WYD Toledo - Stations of the Cross

For most people, staying with another family is a big experience. You have to fit in with their way of living, sleeping, eating and all the while feeling a bit of a spare part. Not knowing when to help and when to sit back and let the family get on with things in their own way. Imagine having to do all of that but in another country... That's a taste of what the first day experience is like for all of us pilgrims. Here we are, in the middle of Spain in a city called Toledo and within minutes of arrival we are all sent off in small groups to our host families who speak little if any English. It's certainly not the easiest thing to do, but with a little patience and lots of laughter we were all able to get through it!

Once we had had something to eat, found out that our families were actually very nice and unpacked a few bits and pieces it was time to get ready for the Stations of the Cross. We'd been warned that this would involve a lot of walking outside yet as we made our way to the parish church we did wonder if it would even take place as a dramatic thunder storm was just beginning to rattle around the hills all around us here in Toledo.

Maybe it was a typical British attitude to think that 'rain would stop play' but we had a very apprehensive attitude at first towards this particularly activity. We shouldn't have been worried however, as the experience in the end turned out to be a brilliant one. In our parish groups we walked around the outskirts of the city in procession. At times the rain was worse than anything most of us had experienced in England and the thunder was lighting up the sky around us but we slowly made our way higher into the hills. Eventually we took shelter in a small chapel on the hillside until the rain eased then made our way back to our coach at the bottom. It was a very strange but amazing experience all in one with the storm around us simply adding to the atmosphere of the evening.