Chicago Stopover

After missing my connecting flight due to weather disruption I found myself stuck on a short Chicago stopover.

With hundreds of connecting flights daily, O’Hare’s a major hub for both American and United Airlines, a delay anywhere along the system can cause backups here too. Stuck in Chicago with a layover at the O’Hare International Airport (ORD), located roughly 17 miles (27 km) from downtown Chicago, I managed to find a room and spend the night and short afternoon exploring the city.

About 40 minutes later, I find myself in Chicago downtown hipster hotel, the Freehand Hotel, nearby chockablock with sights, restaurants, parks, famous architecture and outdoor art.

Millennium Park is where it all comes together, a 24.5-acre, award-winning centre that features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers. Its most astonishing features are Cloud Gate (aka. the Bean, Anish Kapoor‘s very photogenic stainless steel sculpture), and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, a soaring bandshell by architect Frank Gehry.

I was surprised how much could be seen in just a few hours, I rushed about before return to catch my return flight, but I would certainly be keen to return to Chicago and get a better look and mingle with the locals.