Finally home!

Hey guys,

We are finally home. After our seventh flight of the trip! We began our trip with a flight to Las Vegas, then a connector to LA, stayed a couple nights, went to Australia, flew from Australia to San Francisco, then to LA, then to Kansas City, then our final destination... Orlando!

It feels great to be home... even though I haven't even looked at my room yet. I'm pretty sure it's messy! ;) Dad made us a delicious dinner, and we finally got a glass of water that didn't cost 5 bucks! We reviewed our videos from the trip. Some are good... most are silly! :)

Well 'til next time,
Colleen <3

Last Day

So today we went to the Opera house, and took the tour! It was really interesting to hear about how it came to be. We could one see the Ballet stage, not the main stage, which is the most famous one. They had a rehearsal in that hall. We also got to see some of the smaller venues which was very exciting!

Sorry if this doen't make to much since because I'm under a lot of presure here. I only have 15 min. and Megan and Michael are telling me a buzillion things.

We are very sad yet excited to leave Australia. Cant wait to see you all!

Love,
Monica

Eating Better than Tucker

It's hard to compete with Tucker's meals, but we are eating better...All of us were treated to meals by our host families upon our return from Randwick race track. Colleen, Bianca, and I had lasagna, chicken, stuffed olives, salad, fruit, and wine for me and coffee and hot-chocolate for the girls. All of our host families attended the Mass, so all were excited to talk about the day and share their emotional moments of seeing the Pope and the other pilgrims. For me, I think my most treasured part was the evening prayer vigil with the Pope.

We said good-bye to our host families yesterday mid-day and most of us headed to the Marriott. Anna Marie and Andrea went to visit another family they had met. Then we went to visit the Blessed Mary McCollup(sp?) tomb. The Australians hope she will be their first saint - a woman who traveled the country by horse-back, thousands of miles, to help people around the country. She started the Josephites here. At her shrine, we happened upon a French group with their bishop about to celebrate mass. We couldn't stay, but at least had some time in the beautiful chapel.

Back to food - then we went to Chinatown and went to a food court where (almost) everyone found something delicious. I think Bianca picked the best.

This morning, Marcin, Anna Marie and Andrea left for Adelaide. Of course they are missed by all the other kids. The rest of us headed to Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach has been my favorite tourist place. The waves were so huge, dramatic and powerful, crashing against the rocks, spraying water high into the air. We had lunch at the Bondi Beach hotel. I had pumpkin soup and hot bread, which was delicious; we could see the water, and stay warm. After our walk around the coast line, a woman at a restaurant which had already closed let us in for coffee and hot chocolate. People are very, very nice.

Then the kids rested and went to the gym, and I went to the Cathedral for Mass. This time I happened upon a huge group of Italians. Cardinal Pell celebrated the Mass with the Italian Cardinal who was responsible for WYD, plus 20 other bishops and at least 100 priests. It was a beautiful Mass - all in Italian, except for a Communion meditation in english. It's nice to see some of the pilgrims still around. Everyone's definitely more subdued.

So - the pilgrimage is about over. Tomorrow we'll take it easy and get ready to leave. I already gave away my sleeping bag and towels to lighten my load. The sneakers might be next. See you soon! Maureen

The Continuation

We are on our way home from the 2.1 mile walkfrom Randwick with the some 500,000 pilgrims where we stayed overnight. It was very cold, some of us got a better nights sleep than the others because of how cold it was, but it was still fun. This morning was the final mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, i think it was about 2 1/2 hours long, really awesome and at the end he announced the next location of WYD in 2011:
Madrid, Spain!
Sign me up! :) Some of us were talking and realizing that a few of us are going to be 20 then, thats weird, but anyways we had a lot of fun and the masses and stations of the cross were AMAZING. I loved the choirs and huge orchestra they had, really breathtaking. we're all sad at how fast this week has gone by and thats its over, but we can't wait to see everyone back in Florida in a few days!

Love you, miss you,
Michael and all

Today's events

Wow, it's hard to follow my mother's blog, but here goes anyway-It'll be short, because of the time, and my lack of thoughts. Today we saw the Stations of the Cross. They were very nice, although we were not able to see the cross, at anytime. Monica and I will be waking up in around 6 hours, to catch a bus to the Chattswood station, and begin our long walk to Randwick. We will be joining the USCCB, at around nine, for a mass. After that, we'll be at Randwick for the sleepout. The weathermen are predicting rain. I've been expecting it, even though you can't really trust weathermen.

Lots of love :)

Megan

We Saw the Pope

Today we saw Pope Benedict XVI! I don't know what was more exciting - seeing him or seeing the kids get so happy to see him. We had a pretty good spot where we were able to see the boat land. Then we could also see him come through in his vehicle until he walked up the steps to the staging area. The real excitement was when he left in the vehicle and drove in our direction. The kids were jumping, climbing, and hugging each other...it was great. He looked great - very happy!

To answer some questions - we have been getting around by ferry, bus, train, and our weary legs...which is why I am now sitting in an internet cafe while the kids explore a little more. Our host homes are all located on the same bus route. We have many other pilgrims staying with host families on that route. Some are from the Phillipines. Some are from England. We are in a community about 20 minutes or so past the train stop. The community does not want the train, and has hired their own private bus company to pick up from the train. We get first class treatment. Our host families drive us to catechesis each morning. Then the bus takes us from the church to the train. The difficult part comes once we get to our major venues. They route us like cattle long distances for better traffic control. Today, for example, to get 1/2 a block we walked at least one hour. At the end of the night we have to all walk to one very far train station. Then we catch the private bus to our nearest stop. I might have to have my legs taped together to continue this pace.

This morning's catechesis was excellent. It began with a DVD of quotes from Pope Benedict. Then we had the American military bishop give a lesson. It was an excellent talk followed by a beautiful Mass. The host mom for Michael and Marcin joined us at Mass which was very special. The same people on our bus route join us for catechesis, so we get to see familiar faces throughout each day.

As for host families - they are wonderful. Michael and Marcin's hostess washed their clothes today. She is on a committee for the Cathedral which is serving tea at an interfaith event tomorrow morning. I did have my glass of Australian wine, offered by my host family. The first night the woman also offered me coffee and said it would be terrible without some kind of special addition in it - so I trusted her judgment. We have enjoyed the conversations before and after our day begins.

We went to the vocations exhibit yesterday. It is a great exhibit - far beyond what you would imagine - every kind of ministry and order represented...free internet, a coffee shop. Above it is the patron saint exhibit. A few of us were able to catch seminarian Ben at the North American booth. We hope to see him again tomorrow and arrange to meet the seminarians at the vigil and Mass. The American bishops are offering a special mass Saturday morning. Today, walking to see the Pope we ran into a priest we met in LA who was on our plane. It tuns out he's on the USCCB liturgy committee working on that mass. He also worked on the mass in D.C. for the pope and told us about that.

All the young people are doing very well. They get disappointed in one thing or another from time to time, but are good sports. I enjoy watching them experience the event. They have played a lot of soccer and volleyball with the people they meet, exchanged pins and e-mails, etc. The opening night they danced and danced. The second day we watched polish, irish, filipino, palestinian, and Australian performers. We tried to cover everyone's heritage.

The hardest thing for me is being out of touch with people at home...even harder than the crazy walking. I guess it makes sense that pilgrimage includes both leaving somewhere and walking - but was that in our preparation DVD?

It's time to go!
Maureen

Hola!

Hey guys, this is the first time I have had access to internet in a while, so I have a lot of catching up to do! Sorry everyone about not posting a pic of Mom. I tried to but it didn't work. Since my first attempt I haven't been online. The opening mass yesterday was amazing! We met a lot of cool people. I met someone from Oregon, who knows all the Rolloffs. He played soccer with them. He talked about their apple fights and everything! I thought you would appreciate that Keith! There was a little controvercy over the Prime Minister of Australia's speech. He didn't mention America on the list of all the foreign countries. I'm having as many people as I can sign my volleyball. I have a lot of names from all over the world. But sadly the ball is flat, and not easy to play with. Plus it is COVERED in dirt. But I'm going to scrub it tonight.

So we just got back from a few concerts. And we checked out the booths at the convention center. We helped a teen pro-life website hand out bracelets. If you count waving bracelets in peoples face, and having them catch it in mid air helping! haha! But really the whole convention center had bracelets cause of us! So we are all staying in families homes. Our family is super nice, and hospitable! They make us breakfast every morning, and feasts every chance that they get! They're from Italy and moved to Australia years ago. They have two daughters, who both work at a bank, as well as their mother. So Bianca, Mom, and I are all staying at their house.

The food hasn't impressed anyone yet. Not to complain, I mean come on we are on a pilgrimage! I think we all were prepared for it! We had meat pies yesterday for lunch, which was good. And for dinner the nastiest stu I have ever tasted! i think it had pumpkin in it! Today we had BBQ for lunch, and the option of Chili or Stu for dinner. I picked Chili! :)

Alli, Chris, and Nick I'm still waiting for my e-mails! No smiley faces or anything!? Carrie I want you to post a pic of all the kids for me! If you need help I'm sure Keith would be more then happy to assist you!

I'm having a lot of fun here, but I also cannot wait to get back! I miss home a lot. It's fun meeting new people, but it defidently widens your appreciation for the people you've known for your whole life! (Or most of).

There was a spectacular firework performance last night. That everyone in our group seemed to enjoy. It was a great way to start out WYD. The Pope comes tomorrow, and everyone is very excited! Everything's been so great, I can't wait to see what's gonna happen tomorrow!

Love you, and thanks for reading all this!
<3 Colleen

PS: Carrie we found a gym where we can play volleyball. We're not sure if we can go, but we're gonna check it out! And yes there are lots of cute foreign guys! Who really want to be our friends on facebook! I'm playing hard to get... especcially since I don't even have one! lol!

No Worries!

Hello from Megan and Monica!

Were here at our WYD accomadation, which is housing. We dont really know how everyone elses accomadations turned out, saying as we were split up into 4 groups, Megan and I in one house (the best one!) Bianca, Colleen, and Mrs. A at one, Ana Marie and Andrea in another. And then the boys, Michael and Marcin are together. The opening mass is tomorrow, and then everything will officially begin. We've already met some way cool foreign people, and we're looking forward to meeting more!

Until tomorrow, G'day :)

Megan and Monica

The Start Of The Week

So its Monday and I'm sitting in the Parakeet Cafe waiting to leave for Sydney. Yesterday we went to the Jenolan Caves, which was about a 2 hour drive from our lodging. Even though it was dark and a little scary, it was pretty cool! Our house that we are staying in is pretty nice, other then it missing some things that we were looking forward to, such as a volleyball net, internet, and ping-pong balls. But other then that its great!

Today also starts our official WYD!!!!!!!!!

more updates and pictures to come

alright I'm signing off, will talk to you all soon.

Love everyone!
Monica.

Climbing rocks on Blue Mountains built by God

Internet Cafe

So we forgot to update after we came home from the train station, it turns out that they didn't want to take the train but took a shuttle to the hotel. After they had a good rest we all went to the Sydney Zoo and got some great pictures which i dont' have on this computer. We're at an internet cafe so i have to get off now but we'll post again soon!

An update

Everyone but me just went to the train station to meet the Feuerbacher girls, who should have just arrived, so I have a moment on the computer. About those pictures - we'll see what we can do.

LA was nice but scarey at times. Sitting on the subway or bus I did a lot of praying for protection. One blind man got on the subway and held up his cane saying it held a gun inside and everyone needed to give him money - or at least 3 people could share the cost. He promised to buy no hard drugs. Colleen was about to cry and begged to get off. Since we were near the Watts tower exit, I felt it better to stick with the subway. He didn't shoot his cane, and got off himself.

The next day we decided to avoid the subway and take the city bus to Santa Monica. In Santa Monica we walked a mile to the St. Anne's shrine for mass only to find there was no mass. It was an interesting walk, though, past many day laborers waiting to be picked up for work. The area was full of contrasts. Across from the shrine was a modern Sony building, and a stretch of stores and cafes. We ate a nice lunch at a sidewalk table, and took the bus back to the pier and the beach. As the kids said, it was great. I still have a sunburn. The city bus wasn't too much better than the subway, especially for the Feuerbachers, si I think some of our group might have
sworn off public transportation for good.

Our plane ride couldn't have been better. We were treated like royalty. 14 hours in a plane is nothing compared to some of our trips. On the plane people keep bringing you food and drinks, showing movies, and you get to sleep. Once we arrived at the airport, we waited a couple of hours for Marcin. It was fun to see other groups arrive - we saw the Archdiocese of Miami, a large group from Toronto, groups from Croatia, Aruba, Wisconsin (a huge group,) Italy, Greece.

Sydney is beautiful. The architecture is so varied. The people seem very formal, but friendly, not used to the American sense of humor (or at least the Florida Group sense of humor.) Yes - we met the shifty people - the cab driver from the airport charged us $59 for a ride we were told would be $40. (still cheaper than the bus or train.) The accent takes time getting used to...and different words, too... "lift" instead of elevator. People dress very formally.

Our hotel is great - we have two adjoining rooms with a view of the bridge out our windows. We had a warm welcome from the staff. Anyone working in the service industry - you make a big difference to a trip! The big buildings have malls underneath with different markets, grocery stores, etc. We're able to buy food and bring it back to the rooms, which both have refrigerators. We made soup with the hot water in the coffee pot for dinner. We had cheese and crackers, cookies, sandwiches. As you can see, our hardships have been very, very minimal.

Colleen said they're not allowed to be tired - that's only until night-time. We were told the best way to combat jet lag is to stay up the entire first day, no naps, and then sleep. So I'm hoping we're all in good shape today!

I went to mass at St. Patrick's church last night, the oldest church in Australia, just a few blocks from the hotel. Fr. Miguel will be staying there when he arrives. He told us to contact him if we need anything, so that helps my sense of security. Thank you everyone for the prayers - I promise not to talk so much again - We miss you and feel far away!

Maureen

Hangin' in the room...

Hey guys. We just got back from touring Sydney, for the first day. We are all pretty tired, but according to Mom we're not allowed to be. :) We walked all around Sydney, and made a few reaaalllyyy long stops at the harbour. Bianca was especially excited about the Sydney Opera House. We got a lot of really amazing pictures (thanks to Marchin's camera), which I can't post right now, cause he's still uploading them. Well 7 people, 1 computer... you do the math! Talk to ya soon!


<3 Colleen

here safely...

We're in Australia, waiting for Marchin. At the airport.

Relaxing by the pool

Andrea and I are in LA relaxing by the pool as well as preparing ourselves spritiually for our pilgrimage.

Leaving...

We are now leaving for the Airport... Australia here we come!

Just waking up...

So it is now 11:11am Florida time, and 8:11am Cali time! We've been up for a while, but are finally starting to move our dead bones! 6 people sharing one computer, and one bathroom. It's not very hard ... it just takes a whole lot longer! After eveyone's dressed we are gonna head over to Santa Monica. I keep telling everyone that she's already here! But they won't listen! Well until next time,

Colleen<3

Cali

Wow, California is amazing, and we are having a great time. We're staying in LA, we visited Hollywood, and we're going to the beach (Santa Monica), tomorrow. We saw lots of the stars on the floor is Hollywood, the Cathedral, and a bunch of creepy people on the Metro. We are looking forward to continuing our pilgrimage and heading to Australia, tomorrow. So far, the only sacrifices we've had to make are short showers, food prices, and seeing the creepy people on the Metro, but that's not too big of a deal. That'll probably change by the end of the trip! (even though the people were reeeaaaalllly creepy! :p

aint matter

you spelled my name WRONG

4 hrs.

Wow, so we (My mom, Colleen, Bianca, Monica, and Michael) leave for the airport in less than 4 hours. I still have a few more things that I need to do (nothing too significant, though). Planning on pulling an all nighter-we'll see how that one works out! Looking forward to seeing everyone, and starting our pilgrimage!

Excited!

It's 1:21am and we have to be at the airport in hmm 3 hours and 51 minutes! I should be exhausted, after a huge celebration of Independence Day, but my adrenaline is keeping me going! See you in a few Michael and Monica! :)

Heyall

Just got back from MN, just in time to get all my clothes washed and repacked! Cya @ the airport!

hey everyone

Cant wait only 2 days away. I wish everyone good luck on there packing an make sure no one forgets their camera for those cool pixs we will be taking.

Wish everyone a safe trip an see you all soon.