Travel Log

Here is my travel log for the past few days:

Sunday (8/7) evening: drive from Perham to Brainerd to meet up with more pilgrims, then to Burnsville (after having just driven from Bloomington to Walker about 20 hours earlier, and Walker to home that afternoon).

Monday (8/8): Wake up around 7am, ride to airport, check bag, go through security, find our gate...and wait. Board plane, short flight to O'Hare, then wait.

Three hours after arriving, in Chicago, we reboarded a HUGE plane (I took pictures on my phone and sent to my family) and set off for Madrid. The flight was about 8 hours and we got on at about 4 or 5pm CST. They served us supper and there was time for 3 movies during the flight (Thor, Lincoln Lawyer, and Kung Fu Panda 2). I tried to sleep on the plane...no luck. I tried to watch the movies but was too sleepy to follow. Mostly, I was just annoyed at how bright the overhead screens made the cabin appear. I was drowsy, but I am quite sure I did not actually sleep at all.

Tuesday (8/9): My favorite part: at about midnight CST, it was 6am Spain-time and, the sun was rising. The cabin lights turned on and breakfast was served! We had ham and cheese sandwiches, juice and kit-kat bars! I decided that, from now on, whenever I eat breakfast at midnight, it will be a kit-kat bar!

We arrived in Madrid just in time to miss our flight to Rome (our flight from Chicago was delayed about 30 minutes due to heavy rain). We were escorted through the pretty and large, but nearly-empty Madrid airport where my Passport got its first stamp, before waiting for the next flights to Rome. About half of our group had an 11:45 flight and the rest of us waited for 12:55. For just a moment, while waiting to board our plane on the tarmac, we breathed in the warm European air (our first time outside in a day!)

After a 2 hour flight to Rome, where we flew over the Mediterranean (which was GORGEOUS), we reclaimed our luggage and climbed aboard a bus. It was a big coach bus so we each had our own seat-row...pretty comfy. I enjoyed the scenery for a while (fields, farm houses, and some sheep) before falling asleep. I woke up in Assisi!

Oh man....it took FOREVER! But we made it to our first destination!