Buon giorno!!!! =DDDDDDDDDDDDD (warning this will be long)
It's been so so long since I've blogged so I thought it'd be a good idea to catch you up on things...
I made it to WYD in Madrid!!!! It was absolutely amazing, an experience that will never be repeated no matter how hard I try.
We began high up in the mountains of Spain at beautiful little villages, filled with the most wonderful people you could ever imagine. Of course coming from Australia and being typically lazy I couldn't speak a word of Spanish so there was just the slightest language barrier um yes agua, gratzi. The first week I stayed at a sort of convent/hospital/hostel with a small group of people from our tour and the sisters of the village as well as the disabled elderly that they took of. It was so completely peaceful up there with the most breath-taking view... which we didn't see until the morning having arrived at around 2am.
Went to Fatima during that week for a day trip. This day was one of my favourite days of the trip most likely because I got to know one of the guys on our tour quite well, but also because of the amazing atmosphere. Thousands of us gathered on the 13th day of the month to celebrate mass in the 40+ degree heat (uncovered I might add... and I forgot to pack water that day) Yeah... there are so many things I could tell you about that day... and so many things I dream of living again.
The second week we moved into the heart of the city Madrid. Many of the planned events that were established month in advance were packed out. It didn't matter how many hours earlier you arrived there was always bucket loads of people... not to mention a lack of water, toilet and transportation. Although I missed out out on a great many things that week as well as a number of other people, it is surely a week that is tattooed in my memory bank. All the different people I met from other countries were amazing and it was just so brilliant to be in an environment in which all (well most apart from the crazy riot-ers during that week) were happy and joyful + enriched in the faith. There wasn't a train (metro), restaurant, hotel, shop, park that wasn't full of pilgrims, laughs, songs, chanting and all round happiness.
As time went by, I got to know all the people on my pilgrimage better, we learnt to tolerate each others weaknesses and see what made someone tick. You could tell from at breakfast wether or not it would be a fun day with my based on my crazy morning hello rounds. It often happens that when you spend too much time around some people you become more and more like them, not only this but you start to pick up traits... you also start to create "in-joke" and memories. We were certainly not in short supply of these.. perhaps i'll mention some to you in the weeks to come [along with friend profiles]. We adopted some british pilgrims along the way, they had no where to stay after being locked out of the final mass, so we dragged them back to our accommodation and had a mini sleep out of our own indoors.
Our last week was spent in Rome and Assisi, which I have to say are some of the most beautiful places I've ever been :) I cried in them both, funny that I cried in Italy but I don't think I cried at all in Spain. Why did I cry you ask? well in Rome something amazing happened to me within the walls of St. Peters basilica after praying to Blessed JP2... so that brought tears of joy. Later that week in Assisi on our last day, after celebrating mass in an absolutely beautiful cathedral I realised I had to go home and I wanted to stay so badly that I shed some tears of sadness.
The second week we moved into the heart of the city Madrid. Many of the planned events that were established month in advance were packed out. It didn't matter how many hours earlier you arrived there was always bucket loads of people... not to mention a lack of water, toilet and transportation. Although I missed out out on a great many things that week as well as a number of other people, it is surely a week that is tattooed in my memory bank. All the different people I met from other countries were amazing and it was just so brilliant to be in an environment in which all (well most apart from the crazy riot-ers during that week) were happy and joyful + enriched in the faith. There wasn't a train (metro), restaurant, hotel, shop, park that wasn't full of pilgrims, laughs, songs, chanting and all round happiness.
As time went by, I got to know all the people on my pilgrimage better, we learnt to tolerate each others weaknesses and see what made someone tick. You could tell from at breakfast wether or not it would be a fun day with my based on my crazy morning hello rounds. It often happens that when you spend too much time around some people you become more and more like them, not only this but you start to pick up traits... you also start to create "in-joke" and memories. We were certainly not in short supply of these.. perhaps i'll mention some to you in the weeks to come [along with friend profiles]. We adopted some british pilgrims along the way, they had no where to stay after being locked out of the final mass, so we dragged them back to our accommodation and had a mini sleep out of our own indoors.
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| Mary, Sean, Matt, Me, Kate, Mike, Luke |
Overall this experience was something like no other and there are simply too many things I could tell you , that i honestly have no time to write about... so for now thanks for reading =D
Love Dani aka "The Sleeper"
p.s. P A double R A M A double T A = "Parramatta" where we're from (we made an awesome chant!! )
