We left San Sebastian on Monday morning after Mass and travelled to Madrid. The journey took seven hours. When we arrived, we settled into our accommodation. Our group has been split into three groups. The majority of the group (those that are under 18) are staying in Residencia Tagaste in Goya, and the over 18s are staying in Alonso Martinez and Palaccio de Barradas in San Bernardo, all of the accommodation is situated in the centre of Madrid and all within a fifteen minute tube journey away from each other so it is still easy to meet up for big events. The next day, we had free time until 5.30pm. I spent the day with my sister and other friends trying to find our way around the city. The tube network is not as complicated as in London, and it’s so much more modern, bearing in mind that London Underground is much older than the Madrid Metro. We got lost trying to find a pizza restaurant and found it difficult asking for directions due to the language barrier. After our free time we met up at the main accommodation and set off for Plaza de Cibeles where the opening Mass was held by the Archbishop of Madrid. The area was heaving with pilgrims and our group was split up because police started closing some roads due to overcrowding. There were easily over a million people there, so tying to find a spot to sit proved to be very difficult. Personally I was disappointed with the Mass as it was all in Spanish (apart from one bidding prayer said in English), I had thought that as World Youth Day was a world event, different parts of the Mass would be said in different languages. The next day was fairly relaxing. We had a catechesis session in the morning. A catechesis session is basically a lecture about our religion, and was run by the Sisters of Life. They are a group of nuns based in New York who look after pregnant women. After the catechesis session we had Mass with an Cardinal Pell, an Australian cardinal. When this was finished we had free time for the rest of the day, though we were asked to meet the Jersey group in Parque del Retiro (they are also part of our diocese). I went to Sol to have a look around the souvenir shops with some friends. The square in Sol was full of pilgrims and was very lively. The square started to empty suddenly so my friends and I decided to go back to Goya, just as well really because half an hour after we left there was a demonstration in Sol against the Papal visit.
