POPELAND!

On Sunday Amy and I actually managed to wake up on time which was terribly exciting! We had breakfast and then got on the bus to head for Latin Mass at Wawel Cathedral! Umm, ALLELUIA!!! Angel choirs just sing at that phrase: Latin Mass at Wawel Cathedral! That is just incredibleness incarnate!

The way that Wawel Cathedral is set up is that there is an altar in the center of the Cathedral and then the main altar at the back of the Cathedral which is only used for special occasions like weddings and funerals and when there are important visitors. So the Mass we went to was celebrated at the center altar and we were actually sitting behind the altar which was kind of cool. Definitely a different perspective, almost like being backstage.

After Mass we had some photo adventures. We thought that the statue of Pope John Paul II in front of the Cathedral was THE statue - the statue that the Madonna of the Streets girls always take a picture in front of. So my beautiful household sister Chrissy ran around trying to round up all five of us and it wasn't working out to well so we ended up just taking a picture with three of us: me, Mandi, and Chrissy, with the idea that we would photoshop the other girls in.

Following this Sarah, Amy, Maude, Christa, and I went to a lovely cafe to warm up. The beauty of cafes in Europe is that they expect you to stay there for hours. You actually have to ask them to bring you the check! So we went into this lovely little cafe and looked at the menu and Sarah turned to me and pointed out the apple pie. So we split one. I ordered hot chocolate which was absolutely incredible. It reminded me of the homemade hot chocolate that my Aunt Cathy made once with whipped cream and cinnamon on top! And European hot chocolate is really thick and delicious and just warms the cockles of your heart! So we chilled in the cafe for awhile and had a rather hilarious experience when Maude suddenly pointed to the window and said "Look at the birds, fish, horses!" She had meant to refer to the horse drawn carriage that was passing but apparently mixed up her animals. We spent a good ten minutes laughing at this.

Following our lovely respite we headed to the open air market. I was terribly excited and with my love of Poland having increased tenfold since actually entering the country I was determined to get not only the JPII souvenire that I had been planning on but also some sort of souvenire to show my Polish pride. But I wanted something cultural, not just something like an I Heart Poland t-shirt. And there were these beautiful scarves but they were kinda pricey and there were beautiful vests but they were definitely out of my price range and then I found these beautiful little framed paintings of different places in Krakow! And they were the perfect price so I got one! And it's perfect cuz I've been going through an interior decorating phase lately so now I have a lovely little picture of Krakow to decorate my room with!

Once we finished our shopping we headed back to the hotel to get on the busses for Wadowice! Wadowice is JPII's hometown! So we got to Wadowice and I was kind of freaking out cuz I was in my Papa's hometown! We went first to the house where JPII grew up which is now a museum. Unfortunately it was closed for the day :-( But it was ok cuz we could see the outside and the little courtyard and it gave us more time in the Cathedral. So we then went to the Cathedral which is literally right across the street from his house. And right in front of the Cathedral was THE statue! Turns out the other one was similar but not the real one. And all five of us were there! So we got our wonderful brother Andy to take about 500 pictures of us with our Papa!

We then went inside and got to see the baptismal font where Pope John Paul II was baptized!!!! It was incredible!!! And we got to go right up to it and touch it and pray by it and touch our rosaries to it! And they also had framed the registration of his baptism and the most beautiful picture of him praying at his baptismal font as Pope! We were even lucky enough to come into the Cathedral as they were having Eucharistic Adoration! The whole experience was incredible! And there was a crucifix in the front entry and a picture of JPII leaning his head against the crucifix in prayer and I got to lean my head on the same spot and pray in the same spot! It was just incredible!

After spending quite some time in the Cathedral I headed across the street to the gift shop where I meant up with my wonderful sisters Mandi and Chrissy who had gotten me Pope Cake! The best way to describe Pope Cake is as a cream sandwich. It's a delicious dessert that Pope John Paul II loved! So it's tradition that when you go to Wadowice you eat Pope Cake! And it just so happens that the cafe where they sell Pope Cake was had a deal that day that if you bought four pope cakes you'd get the fifth free. So when Mandi and Chrissy went to get Pope Cake they realized, oh my gosh, there's five of us in MOS so we can get the two for us and the other three for the other girls. Which was wonderful because it gave me more time to spend in the gift shop!

In the gift shop I was seriously tempted to buy a JPII Generation t-shirt but they were out of my price range. I ended up getting a lovely framed picture of our Papa!

Mandi, Chrissy, Andy, and I then headed to a kebab shop for dinner. While on our way to the shop Mandi dubbed Wadowice Popeland and we began putting the word Pope in front of everything, like Pope-kebabs. It was kind of like in Horton Hears a Who when the mayor's secretary tells him he has to go to the dentist for his who-root canal and he responds that "You know putting who in front of everything doesn't make it hurt less! It just wastes time!" Except that putting Pope in front of everything just makes it even better! So then we devoured our kebabs and ran to get to the bus on time. I ate my delicious Pope Cake on the bus as we began our journey back to Gaming.

So that was the Poland trip - the most amazing three days of my life!