Top Right: Pilgrims and host families at a swimming hole outside Talavera
Bottom Left: The Mayor of Talavera at the official welcome ceremony in the Talavera Town Hall
Bottom Right: Pilgrims and their new ´brothers and sisters´ on top of a local castle
Having well and truly settled in with our new adopted families we set off on a much more pleasant bus ride to visit a castle just outside Talavera with parts of it dating to the 12th-14th centuries.
From there we travelled to a beautiful chapel where Fr. Rob and Fr. Jake led us in a moving mass. By the time mass finished at 2:30 us Aussie´s were beyond hungry and found a place outside to eat lunch packed by our loving host families, only to be stopped in our tracks by a sudden torrential downpour which left everyone ducking for cover.
But even the rain wasn´t going to stop everyone changing into their bathers and going for a swim at a local watering hole in the river (see the photo above). The end to another long day (the sun sets around 10:30pm each night) we gathered with other international pilgrims to watch a musical the people in Talavera had produced about how everything is going to change once we meet Jesus and are tuched by his love.
For many this was their first real taste of World Youth Day itself with singing, dancing and around 300 very excited Portuguese pilgrims teaching us all a dance! Don´t ask us what the words were but we can do the actions!
Today the aussies take on the world in the soccer match! Stay tuned for details of how we fair against some of the most soccer mad countries in the world! Did any one bring a ´real´ football?
It is great to hear stories about your pilgrimage to Spain and the fun you are having there.
ReplyDeleteI am also glad your host families are treating you well.
Swimming in the rain sounds like fun also. Must be nice and warm in Spain (back in Bendigo, they're forecasting a cold rainy week for the coming days).
My prayers are with you all! Have fun with the soccer match