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Thursday, August 18, 2005

 

Day 7 - Welcome Pope Benedict XVI !!!

So today was quite interesting! We went to the cathedral in Cologne, called the Dom (Dome) this morning. This church was ginormous!! It was gothic architecture and very dark. I loved every minute of being in there. There were relics from the three Magi located inside the church. They were beautiful! After the church, we went to find a spot to sit until we were able to go into the square in front of the Dom until the Pope arrived.

Laura and Reon found a spot, and we used our umbrellas to stake out our spot. We were sitting and playing UNO for about a half hour until suddenly we had to move. People were getting in line for the security tent to get into the square. This square was not anywhere near being big enough for all of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. We were in this line for three-four hours just to get to the security tent. Then we had to wait until the Pope arrived and gave his speech at 6 ish…we waited for another four hours in the heat and sun. It wasn’t as hot as Rome was but it still got frustrating. We laid down on the ground and used our umbrellas to shade the sun from our faces to avoid burns. It was all fine and dandy until about 6 pm when the security tent closed and they let EVERYONE in, I had people walking on top of me while I was trying to take a nap. Again, I will use the word interesting.

Finally, at about 7 pm, the Pope made his way into the Dom. The crowds, including myself, went crazy!! I was on Christine Ohman’s shoulders trying to get a decent picture of Pope Benedict. It was so hard, mainly due to all of the flags (from all the different countries) being waved insanely! But honestly, it was a blast…best moments of my life!! Just seeing the Pope sent a wave of relaxation over me, it really calmed me down and helped me stop stressing over people pushing me out of their way so they could see the Pope.

Afterwards we walked somewhere for dinner and it was a really cute little restaurant and most of us ate there. The food was amazing, and I was able to call home for the first time! Christine and I were also able to get Starbucks afterwards; it was a little bit of goodness!!

All in all, today was stressful but extremely rewarding! I look forward to the Vigil on Saturday, it should be awesome!!

Mary Durack

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