Day 1 - Missed Flight to Dublin

An excursion of any kind involving me wouldn't be complete if something didn't go wrong... in this case, I missed my flight to Dublin. I originally purchased my ticket to fly out of Chicago through Aer Lingus, departing today at 6:45pm. I bought this thinking I would either ride the train up here, or my parents would drive me... and then last minute I decided to spend the money I saved flying out of Chicago rather than St. Louis, and buy a ticket from STL to CHI -- it was only $150, which is how much more a connecting flight from St. Louis to Dublin would have been. My flight was scheduled to get into Chicago at 5:14pm, allowing me to have more than an hour and a half to get my bags and check into the Aer Lingus flight. The flight to Chicago ended up getting delayed by an entire hour... putting me into Chicago at 6:15pm. By the time I got my bags and got through the train to Terminal 5, it was 6:53pm. Jill Smith (my mom's best friend) had been working with Aer Lingus to attempt and hold the flight for me, but when I arrived they informed me that didn't happen. They only send one flight out to Dublin everyday at 6:45pm, so they scheduled me for the flight tomorrow (June 1). Putting me into Dublin at 8:25am Thursday June 2... late for classes! Oh well! For now I'm posted up at the Hilton Rosemont, relaxing in a cozy room all by myself. I have free WiFi, and a full breakfast buffet in the morning, and there's a 24hr fitness center! Woo! Time to burn off the 800 calories I devoured at the only place to eat in Terminal 5 - McDonald's. Wish I could have waited to get to the hotel, but I hadn't eaten since 9am, and my disaster day called for comfort food... which has turned out to be not so comforting. Eating McDonald's only every 3-4months is never a fun feeling... my poor body can't take all the grease! Well it's about time to relax, or head to the hotel bar for a glass of wine! Let's hope tomorrow goes much better than today... saying goodbyes followed by missing a big flight makes for an exhausted Britni. Gute Nacht!