It’s good to be home…sort of
Well, naturlich (of course) I’m home now and well rested. It’s nice to be home and sleeping in my own bed, but it’s also very sad that the adventure is over. I am having a hard time motivating myself to get ready to go back to school next week. I’m not looking forward to it. But, I guess I should just enjoy the remaining few days that I still have and be happy that I made so many friends and had so many good experiences. I have absolutely no regrets about the entire trip (except for the fact that I got on the plane to come home). I realized on the plane ride home that I could have stayed in Europe until about Christmas if I decided to take a year off before finishing getting my education degree. But, there is a part of me that wants to get it done. I hate having loose ends, and not finishing my degree on time would be a huge loose end. Anyways, I’m here now and will be ready to put in one more year of classes until I can finally get the piece of paper that I will have paid over $10,000 for.
I weighed myself when I came back and sadly I lost 2 pounds. To most people that would be a great thing…to lose weight, but I honestly wanted to gain a bit of weight while I was gone. I was hoping that all the trekking with my 80 pounds of luggage would have helped my bulk up a bit…and I definitely ate as much as I could. Oh, well…I guess there’s always next time.
That’s right! There will be a next time…and by then who knows…maybe I’ll have some new gadget that will let me post pictures and text without a laptop. I can see myself having a cool gadget like that around this time next year.
Anyways, I’ll leave it at that for now. There is talk of one more adventure before the school year starts…We’ll see how things shape up.
Andrew
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
4:30 AM
Well, you never know what will happen at 4:30 in the morning...
I was just sitting here typing emails and looking for songs on the net when a Turkish family came and sat near me. After a few minutes of them discussing amongst themselves, they asked me where I was from. After a few minutes the were offering me food and telling me a bit about Turkey (the Turkish pizza that they had was really good). I remembered that I still had a postcard of the Canadian Rockies, so I pulled it out and gave it to them. I also showed them a few picture from world youth day because I told them I was here for it. The next thing I know we are exchanging emails and they leave for their flight. The seemed like really nice people. It was pretty cool.
When they left, they each grabbed a push cart with a bunch of bags on it, and the dad accidently took mine (without looking at which cart he was pushing). They all laughed pretty hard when I said "Hey....that's mine..."
I was just sitting here typing emails and looking for songs on the net when a Turkish family came and sat near me. After a few minutes of them discussing amongst themselves, they asked me where I was from. After a few minutes the were offering me food and telling me a bit about Turkey (the Turkish pizza that they had was really good). I remembered that I still had a postcard of the Canadian Rockies, so I pulled it out and gave it to them. I also showed them a few picture from world youth day because I told them I was here for it. The next thing I know we are exchanging emails and they leave for their flight. The seemed like really nice people. It was pretty cool.
When they left, they each grabbed a push cart with a bunch of bags on it, and the dad accidently took mine (without looking at which cart he was pushing). They all laughed pretty hard when I said "Hey....that's mine..."
The hottest day yet
Without question, today was the hottest day yet for Spain. Today was the day...the day that I would test my resilience...the day that I would finally know if I could go a whole day without sunscreen....(except for on my face...I heard that too much sun on your face makes you look old sooner). After I got up I went up on the terrace to check my email and sweat in the sun a little. I decided to get ready for a relaxing day before I start my long journey home. My flight is to leave Malaga at 9:50pm and arrive at 12:35am in Cologne. Then I wait until 9:35am when my flight leaves for Canada. There isn't enought time to find a hotel and get a good nights sleep, so I'm just going to stay in the airport. I've decided that I'm not going to sleep so that I can start getting my body back into the BC sleep cycle. If I have a snooze on my flight to Canada (at about 10am...which is 1am BC time) then it should start me off on getting used to Pacific time. Then I can stay up for the rest of my flight until I get to Prince George where I can sleep at the normal time (9 or 10pm).
Anyways, in the afternoon I got a chance to go shopping for a bit and look (yet again) for the Spanish patch. I still didn't find one. At 2:15 we went down to the outdoor pool to go for a swim. Wow was that ever refreshing...they must have had that pool at the perfect temperature for a 34 C day. I dove in head first swam for a bit and then dried off in the sun in about 5 minutes. It was great. After that we went out for supper to a nice little restaurant. There was a meal for two which had a huge selection of things to share. Paella, Chorizo, Blood sussage, stuffed peppers, eggs potatoes and peppers, and a whole bunch of other things that I can't remember. The bad thing was that Peter is alergic to potatoes and about half of the stuff had potatoes in it...he got stuck eating a bunch of bread. And on top of that, the Paella must have been cooked next to some potatoes because Peter didn't feel very well after eating it.
After that we jumped in the car and started on the winedy road to Malaga. The road to get there is actually pretty good. The highway has 3 or 4 lanes and the speed limit is 100-120km/hr...the only problem is that there are toll booths every 25km or so; some cost more than others, but I guess it's the price you pay for being able to get somewhere fast. When we arrived at the airport I quickly found the line where I could check my bags and then said my goodbyes to Pete and Bob. I won't be seeing Pete until Christmas because he is going to Toronto to do his Masters degree. He decided it would be easier if he went from Spain straight to Toronto and then just had the rest of his stuff shipped on the bus.
My plane to leave Spain was a bit delayed, but it didn't matter that much to me since I don't have anywhere to go once I get to Cologne. When we drove into Malaga it was 37'C and when I landed in Cologne it was 10'C. It took me a few seconds to adjust.Now I'm just waiting in the airport...I might make a phone call or two, check my email, post this message, and try to download some of the music from World Youth Day.
God Bless,
Andrew
Anyways, in the afternoon I got a chance to go shopping for a bit and look (yet again) for the Spanish patch. I still didn't find one. At 2:15 we went down to the outdoor pool to go for a swim. Wow was that ever refreshing...they must have had that pool at the perfect temperature for a 34 C day. I dove in head first swam for a bit and then dried off in the sun in about 5 minutes. It was great. After that we went out for supper to a nice little restaurant. There was a meal for two which had a huge selection of things to share. Paella, Chorizo, Blood sussage, stuffed peppers, eggs potatoes and peppers, and a whole bunch of other things that I can't remember. The bad thing was that Peter is alergic to potatoes and about half of the stuff had potatoes in it...he got stuck eating a bunch of bread. And on top of that, the Paella must have been cooked next to some potatoes because Peter didn't feel very well after eating it.
After that we jumped in the car and started on the winedy road to Malaga. The road to get there is actually pretty good. The highway has 3 or 4 lanes and the speed limit is 100-120km/hr...the only problem is that there are toll booths every 25km or so; some cost more than others, but I guess it's the price you pay for being able to get somewhere fast. When we arrived at the airport I quickly found the line where I could check my bags and then said my goodbyes to Pete and Bob. I won't be seeing Pete until Christmas because he is going to Toronto to do his Masters degree. He decided it would be easier if he went from Spain straight to Toronto and then just had the rest of his stuff shipped on the bus.
My plane to leave Spain was a bit delayed, but it didn't matter that much to me since I don't have anywhere to go once I get to Cologne. When we drove into Malaga it was 37'C and when I landed in Cologne it was 10'C. It took me a few seconds to adjust.Now I'm just waiting in the airport...I might make a phone call or two, check my email, post this message, and try to download some of the music from World Youth Day.
God Bless,
Andrew
My Quest for a patch
I slept in today (again) and then enjoyed two very strong cups of coffee from my friend the French Press. I think I'm going to start using the cappuccino machine when I get home. These europeans have things figured out. I decided I wanted to go out in the sun for the morning, but I didn't really feel like just lying there...after all I just woke up, so I decided to mop the terrace. I just about burned the soles of my feet it was so hot. Later that morning Bob and I went for a walk around town to see some of the sights. There are Ronda was an inpenitrable fortrace. It is set on a cliff with two walls around the perimiter of the base of the cliffs. The only way that anyone would have a chance at getting into Ronda would be to attack it with siege weapons and almost completely destroy it. Anyways, the remains of the walls were pretty cool and we got to scope out a public outdoor pool that looked really nice. When we got back to the appartment we told everybody else about it and it was decided that we'd head over there tomorrow.Pete, Bob, and I had lunch and the girls went to Seville for the day. After lunch my quest to find a patch from Spain began. I think I must have gone into every souvenir shop in the area (at least 20 of them) and I didn't find anything. I even went to the tourist information center and asked if they would know where one would be; they sent me to a store but alas there was none. I even looked up the word for patch so that I could ask in Spanish instead of looking around in each store. No luck. I did manage to find a few other things that will be good, but not the patch that I wanted. In the evening, we had a late supper and then yet another episode of Lost on the TV. A couple of nights ago I figured out how to hook my laptop up to the TV. Normally this would be easy, but since we are in Europe, the video system is slightly different. When I hooked it up at first, we got a good picture but there was no color. Anyways, watching Lost on a nice TV with no commercials is a nice experience. Tonight is my night to sleep on the couch instead of the floor so I'm pretty excited about another good sleep.
The Quest continues....
Andrew
The Quest continues....
Andrew
Thursday, August 25, 2005
More Pics
Here is an archway in Ronda with the city in the background. It was quite a nice day.
This is the last group photo that we took before the 4 of us left Marienfield leaving the rest of the crew behind.
This is a shot of one of the streets near where we are staying. I took the picture from the terrace that is on the roof.Some more pictures
We found this sign in Dusseldorf and had to take a picture. I thought it was hilarious!
Here is a picture of the train station platform where all the Italians did the Shamo...Shamo thing. You can't afford to be clostrophobic in this situation.The Rock of Gerbraltar
We slept in a bit today, but again I was up making myself a couple strong cups of coffee. I love those French press things...they are awesome. We relaxed for the morning and talked about what we would do today. After a little while it was decided that we'd go to the Rock of Gerbraltar and then to the beach. The Rock of Gerbraltar is an island very close to Spain. The island is owned by the British, so you can't go to it unless you pass through border control and show your passport. Most of us forgot ours, so we ended up lookin at the Rock of Gerbraltar and then going to a beach a few hundred meters away to swim. The water was much cooler, but still very refreshing in the heat. I had a short nap and then went for a swim with Rachael out to the boyes and back. Later, Peter, Elizabeth, and I went for a walk and stopped by McD's for a quick burger because we were so hungary and there were only restaurants nearby (yes I know....you can all say it together now...."Shamo...Shamo...Shamo"). I've been eating plenty of Spanish food, so I had no problem having a burger for a snack. It took us 2 hours to get there and a little more to get back (you don't go as fast when driving up hill). When we got back we had something to eat and then watched another episode of Lost. And now I am caught up. I have finished writing this post and there are no more to write until another day passes. I really enjoy writting these posts, but today I am a bit tired, so this post isn't very long. But oh well...I'm on vacation right?
Adios,Andrew
Adios,Andrew
Coffee and A day at the beach
When I woke up this morning I was excited to see that the kitchen was stocked with a French press, and Bev had brought some Starbucks coffee grounds. I made my self a strong coffee, went up to the terrace, and relaxed in the morning sun while reading "Wild at Heart". After breakfast we decided that a day at the beach would be a good choice. I thought it was a great idea and a good opportunity to go swimming in the Mediterranian again. So we left for a beach that is located between San Pedro and Malaga called Las Chapas (a lady at the tourist booth recommended it to us). It was quite the drive to get there...Ronda is high in the mountains and the road to the beach is a 50km long winedy road. Its a good thing that I volunteered to be the navigator because if I was sitting in the back seat I would have gotten sick for sure. Anyways, we found the beach no problem (of course...I am the navigator), and set up to go swimming. The beach was pretty nice and the water was really warm...but still refreshing. After a few minutes swimming we broke out the frisby and started tossing it around. Diving after a frisby when you can land in water is pretty fun. Later I layed down and finished reading my book and then fell asleep for about 30 minutes or so (yes...I know you are a bit jealous). Bob wasn't feeling quite so good, so we packed up around 5pm and headed back to Ronda (it takes about 1.5 hours to get back up that terribly winedy road).When we got back we each had a quick shower and Bob had a short nap. Then we went out for diner. I decided to have tripe and chickpeas for the first course and fries and beef in sauce for the second course. The tripe was actually really good...I put some Tabasco in it to kick it up a knotch. Aunty Marie still makes the best tripe in the world though. Now, I have to tell you about my desert. It was quite a surprise to me when I actually got it. I looked on the menu and read through the list of deserts. They had the Spanish name on one side and then the English translation on the other. I looked at one of the Spanish deserts and the translation was banana. I thought to myself, "Look at all these other deserts...they all cost the same as this one...it must be more than just a banana...the translation must be a bit off or something...I think I'll try this one." Well I was wrong! The waiter brought me out a banana on a plate with a fork and knife. The banana was still in its skin! They didn't even try to make it look a bit better than just a banana. You would think that they'd at least peel it and cut it up for you...but they didn't. I just got a banana and a whole lot of laughs.After diner we watched another episode of Lost, and then I stayed up late writting the post about the World Youth Day and our marathon of travelling. It was a good day and I got a good tan.
Our first day in Ronda
When we arrived in Ronda at about 7:45am we were pretty tired and a little grumpy. The sleep on the train was pretty squished, and the room was scorching hot. I was under the impression that Ronda was a pretty small town, but in reality it is pretty big. At least as big as Quesnel anyways. When we arrived at the train station, all we had was an address of the place where we were staying. Peter's parents hadn't arrived yet since they had to drive from Barcelona. So we were on our own trying to find the appartment we were staying in. As we walked out of the train station there was a taxi nearby, and I imediately waved him down, showed him the address, and asked how much. At this point I was willing to pay almost anything if I didn't have to carry my heavy pack any further, but in the end it was only going to cost us 4.50 euro to get to the appartment. I was so happy that we made it there so quickly that I gave him 6 euro. The doors have push button locks, so we used the code to open them and we were in. The appartment is really nice; a guy from Wales owns it, I think, and comes here for a vacation. Since Peter's parents weren't here, we all had a bed to sleep in, and we dropped our packs and fell asleep right away.We had an extra couple hours sleep and woke up at 11am. There is a small store right across the street, so we ran over there and bought a bunch of things to eat and drink, and then returned to the appartment to eat and relax. After we had a bite to eat we decided to go out and walk around the town. The area is actually quite breathtaking. The city is on the side of a steep hill and there are a lot of old bridges and walkways that must be really old, but still in use. I have a few pictures for later. After we had finished exploring for the day, we returned to the appartment just in time for Peter's parents (Bob and Bev) to arrive. They were excited to see us. Bob was especially happy to see Rachael because he had not seen her since she left Canada last August for a university exchange in Germany. We unpacked our stuff had something to eat and relaxed in the sun for the rest of the afternoon and night. When the sun went down we watched an episode of Lost before going to bed.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Videos
Some videos for you...
http://web.unbc.ca/~johnsona/frank.wmv
http://web.unbc.ca/~johnsona/repunsel.wmv
Enjoy!
http://web.unbc.ca/~johnsona/frank.wmv
http://web.unbc.ca/~johnsona/repunsel.wmv
Enjoy!
World Youth Day (another marathon)
Today was the actual world youth day. There were about a million people in Marienfield there to have mass together. We were woken up at 7:30 to the theme song for world youth day: Venite Adoramus. Everyone was slow to get up and get going, but eventualy we were all up and eating breakfast. The night had brought a lot of dew and dampness, so the field was a bit mushy in spots and a bit muddy in others. The sky was clouded, but not with rain clouds (thank God). A lot of people were cranky from such a lousy sleep, but eventually their spirits began to get better and the entire field was full of energy. I took this opportunity to go for a walk and mentally prepare myself for the day to come.
Jenn was nice enough to get me a coffee in the morning...and I'll tell you that is not an easy thing to do when there are a million people who also want coffee. I was very thankful even though the coffee was only warm because they were making it so fast. The coffee was really nice.
After the coffee it was time to pack up our stuff and get ready to leave. Only Peter, Rachael, Elizabeth, and myself had to leave early...the rest of the crew were staying there until the mass was over. We said our goodbye to everyone and put on our packs. Then it was time for a group picture, so we took them off again. The people sitting on the field behind us were getting a bit annoyed because we were blocking their view to the screen. With our packs on, I think the four of us could have blocked out half the sky for those people. Anyways, as we left I noticed Jenn had a few tears in her eye...I think she really missed all of us PG people. The four of us decided to walk to the very back of the field and watch most of the mass from there so that we could be ahead of the other million people who would be leaving during the afternoon after mass. It was about 1.5 km just to walk to the back of the field from where we were. When we got there we dropped our packs, sat down, and had a bite to eat while we watched the start of the mass. Yes, I know...eating in mass is not allowed...but I think God had no problem making an exception this time. We stayed until the homily was over and then decided to leave. The homily was about coming to worship Him. The theme of world youth day was based on a passage from the bible where the wise men travelled a great distance to bring Him gifts. The Pope talked a lot about getting out there and using our energy and youth to change the world. He talked about not getting caught up with the politics of the church. I can't remember too much because I was so tired. I can remember thinking that his message was a message of empowerment...the same empowerment that Pope John Paul II would have gave. I have two thumbs up for Frank who gave me a radio with hand crank for a gift for being a groomsmen at his wedding. The radio has a hand crank on it so that you can charge it up whenever you want...you just have wind it up. It also has a big speaker on the front so that lots of people can listen. All the people I was with enjoyed hearing the mass in English (translated over the radio) and the radio really came in handy.
Anyways, it's a good thing we left when we did, because I heard later that most people had a 2 hr wait for the shuttle bus to the train station, and then who knows how long of a wait at the train station. We, on the other hand, had to walk about 3 more kilometers until we got to the shuttle bus which took us to the outskirts of Bonn. From there, we took a train to Bonn and then took a bus to the Cologne airport. We managed to get to the Cologne airport in record time...the busses and trains were mostly empty (the big rush had not started). Our plane to Madrid took off at 5:30pm and arrived at 7:50pm. You would think that we had travelled enough for one day, but we still had to get to Ronda which is a smaller town near Malaga. Madrid is in the north and middle of the country and Malaga is in the far south, so there was quite the distance to travel. The lady at the info booth at the airport said that the best way would be to go by train so that we could get a direct route there. She directed us to the train booking booth nearby and we went and booked our seats (only 33.50 euro's for an 11 hr train ride...not really that bad). We decided to just take an overnight train because otherwise we'd have to pay for a hotel and then waste a day on the train. So then we had the task of getting ourselves to the train station from the airport (it's about 9pm now). We were directed to the metro (subway) where we could hop on for 1 euro and take it right to the train station. While on the tram, we noticed something on the map between where we were coming up to and where we needed to be. The message said something about construction and servicio speciale. Luckily there was a young lady on the bus who was reading Harry Potter (in English), so we asked her about it and she told us that they were fixing the track and had a free bus that would take us the rest of the way to the train station. So we managed to find the bus and get on it and we arrived at the train station about 1 hour early (about 10pm). We had a bite to eat again...filled up our water bottles and had a washroom break. When the train arrived we loaded up our stuff and fell asleep. Before I fell asleep I set my alarm clock so that we wouldn't miss our stop. By the way, the alarm clock is also a feature on the radio that Frank gave me...that thing came in pretty handy.
Suffice it to say that today was a marrathon and a half. We took busses, trams, trains, and planes all in one day. I'll leave our arrival in Ronda for another post.
Adios mi Amigos,
Andrew
Comment for the picture: You can see the big white dome where the Pope said mass from in the distance. The entire thing was huge and at night it lit up different colours when music was playing.
Jenn was nice enough to get me a coffee in the morning...and I'll tell you that is not an easy thing to do when there are a million people who also want coffee. I was very thankful even though the coffee was only warm because they were making it so fast. The coffee was really nice.
After the coffee it was time to pack up our stuff and get ready to leave. Only Peter, Rachael, Elizabeth, and myself had to leave early...the rest of the crew were staying there until the mass was over. We said our goodbye to everyone and put on our packs. Then it was time for a group picture, so we took them off again. The people sitting on the field behind us were getting a bit annoyed because we were blocking their view to the screen. With our packs on, I think the four of us could have blocked out half the sky for those people. Anyways, as we left I noticed Jenn had a few tears in her eye...I think she really missed all of us PG people. The four of us decided to walk to the very back of the field and watch most of the mass from there so that we could be ahead of the other million people who would be leaving during the afternoon after mass. It was about 1.5 km just to walk to the back of the field from where we were. When we got there we dropped our packs, sat down, and had a bite to eat while we watched the start of the mass. Yes, I know...eating in mass is not allowed...but I think God had no problem making an exception this time. We stayed until the homily was over and then decided to leave. The homily was about coming to worship Him. The theme of world youth day was based on a passage from the bible where the wise men travelled a great distance to bring Him gifts. The Pope talked a lot about getting out there and using our energy and youth to change the world. He talked about not getting caught up with the politics of the church. I can't remember too much because I was so tired. I can remember thinking that his message was a message of empowerment...the same empowerment that Pope John Paul II would have gave. I have two thumbs up for Frank who gave me a radio with hand crank for a gift for being a groomsmen at his wedding. The radio has a hand crank on it so that you can charge it up whenever you want...you just have wind it up. It also has a big speaker on the front so that lots of people can listen. All the people I was with enjoyed hearing the mass in English (translated over the radio) and the radio really came in handy.
Anyways, it's a good thing we left when we did, because I heard later that most people had a 2 hr wait for the shuttle bus to the train station, and then who knows how long of a wait at the train station. We, on the other hand, had to walk about 3 more kilometers until we got to the shuttle bus which took us to the outskirts of Bonn. From there, we took a train to Bonn and then took a bus to the Cologne airport. We managed to get to the Cologne airport in record time...the busses and trains were mostly empty (the big rush had not started). Our plane to Madrid took off at 5:30pm and arrived at 7:50pm. You would think that we had travelled enough for one day, but we still had to get to Ronda which is a smaller town near Malaga. Madrid is in the north and middle of the country and Malaga is in the far south, so there was quite the distance to travel. The lady at the info booth at the airport said that the best way would be to go by train so that we could get a direct route there. She directed us to the train booking booth nearby and we went and booked our seats (only 33.50 euro's for an 11 hr train ride...not really that bad). We decided to just take an overnight train because otherwise we'd have to pay for a hotel and then waste a day on the train. So then we had the task of getting ourselves to the train station from the airport (it's about 9pm now). We were directed to the metro (subway) where we could hop on for 1 euro and take it right to the train station. While on the tram, we noticed something on the map between where we were coming up to and where we needed to be. The message said something about construction and servicio speciale. Luckily there was a young lady on the bus who was reading Harry Potter (in English), so we asked her about it and she told us that they were fixing the track and had a free bus that would take us the rest of the way to the train station. So we managed to find the bus and get on it and we arrived at the train station about 1 hour early (about 10pm). We had a bite to eat again...filled up our water bottles and had a washroom break. When the train arrived we loaded up our stuff and fell asleep. Before I fell asleep I set my alarm clock so that we wouldn't miss our stop. By the way, the alarm clock is also a feature on the radio that Frank gave me...that thing came in pretty handy.
Suffice it to say that today was a marrathon and a half. We took busses, trams, trains, and planes all in one day. I'll leave our arrival in Ronda for another post.
Adios mi Amigos,
Andrew
Comment for the picture: You can see the big white dome where the Pope said mass from in the distance. The entire thing was huge and at night it lit up different colours when music was playing.
Monday, August 22, 2005
We went swimming in the Rhein while waiting to see the Pope come by on a boat.
The Pilgramage to Marienfield
Now today really tested my willpower, strength, and spirit.
We got up at around 7am to have breakfast with the family before leaving. They had prepared a huge German breakfast for us and everyone was up and waiting to say goodbye. Coffee, tea, rye bread, jam, cheese, a hard boiled egg, buns, and orange juice. After eating and chatting a bit about what was going to happen over the next few days, we packed up our stuff and said our goodbyes. We walked to the church (only about 2 min walk) just in time for the farewell mass to start. Most of the mass was said in German, with the homily said in english. Let me tell you, it is weird listening to a mass in another language. At the end of the mass, the priest is talking, making anouncements and wrapping up the mass, and all of a sudden half of the congregation starts laughting because he just cracked a joke...but we weren't in on it; it's just weird. Ross: you know how we were saying that Catholics sound like The Borg when they are saying the Our Father...? Well Germans sound like it even more! I wish I had the guts to pull out my pocket pc and record it.
Anyways, after mass we gathered up our stuff and took a bus to the Wuppetal Hauptbahnhof (train station) where we would catch a train to the town where our pilgramage started. The train ride was long, I was tired, and to be honnest, the Americans in the same car as us were really annoying. It was hilarious when Andrea was talking to one of them and asked if they would like to have a Canada pin; the guy said "yes, yes, I'd love one", then Andrea replied, "Well...I don't think so!" I was just really funny...she shut him down big time. Even the other Americans were laughing. Of course, we still gave them some pins.
When the train arrived at its location to drop us off (about 2.5 hours later), we grabbed our bags and started our 6.5 km pilgramage to Marienfield where we would have a vigil that night, sleep in the field, and go to World Youth Day mass the next day. Peter, Rachael, Elizabeth, and myself were carrying ALL of our stuff because we had to leave for the airport the next day and didn't have time to go back to get our stuff. I think Pete and I had it the worst, but the girls also had a rough time. This is where I my strength was tested; my pack was the heaviest weighing in at about 85 pounds, and Pete just behind me with about 77 pounds. Let me tell you, it was a marathon! Pete and I were really hurting. It was the longest 6.5 km that I've ever walked.
When we arrived at the field and went to our designated area where we were to sit, we found that the entire section was full. Therefore, we had to move to the 'visitor' location where no one would be until the next day. There was a huge screen with a live video feed that we got to watch, so it was as if we were right up front. The good thing was that there was plenty of room for us to set up our tents; tents, by the way, are not allowed in the main 'pilgrims' area in order to fit more people per section. We were the rebelious Canadians whome everyone was jealous of during the night when it got cold and damp. We had a little tent city going on in the middle of 30,000 people on their foamies (just in our block). We were pretty decked out with all our camping gear from MEC.
After we were set up, we had some time to go and trade our Canadian paraphanalia. I decided that I wanted an Italian hat, and I figured that since there were over 100,000 Italians at world youth day, I'd have no problem getting one. It was actually pretty hard...they either didn't want to give it up, or wanted everything I had for trade. But, eventually I found someone who was willing to trade it for my t-shirt. I also got a chance to talk with some people from Switzerland who didn't speak English, but knew french. It was pretty cool to have a conversation with them and be able to understand them. In the end about 4 of us managed to get our hands on the Italian hats.
The vigil started late in the night and didn't finish until about 11pm. Most of us were pretty tired, so we sat around for a bit and told a few stories and then went to bed. I told a scary story called "The Viper". If I haven't told it to you before, let me know. We were all pretty beat though, so it was a relief to go to our tents and crash.
I'll go and find some pictures soon and post them. I'm sure I have a few good ones and I'm due for posting some of them.
Coming home this Saturday,
Andrew
We got up at around 7am to have breakfast with the family before leaving. They had prepared a huge German breakfast for us and everyone was up and waiting to say goodbye. Coffee, tea, rye bread, jam, cheese, a hard boiled egg, buns, and orange juice. After eating and chatting a bit about what was going to happen over the next few days, we packed up our stuff and said our goodbyes. We walked to the church (only about 2 min walk) just in time for the farewell mass to start. Most of the mass was said in German, with the homily said in english. Let me tell you, it is weird listening to a mass in another language. At the end of the mass, the priest is talking, making anouncements and wrapping up the mass, and all of a sudden half of the congregation starts laughting because he just cracked a joke...but we weren't in on it; it's just weird. Ross: you know how we were saying that Catholics sound like The Borg when they are saying the Our Father...? Well Germans sound like it even more! I wish I had the guts to pull out my pocket pc and record it.
Anyways, after mass we gathered up our stuff and took a bus to the Wuppetal Hauptbahnhof (train station) where we would catch a train to the town where our pilgramage started. The train ride was long, I was tired, and to be honnest, the Americans in the same car as us were really annoying. It was hilarious when Andrea was talking to one of them and asked if they would like to have a Canada pin; the guy said "yes, yes, I'd love one", then Andrea replied, "Well...I don't think so!" I was just really funny...she shut him down big time. Even the other Americans were laughing. Of course, we still gave them some pins.
When the train arrived at its location to drop us off (about 2.5 hours later), we grabbed our bags and started our 6.5 km pilgramage to Marienfield where we would have a vigil that night, sleep in the field, and go to World Youth Day mass the next day. Peter, Rachael, Elizabeth, and myself were carrying ALL of our stuff because we had to leave for the airport the next day and didn't have time to go back to get our stuff. I think Pete and I had it the worst, but the girls also had a rough time. This is where I my strength was tested; my pack was the heaviest weighing in at about 85 pounds, and Pete just behind me with about 77 pounds. Let me tell you, it was a marathon! Pete and I were really hurting. It was the longest 6.5 km that I've ever walked.
When we arrived at the field and went to our designated area where we were to sit, we found that the entire section was full. Therefore, we had to move to the 'visitor' location where no one would be until the next day. There was a huge screen with a live video feed that we got to watch, so it was as if we were right up front. The good thing was that there was plenty of room for us to set up our tents; tents, by the way, are not allowed in the main 'pilgrims' area in order to fit more people per section. We were the rebelious Canadians whome everyone was jealous of during the night when it got cold and damp. We had a little tent city going on in the middle of 30,000 people on their foamies (just in our block). We were pretty decked out with all our camping gear from MEC.
After we were set up, we had some time to go and trade our Canadian paraphanalia. I decided that I wanted an Italian hat, and I figured that since there were over 100,000 Italians at world youth day, I'd have no problem getting one. It was actually pretty hard...they either didn't want to give it up, or wanted everything I had for trade. But, eventually I found someone who was willing to trade it for my t-shirt. I also got a chance to talk with some people from Switzerland who didn't speak English, but knew french. It was pretty cool to have a conversation with them and be able to understand them. In the end about 4 of us managed to get our hands on the Italian hats.
The vigil started late in the night and didn't finish until about 11pm. Most of us were pretty tired, so we sat around for a bit and told a few stories and then went to bed. I told a scary story called "The Viper". If I haven't told it to you before, let me know. We were all pretty beat though, so it was a relief to go to our tents and crash.
I'll go and find some pictures soon and post them. I'm sure I have a few good ones and I'm due for posting some of them.
Coming home this Saturday,
Andrew
Sunday, August 21, 2005
A wet day....
The next morning we went to Catachesis and then headed to Bonn...the only city in the area where we hadn't been yet. Bonn is the old capital of Germany and is actually pretty small in comparison to other cities. The university is one of the main attractions; it classes are held in very old and beautiful buildings, and the campus and housing is spread out over the city. I really liked it there even though we got rained on and got very wet. I brought my laptop with me to Bonn in hopes of finding a wireless connection to connect to, but I had no luck. I think the antenna on my wireless card is not very good. If I were to do it again (or should I say when I do it again) I will buy a wireless card for my laptop that has an external antenna, that way I can hook up a high quality one and be able to connect over a greater distance.
We did, however, get to meet our friends from Lohr at the hofgarten in Bonn. They were all very excited to see us, and we were excited to see them. It's too bad we didn't have more time to visit with them that day.
By the end of the day we were thinking of staying for the stations of the cross which were to start at 7:30, but once we got there they told us that it would last about 2 hours and we'd have to walk 5km for the whole procession. If we stayed in Bonn until 9:30 and then tried to go back to Wuppetal, we'd have to go through Koln and it would probably take quite a few hours to actually get to bed, so we decided to leave right away. Its a good thing we did because the next day would prove to be very long and the extra rest was great.
That's all that I can remember about that day...sorry it's not quite so descriptive.
Andrew
Mass Posting
OK so I just thought I'd explain everything below. I've been typing posts, but haven't been able to get an internet connection for some time. Therefore, I am posting all of the recent posts at once and 'backdating' them so they are in to correct order. I'm not 100% sure if the dates are correct, but the order of each post is for sure. Anyways, time is running out on my internet access and I still have more to do. Look for more posts now that I'm not caught up in the crowds from World Youth Day.
Ciao!
Andrew
PS thanks for all the comments and stories. They help me to feel at home again.
Ciao!
Andrew
PS thanks for all the comments and stories. They help me to feel at home again.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Benedict stopped by...
I had a pretty good day today. I've been feeling much better in the crowds and have been working on stopping to smell the roses.
We got up early and had breakfast with Martin and got to meet one of his sons Christian. Later we went to morning prayer (all spoken in German...) and then went to catecesis: songs, a talk from one of the bishops from USA, questions and answers for the bishop, and a regular catholic mass (with good music). It was pretty good. I liked the bishops talk...he mixed life stories with a couple key concepts from the bible and was good at keeping your attention. After that, we had lunch and ice cream. Speaking of ice cream...I must tell you that I have become addicted to ice cream along with 3 other people. We are in an ice cream club where we go for ice cream as often as is possible an we take turns paying the bill. Ya...we eat a lot of ice cream. Anyways, we took the train to Cologne again and found a nice spot on the Rhein to wade into the water and cool off; it was pretty hot today. Later, around 6pm, the Pope came to Cologne via a boat on the Rhein. He came to be part of a liturgy of the word in the Cathedral (Dom). We weren't interested in coming home at midnight, so we decided to leave after seeing the Pope. I have two things I'd like to explain: 1. the reason the youth are here in Cologne Germany, and 2. the crazyness of train stations.
1: We are not here to see the Pope. The Pope is here and we will get to see him, but we have not purposefully come to see him. There is a lot of stuff in the news about youth only coming to see the Pope and idolizing him and all that garbage. We are here to build in our faith with other youth from around the world; We are here to see the German people and the land they live in; We are here to make friends and grow as a person the way God intends us to.
2: The train stations are crazy. We broke up into groups of 3 or 4 so that we could better navigate the train station, but everyone is packed in there tighter than sardines; you can't get anywhere. I could raise both feet off the ground and not move an inch. The big problem is that everyone only knows of 1 entrance to the station, even though there are 2 or more. Once we got to our platform, we noticed another entrance which was about 400m away, but had 3 or 4 people walking in or out of it. Something for us to consider tomorrow. We made to to our train about 5 minutes early and managed to get some good seats on the way back. The entire trip from Cologne to our billets house in Wuppetal took 1.5 hours...it took us 3 hours the night before.
We got to eat a bit with our host family and the kids finally got to ask us some questions about Canada. It was a good visit and we still managed to get to bed before 11pm. Hopefully the extra sleep will help.
Adios,
Andrew
We got up early and had breakfast with Martin and got to meet one of his sons Christian. Later we went to morning prayer (all spoken in German...) and then went to catecesis: songs, a talk from one of the bishops from USA, questions and answers for the bishop, and a regular catholic mass (with good music). It was pretty good. I liked the bishops talk...he mixed life stories with a couple key concepts from the bible and was good at keeping your attention. After that, we had lunch and ice cream. Speaking of ice cream...I must tell you that I have become addicted to ice cream along with 3 other people. We are in an ice cream club where we go for ice cream as often as is possible an we take turns paying the bill. Ya...we eat a lot of ice cream. Anyways, we took the train to Cologne again and found a nice spot on the Rhein to wade into the water and cool off; it was pretty hot today. Later, around 6pm, the Pope came to Cologne via a boat on the Rhein. He came to be part of a liturgy of the word in the Cathedral (Dom). We weren't interested in coming home at midnight, so we decided to leave after seeing the Pope. I have two things I'd like to explain: 1. the reason the youth are here in Cologne Germany, and 2. the crazyness of train stations.
1: We are not here to see the Pope. The Pope is here and we will get to see him, but we have not purposefully come to see him. There is a lot of stuff in the news about youth only coming to see the Pope and idolizing him and all that garbage. We are here to build in our faith with other youth from around the world; We are here to see the German people and the land they live in; We are here to make friends and grow as a person the way God intends us to.
2: The train stations are crazy. We broke up into groups of 3 or 4 so that we could better navigate the train station, but everyone is packed in there tighter than sardines; you can't get anywhere. I could raise both feet off the ground and not move an inch. The big problem is that everyone only knows of 1 entrance to the station, even though there are 2 or more. Once we got to our platform, we noticed another entrance which was about 400m away, but had 3 or 4 people walking in or out of it. Something for us to consider tomorrow. We made to to our train about 5 minutes early and managed to get some good seats on the way back. The entire trip from Cologne to our billets house in Wuppetal took 1.5 hours...it took us 3 hours the night before.
We got to eat a bit with our host family and the kids finally got to ask us some questions about Canada. It was a good visit and we still managed to get to bed before 11pm. Hopefully the extra sleep will help.
Adios,
Andrew
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
The Pilgramage
Today we went to Cologne to join in a pilgramage from an area on the Rhein to the Cathedral (Dom). It was pretty cool. We walked at least 5km in total with specific relfections and songs to sing the whole way. Pete and I have some pretty good photo's that we'll have to post soon. Anyways, the train to Cologne was crazy but the weather was awesome. We got to play some volleyball on the way to the pilgramage. After the pilgramage we got some food and relaxed in a park. I got a chance to fix my pack sac after eating. It was pretty funny seeing me using a needle and thread to fix my pack...I definatelly didn't look like a pro. After a bit, Andrea helped me with patching up a smaller area...I was very grateful. Then we went to look for a location where they would say a mass, but we missed all the english one's, so we decided to go to confession and then go play some more volleyball instead. When we were walking to the volleyball courts I was thinkng to myself about how I felt during the day. Because of the huge masses of people, I found it hard to sit back and take everything in. The only word I can think of that would describe it would be frenzy. After some badminton and volleyball, we headed back to the train station to get back to Wuppetal. We got ripped off...the train we were waiting for switched platforms about 5 minutes before it arrived...so we were at the front of the line on one platform but on the back on the other. Then...the train we were supposed to take flew right past us to the far end of the platform...there were 500 people on our platform alone, so there was no way we could get into that one. The Italians next to us got ripped off too...I laughted SO hard when I saw the expressions on their faces and then the reaction that they had afterwards. Picture this, about 30 Italians wearing matching hats singing "Shamo...Shamo...Shamo..." and waiving their right hand up and down in front of them. It was the funniest things I've ever seen and I am still laughing about it while I type it. What a great bunch of people that can still have that kind of humour when they know that they just got screwed.
Anyways, we caught another train later on and made it back about 11:30pm...it took about twice as long as it should have. By now, we are feeling bad that we haven't been able to spend very much time with our host family and their 4 kids. They have all been excited to see us and talk to us and ask questions. So, we made a promise to get up early the next day and have breakfast with them...and then try and be home early to visit in the evening.
Anyways, we caught another train later on and made it back about 11:30pm...it took about twice as long as it should have. By now, we are feeling bad that we haven't been able to spend very much time with our host family and their 4 kids. They have all been excited to see us and talk to us and ask questions. So, we made a promise to get up early the next day and have breakfast with them...and then try and be home early to visit in the evening.
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