Left UK on Sunday afternoon. All those years of travel still have some pull - I got upgraded to First Class by BA. I think that the charm will rub off once they realise that GSK is no longer footing the travel bill and Bulfin will be travelling a lot less!

Arrival in Chicago was less comfortable and straight forward. Firstly, I did not realise that my 'all singing and dancing' L1 US visa is not a magic key. Apparently, it is only for business purposes and, as a fully signed up retiree, I am this very first to affirm that I am not here on business! Following some negotiation with the Immigration Officer and one completed green entry card, I made my grand entrance into the US.

The next obstacle was getting to the city. Eskewing limos (now that I'm paying) I wanted to us the Metra train. I eventually got to the station via the airport transit system. A number of airport staff were very helpful in directing me - but they just neglected to tell me that the Metra does not run at weekends!! Back to the terminal buildings and a cab to the city.

I met with my niece Gina, her husband Jonathan and my great nephew Lenin at the hotel on Sunday evening (being a great uncle sounds like I should be 80 plus!) It was the first time I met Lenin - a real cutie and it was good to catch up.

Did some touring on Monday. I did the bus tour and walked around a lot. Picked up my train ticket from Union Station. I'm just a big kid at heart and very excited at my train journey.

I don't think that I will be able to blog on the train so next instalment should be on Saturday.