A relaxing day :)

I don't have any pictures for you today, since my camera card went missing after uploading last night, and it takes hours to upload them, and it seems that there are other sources for you to see pictures so I'm not going to stay up late again-we have to be ready to hike to the field tomorrow!!

Anyways, we got to sleep in again today-which was super nice after a very, very stressful day in the crowds yesterday. Some kids got up early to shop and walk around, but many of us slept until at least 11 AM.

We then headed on the Metro to a restaurant farther from the very crowded areas, and Msgr. Curry treated us to lunch via Fr. John. We had all kinds of Spanish food-chicken, chorizo, some kind of quiche-like tortilla creation with potatoes, and other food. After eating more than we probably should have, we headed back towards the hotel for Mass at the church around the corner, then did our own version of the Way of the Cross, using the WYD booklets, but in English.

We headed back to the hotel, and some of us took advantage of the spa-there were all kinds of pools (hot, cold, warm, whirlpool, one with rocks on the bottom and one with floating oranges), two saunas, a steam room, and a relaxation room. It was very relaxing.

Other groups went out to eat, or walk around and do some shopping. We're all packing for tomorrow now, and then we start our trek to the field at 9 AM-we'll be taking the Metro as far as we can, but we'll still have to walk about two miles or so, which will be very grueling-it's supposed to be up to 102 degrees tomorrow! We'll then have Mass and lunch at the field, before settling in for the vigil and our night under the stars, then Mass with Pope Benedict.

I will be away from internet access all of tomorrow, barring a random WiFi hotspot on my phone, so my next update won't be until Sunday afternoon here.

I hope y'all have enjoyed the blog so far, and have gotten a little taste of what we're experiencing-I can't believe how quickly this trip has gone!

the next time you hear from me, we'll have experienced Mass with the Pope-it's gonna be good :D

Habemus Papam!

The Pope has arrived in Madrid!!

We spent the morning listening to Sr. Marilyn sing and play guitar, a few witness talks and an unfortunately long talk by a bishop from Uganda. We then had Mass, where the bishop also said the homily........ :D

After Mass we grabbed lunch, then headed to the main piazza to await the Papal procession, and the Pope's arrival! Some of the group decided to stay up towards the street, at the end of the route (where it was sunny a lot longer) while the rest headed back to our spot from Tuesday afternoon and grabbed a place right against the fences. After several hours of waiting, the Pope finally came by in his popemobile, and then we headed back to watch his address on TV and grab some food.

We're taking a slow day tomorrow, because we need to get ready and excited for our adventure to the field on Saturday for the vigil!!

First Day of WYD!!

We got to sleep in today, which was nice (for some of us older people...haha). A bunch of the kids went out in the morning to explore and meet other pilgrims, but we all gathered together for lunch and then headed over to the venue for opening Mass.

We spent the next six hours waiting, saving our spots, meeting other pilgrims from all over the world, trading, and having an incredible time. Mass was great, and we all made some new foreign friends. Tomorrow is another day-Tony is giving a concert at night and we're excited to see it!!

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Catching up on pictures!

Thanks to Megan Miller, have some pictures from the last week I didn't manage to catch on my own camera!!