Our Last Day! (Or So We Thought)

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Have you ever looked at the clock and thought, there is no way I can be awake at this hour. Well, I had this thought two days in a row.

The weekend started on Friday when I flew from London to Dublin, ready to enjoy my last night in Ireland! My roommates and I had an incredible time hitting up our favorite spots one more time. Lemon Crepe and Coffee for dinner, Gino's gelato for dessert, St. Stephen's green to lay in the grass; it was wonderful. We headed back to the apartment to finish packing and then, around 10 o'clock a bunch of friends came over and we celebrated our time in Ireland. It was perfect with great people, music and goodies. We all woke up around 4 in the morning on Saturday to get to the airport to learn that our flight was cancelled. CANCELLED. No one got an email or any sort of notification about the cancellation so we did the only thing we could do - worry about the things that are in our control. After talking to American Airlines employees, we learned that two flights to America had been cancelled due to maintenance, and a third flight was over booked by fifty people. Therefore, a couple hundred of people were all thinking the same thing: how are we getting out of here? American Airlines was very kind to all of us sleep deprived people. I was traveling with Micah and Emily, and we were taken to a hotel just north of Dublin for the night. Funny thing is, it was close to my internship location, a place I thought I would never have to make the trek all the way out there again.

Eight call attempts, one hour of being on hold, and three different consultants, we got through to someone who could reschedule flights for all three of us! Originally, I was supposed to fly to Chicago, Illinois to spend my seven hour layover with my older sister who lives there, and then reach my end destination of Dallas, Texas. The airlines had a different plan for me! The next flight to either Chicago or Dallas was maybe Wednesday; four days after my original flight. Instead, I decided to fly home to Austin, Texas since that was the next available option. Coming up on the third hour of being on the phone, right as I about to book a flight to Austin with the kind American Airlines lady over the phone, the worst thing you can imagine happened... the line cut. I ran downstairs with no shoes and my hair in a crazy bun to stand in the fancy hotel lobby and figure out why, oh why, the line cut. Their answer: "We need to reboot the system once a day." NOOOOOOO. Emily, Micah and I called and called and called, and could not reach the airline lady. Just as we plopped on the bed in a silent frustration, the phone rang! We jolted up so fast I fell off the bed and ninja rolled from the phone to the phone. IT WAS THE AIRLINE LADY! Bless. She is a angel and I will forever be grateful for her calling us back. She then finished booking our flights and crazy routes to our respected homes.

After that fiasco, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the Blanchadstown shopping center, eating a nice dinner provided by the hotel, and crashing on the bed for another cute, little 4 hour nap before heading back to the airport for another attempt at flying back to the states. It was a success! It was a 19 hour day, two flights, two sets of security checks, and random naps, but most importantly, I made it to Texas. Remember how my last meal was a breakfast taco? My first meal back: Tex-mex at the one and only Chuy's restaurant. Oh salsa and tortilla chips, how I missed you so. The food in Ireland was phenomenal, just different and they didn't have salsa or hot sauce that even compared to the goodness that is in Texas. I do miss Dublin a little bit already, but it feels good to be home!

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