What An Awesome Day!

Marie tells me she is never leaving Madrid. She absolutely loves it; even more so after today.

After getting ready for the day, we headed over to the IFEA convention center to pick up our "pilgrims' backpacks" The subway was very crowded with groups of pilgrims heading to various spots in the city. The convention center was in an open area lacking the shade necessary to guard the hundreds lined up outside in the hot sun waiting for their opportunity to go wait in even longer lines inside the air conditioned center. The three hour wait went by quickly, however, as we chatted with people from Italy, Singapore, Jerusalum, Pittsburgh and Boston; got reaquainted with our friends from Clawson that whom we had met in the airport in Detroit and even ran into Eileen, a former Capitals hockey teammate and friend of Fr Joes.

Not wanting to lose our spot in line, and starving because we had delayed breakfast until after our mission was accomplished - never dreaming it would take so long - I ran over to the concession stand to get us a croissant, a sandwich and chips to hold us over. Our backpacks contained a seven day transportation pass, a WYD shirt, hat and fan, guidebooks and maps, new testament and mass book and a bottle of nonalcolic beer in a special WYD bottle!

Back on the packed subway, we traveled over to the Estacion de Principle Pio, a huge busy commuter station and lively destination shopping complex with cinemas. The station takes its name from Principe pio, the nearby hill, where Spanish rebels were shot by French soldiers on May 3 1808. We passed over the KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, etc. inside and choose, instead, a sidewalk cafe across the street near the beautiful Glorieta de San Vicente, an arched monumental gateway which was built in 1770, dismantled in 1892, and rebuilt in 1994. A group from Quebec helped translate the menu from Spanish to French to English. We still weren't sure exactly what we ordered but we knew it was chicken and eggs. Marie did not realize her fried eggs were going to served on french fries and squid!

While listening to a Christian pop/rock band from across the river, we took a short siesta in a shady spot on a hillside. Then, after a trip back to mall for Starbucks, we headed for the magnificent Royal Palace (begun in 1737 under Philip V), Catedral de la Almudena (started in 1879 and built on the former site of a mosque) and Pampo del Moro gardens. It was truly breathtaking and the wide expanse was perfect for the many groups gathered there. Here, Marie talked with people from Checkaslovakia, Lebanon, Ireland and Britian.

In the plaza in front of the theater, Marie joined in a dance with a group from Paris who tied bracelets with scripture readings on to our wrists. The Plaza Major, our next stop, was truly "Major" - huge. We continued to make our way to the Cibelas Square, the location of the "opening mass", stopping along the way to buy Marie an Audrey Hepburn shirt. Marie spotted, and we joined with, a group from Malta also heading to the mass. We found ourselves in the midst of hundreds of thousands attempting to get close to the mass site or at least close to the huge screens set up on the streets showing the mass. It was a bit overwhelming so we headed back to the apartment, stopping along the way for some fresh fruit.

Seeing so many young people come together for the love of God, seeing them so excited to meet and unite, seeing all remain so joyful, patient and kind despite the crowds and long lines, literally brought tears to my eyes many times today.