August 2-3
Albeit long, our travels from the US went smoothly. The Chase tour kicked off with an American Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Dallas, and then Dallas to Madrid. From there, we took a bus from Madrid to Zaragoza with our 10 large suitcases. As hard as we tried to reduce our luggage, we still had too much stuff, and paid for it too in $500 in baggage charges. On the plane, the kids got a kick out of their own personal video screen to watch videos or TV.
The bus ride was long and hot, and not particularly comfortable but do-able. For visitors (hint, hint), I would recommend either a puddle jumper from Madrid or Barcelona (or another European city like Paris, Rome, etc.), or the fast train (90 minutes). For the last leg, we took two taxis (due to all the luggage) from the Zaragoza station to our apartment and new home for the next year. Despite the lengthy journey, the kids were top notch travelers, and we all made it to the apartment unscathed.
Parker and I were able to secure our European Union passports before we left (Parker's from Ireland and Celia's from the UK); Colin and Kelsey are eligible for Irish passports through Avril, Parker's mom (born in Ireland) although they are required to have their citizenship first, and that is a 6 month process. Having EU passports has helped us to quickly go through customs, and has provided discounts on train tickets, museums and other benefits.
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