As I woke up in the morning, I realised that my the last G&T the previous evening really should have been a water. It wasn't a hideous hangover, but I've definitely felt better at other points in my life. Still, nothing breakfast can't fix, right? So headed upstairs to the wedding brunch, which was on the top floor in a room with absolutely stunning views of the city.
There was quite an impressive spread of food, from eggs and bacon to sausage and french toast. However one thing caught my eye, my long-desired Cheerios! I immediately poured two small boxes into a bowl, poured in milk, and just ate the whole thing still standing up at the buffet table. Okay, perhaps not the most polite and well-behaved thing to do, but I was starving and wanted my Cheerios!
After I'd satisfied my Cheerios craving, I filled my plate with a proper breakfast, and joined the other young folks (including the bride and groom) at a table with spectacular views to eat breakfast. We had a great time chatting and reliving the memories of the previous day, and talking about our trips home.
We talked for ages until it was clear that people needed to go back to their rooms and check-out, but we still seemed reluctant to say good-bye, having enjoyed seeing our friends so much. It was amazing how much we managed to linger and avoid saying good-bye, but at last it was time and we really had to go.
Amazingly, I was able to fit all of my shopping into my carry-on bag, and was downstairs and checked out before I knew it. I said good-bye to Jess in lobby as she headed off to the airport, sad to see my friend go. It's been years since she was my roommate, but it turns out I miss my good friend more than I'd realised.
I still had two hours before I had to catch my plane, so I went for a walk down to Navy Pier. It actually wasn't that exciting, so I went back to the hotel, picked up my luggage, and then walked down to the El station (stopping to pick up one last burrito on the way). Turns out that we hadn't been staying that far from the Accenture office, although of course I don't know Chicago that well (yet!), so I'd had no idea. I fell asleep on the train on the way back to the airport, but luckily woke up at the last stop, checked in for my flight, and got on the plane.
Of course since I'd fallen asleep on the train, I figured that the plane would be no problem, but surprisingly I couldn't seem to sleep at all. So I ended up watching all four parts of the BBC "Tess of the D’Urbervilles" series. Having last read the Thomas Hardy novel in high school, I couldn't remember quite how it ended except to remember that it ended badly. So it was terrible to be watching the whole thing, knowing that it wasn't going to be a happy ending, but yet being unable to look away. Although while in the novel Tess seemed quite put-upon, in this adaptation I just kept growing quite frustrated with her, wondering why she didn't take advantage of men's obvious fascination with her for personal advantage, to instead let her family starve while she upheld her principles. In the end I was left frustrated and wondering, "Why is Tess so dumb?" In the end, it must be because Thomas Hardy was a man, and unable to attribute any sort of feminine wiles to Tess, I suppose.
The flight landed at 6:35 AM, and I was absolutely thrilled with the IRIS system at Heathrow, as I got through it so quickly. It's this futuristic phone-booth thing, where the doors open on one side like some space-age air-lock, you walk in, then listen to the computer voice telling you to look into the mirror, and once it scans your retina and recognizes you, the air-lock doors open on the other side and you walk out into England. Brilliant!
So I was on the Tube headed home by 7 AM (I checked my watch), and finally back at my flat before 8 AM, absolutely exhausted and starving, but with one last burrito from Chipotle that I'd managed to sneak through customs! What a wonderful trip!!
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