Day 8 - more catechises (arrival of the Holy Father)



07.31: we have missed Morning Prayer because we where all in comas,
incredibly tired. Got a shower this morning which is cool, so we are now
going to set of to the hall and try and grab some coffee, and another
bloody bread roll. And, get this; in our dinner bag we were given a
bloody box of cornflakes without a bowl or milk!



Ok we headed out as soon as possible but just missed Morning Prayer; but
we headed to the community hall and had our breakfast with coffee!!!
Woo. Anyway we finished eating and headed off to the coaches. We are
going to the same place as yesterday, but returning earlier in time to
watch the Pope's reception on a big screen. I am still debating whether
or not to go to Cologne and watch it live, but I have serious worries
concerning the amount of people that are going to be there; hence the
big screen.



We are now on the coach; I’ve just been nominated to lead the dinner
teams as I know the way. The weather is gorgeous today, expecting 30
degrees Celsius which is bloody hot. Feeling a lot more awake; probably
because we had a good meal, little more sleep and a shower. Time is now
08.39.



The talk was by bishop Clarence of Halifax USA concerning the Eucharist,
nowhere near a good as the day before. After the talk at 11.48 the
Popes’ plane landed, everything went wild all over Germany; the stadium
roared with praise and celebration. The whole stadium was then glued to
the big screen waiting for the plane to come to a stand still. Cologne
airport is packed with people waiting for the Pope to emerge from the
plane. The flags of the Vatican and Germany are attached to the plane,
every time the camera looks at the Popes plane window a cheer and roar
shakes the stadium. The plane is approached the red-carpet. The Pope
emerged from the plane at 12.08, once again setting foot on German soil;
it would appear the new pope still has enormous respect. The Mass
continued shortly after and was very good, however the cheesy American
Christian rock is really starting to bite.



We have now left the stadium and are enjoying the sun on the grass. We
are going to get the coach back to Bechen at 15.00 and then watch the
pope's reception on the big screen.



We have arrived back in Bechan, and we have decided to take a trip to
the supermarket to stock up for the next few days.



We just got back just in time to see the Popes reception events kicking
off.

At 16.50 the Holy Father arrived by car at a dock Near the Rhein, he
then Boarded a boat; the Rhein-Energie cruise boat. He then met
officials and some very lucky people able to also get on the boat. He
was then seated and was visited by representatives of smaller
nominations, who all knelt before him, kissed the ring and spoke a few
words. The banks of the Rhein were filled with people as far as the eye
could see. Hymns were then being sung as he was still meeting people.
Whilst on the boat the Gospel was read. The pope then read a speech in
German and English, as well as other languages.



At 18.00 the boat arrived at quayside near Hohenzollern bridge. The Holy
Father then walked a short distance to his vehicle which then took him
to the Cathedral where he spoke and gave Blessings. After it had
finished we wondered about looking for somewhere to eat, we did not
really find anything so ended up at the pub again (shame). There we had
a nice pizza and a nice cool drink. We headed back to the yard to greet
the groups that had braved Cologne today; they had all had a really good
time. We said goodnight and headed on home, we don’t have to get up till
8.30 tomorrow which is nice.