The pope has arrived at World Youth Day! I thought that the crowds were excited before, but now, there is even more exuberance in the youth here. Personally, I can’t wait for tomorrow evening’s event, a walking tour of the Stations of the Cross with the pope through the streets of Madrid.
During a few free moments before the pope’s arrival this evening, my husband and I took some time to explore one of the major areas of the city. Sights we saw included Plaza Mayor and the nearby Basilica Pontifica de San Miguel. In both locations, we were surrounded by pilgrims who also were taking advantage of the cultural offerings of the city.
The city itself was prepared for the crowd of pilgrims. At the basilica, for instance, a special exhibition highlighting the life of saint Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.
For those of you who could not attend World Youth Day, I have included a short video of my time in Plaza Mayor. At the time of this video, there were a few fellow pilgrims wandering around. Later on in the afternoon, particularly before the arrival of the pope, the square was filled.
Are you reading this from World Youth Day? Please share your stories with those at home!
Footprints on the Journey 
Having travelled abroad to other european countries I expected friendly hello’s from passerbys on the streets, however, what came as a complete surprise was the sheer excitment and feeling of connection with the other WYD pilgrims. Each group that passed by with a WYD hat, or backpack would give a small wave or smile to each group that passed.
And just when I thought it was impossible to get any more exciting I would experience two groups pass each other, even from across streets and scream and shout and sponteneously burst into song when they saw a country flag or other sign.
I look forward to reading more stories from pilgrims!
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Thanks for sharing this video with us. It looks really hot but the Square didn’t appear to be too crowded, which is good, I’m sure after some of the crowds I’ve seen in other pictures.
Ron
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