to wait for ages last time. The taxi we had ordered was waiting for us so it's about an hour or so to home.
It was bloody freezing here compared to Chicago but it's supposed to warm up in the next few days.
My thoughts on vacation.
Chicago is one of the more dangerous cities to visit in the USA, gun crime is particularly bad here with a staggering 31 people shot to death in the just the time we spent there. The vast majority of this is down to gang violence and retaliation attacks but more often than not innocence people get caught up in it and die. Also, street robbery is fairly high so you need to be careful where you go and at what time of day, even early morning in a good neighbourhood can land you in trouble it would seem.
On a positive note, it is a very clean city that spends a lot of money on plants and flowers along the sidewalks and has some fantastic museums, beaches and parks. Most places are well served by public transport that is affordable although like any city you still get traffic delays that create large gaps in bus services.
We both really enjoyed Chicago but we have seen everything we planned there now so don't see ourselves going back soon, yes it was a good time but I think we both left out hearts in San Francisco.
Thanks for reading, until next time, adios.
Con Burnes
