I'll be brief, just like our time in Chicago.)) Because of our driving test, we only had a few hours in the city, and on top of that, we were already missing out on Niagara, New York, and Boston.

We would have been devastated if not for it. The Windy City. If it's possible to fall in love with a city, that's what happened to us. One evening, and we were on the roof of the tallest building in Chicago, crying out loud that we didn't have an extra day.

The city lives, stays silent, and watches in an American way. For real. In many different ways. Stunning skyscrapers, not cluttered (as it seemed to me from Manhattan) like in New York, but standing with dignity and an awareness of their own significance. Wide, semi-empty streets, a river with a gangster-style bridge. History and imagery layer onto the air and the people, creating an unreal sense of Americanness. And freedom, and life, everything. In short, we were crazy about it. It's the most American city we've seen.

We drove along the waterfront, popped into the John Hancock Tower, where from the 89th floor—the highest observation deck, according to the staff—we looked at the sparkling city, walked through the streets, and headed toward New York.

Overnight stay near a McDonald's. And back on the road. Only now did we realize how much we were running out of time. The flight is in 28 hours, and we still have to drive, pick up our luggage, sell the car, withdraw all the money, and wander around New York. Nightmare.)))

While driving, we stared at the amazing sight—Indian Summer. You won't find such colors in St. Petersburg or Moscow. The hills shimmer with different colors: red, yellow, orange. The foliage is so dense and colorful that even up close, it's hard to tell if it's trees or a carpet runner.) This autumn is one of the reasons I would visit the USA again. It's too beautiful.

And all this was very fitting for saying goodbye to the States. A few hours later, New York bristled on the horizon with its jagged line of skyscrapers. This time it impressed us more than at the beginning. But still, we didn't manage to get to know the city at all. I know. Losers.))

In New York, it turns out the post office for luggage pickup closes at 1 PM and has been closed for 4 hours. After an hour of lying that we were in an accident and that's why we were late, they give us our luggage. We go to the internet, check craigslist.com for replies about the car. Some guy replies, we go to him, turns out he's Iranian, wants to take it for a measly 1000 dollars. We snort and drive off.

Everything is in a terrible rush, we withdraw money from one bank, don't have time for the other. We decide to withdraw it in the evening with a card. We go to the hotel. It turns out you can only withdraw 3000 dollars with a card. The rest stays there. I take the girls back to the hotel. Souvenirs aren't bought, nothing is bought. AAAAAAA!!!)))

There's no 24-hour Walmart here (in the southeast of New York, by the airport, where the hotel is), can't buy souvenirs. We barely find a buyer and at 5 AM I sell the car. The flight is around 9. I arrive by subway to the girls who stayed at the hotel. We pack hurriedly, jump into a taxi, and at 8 we are at the airport. Phew.)))

Our guys are sitting there, arguing with a lady about some money. As far as I understood, they are overweight, and they don't want to pay. I don't know how it ended for them, but we pay 150 dollars and run onto the plane to London. 5 minutes later, it takes off.

We don't even have time to feel anything. We pass out immediately, the ending is crazy, damn it.)))

Alright, goodbye America, I'm almost sure it's not farewell.

I open my eyes—it's night outside the window, and below us is night-time London. When I get home, I'm definitely going to sleep it off!) (I didn't know yet that I'd be writing a blog=))