What a night. Didn’t sleep much. Couldn’t put my feet anywhere without it hurting. I am feeling old. Getting out of bed hurts, limping to the bathroom. The only thing that helps are two Paracetamol and binding my shoes very tight. Then I can move at least (but not fast).

To early for breakfast, but the receptionist says just to get there and get what I need, because everything is ready. A cardboard waffle, an apple and some orange juice. The hotel shuttle takes me to the terminal (a service Oslo could learn from – it is free).

I am checked in, but my luggage has to be checked. Not the fastest working people here. Walking slowly but passing a lot of people waiting for the security check. Good thing to have a first class ticket. The airport is old. Time to open the new one you can see on the other side of the runway. I am in perfect time, just 15 minutes before boarding starts. Eight seats in First class. Old seats, no IFE – and the app doesn’t work on my old tablet. Perfect. A little bit grumpy service. Get a pre-takeoff juice. The flight will be about two hours.

After takeoff we get breakfast. I think I chose the wrong item. The “pie” is nuked in the microwave and tasteless, the yogurt tastes like soap – but the fruit is fresh and good. The lack of an working IFE (and my unwillingness to use my phone to watch movies) makes me listen to an audio book.

Smooth flight and we land ahead of time – flying in over white fields… no no no no… return to New Orleans with the sun and the warm weather. PLEASE! :'(

A big airport with a lot of walking to get out to the luggage claim (which my foot likes, but moving it helps a little bit). After some more walking to the underground station I buy a 3-day pass for the CTA and take a blue line and red line ride to my hostel. Just 15 minutes walk (with 2 pieces of luggage).

The hostel is outside downtown in an area that looks OK. Not a slum like I was told by someone in New Orleans who wanted to pray for my survival in Chicago (it is not bad here). 😛 First they say that the room isn’t ready before 15:00. But I think they heard me swearing and the room was ready 15 minutes later – magic. 😀 A single room, very basic with a bed and a table. Shared bathroom (but that reduced the price 35 %).

 

I am getting more and more concerned about the strike of the SAS pilots back home. People have problems getting home. 7 hours in the loop of the hotline… I have to wait until May 2nd to know if my flight is canceled, but I hope they get back to the table before that. To get home from Chicago can be difficult and if they don’t find a flight expensive. And I might lose my business class (they would compensation for that, but 8 hours over night in economy… argh). The airlines homepage and my flight forum are consulted several times a day.

Since the weather is nice (but cold) I decide to take a short ride into the city to Millennium park. Have to get the standard photo at the bean (or cloud gate) and the daily geocache (which is the photo at the bean^^). The bus stop is 3 minutes from the hostel and the bus goes straight south to downtown.

I had booked a walking tour of the city, but with my foot no way I walk around for 2 hours. So just don’t meet up.

A short stop at CVS tog get a bandage for the foot, some Ibuprofen – they have prices that are at the same level or higher than in Norway). Never seen painkillers in 500 g buckets^^. I get my picture(s) and after a short walk I feel that I am tired due to the lack of sleep last night.

A baguette at Subway (that was the easy choice) and back to the hostel by bus. I am drifting of to sleep at 19:00, but manage to get up, take a shower and then go to bed. I seem to need the rest.