From Here to There

Two flights, a metro ride, and a bus ride landed the weary travelers at this bus station. Lucky for us, we arrived at the airport around 11 am, Spaniard time. This gave us most of the day to travel further and find our accomodations for the night.














This trusty city map of Guadalajara, Spain (no, not Mexico), that we found at the bus station, allowed us to find our host site. We had to walk from the bottom of the map to the top, uphill. So, off we go.















The walk through town was pleasant. We were surprised at how quiet it was. No traffic, no people, no noise. It was a bit eerie. Most of the businesses were closed too. We later found out that most of the people were on holiday (vacation). We did see many other pilgrims moving about.















When we reached the Salesian school, which would be our home for two nights, we recieved a warm welcome by the Salesian priests. As soon as we arrived, lunch was served: sandwiches, chocolate pudding (yum) and a juice box. Since we were all starving, we were very grateful. We did, though, have the oppurtunity to enjoy this meal every day at every meal with slight variations.

After lunch, we were shown to our living quarters. Being on a pilgrimage, you accept what is given and we did graciously. As expected, we shared the space on a gym floor with a group of girls from Congo. That was cool to talk to them. They speak mostly French, but a few spoke English. It is always a joy to meet and talk to people of other countries.


















Later in the afternoon, we headed down to a local park for Mass. When we arrived, there was a Marian procession.














Our Lady of Antigua was processing down the street with all the faithful. The statue was just beautiful and full of detail. It was was a blessing to witness this act of faith. Those processing, joined the already waiting crowd for Mass; there were hundreds of people attending the liturgy that evening.














Father Avram estimated about sixty priests concelebrated at Mass that afternoon. It was a sight to see. Our pilgrims were quite impressed. We tried to explain to them that this was small compared to what we would experience later.