Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tobacco-free Week
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in our travelling to Lourdes travails that Matt forgot his roll of Copenhagen. He was not a happy man! He had one can of Copenhagen and managed to make it last for three days. He bought some cigars to tide him over but MK was scared for his life and worried everytime she saw or knew he was lighting up. You know how they teach in school to "say no to all drugs"?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
50th International Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Every year, we attend the International Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. For 50 years now, Militaries from around the world come together to pray for peace. This year was the 50th anniversary of the pilgrimage and the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother to the peasant girl, Bernadette. We were crowded in the streets with over 25,000 soldiers and their family members! It was truly awesome!
MK's favorite thing in Lourdes is the Mary water. Before we can do anything else in Lourdes, we have to go fill our bottles with Mary water. We drink the water all weekend and save some to bring home to give to our friends.
We stayed with the Heidelberg Military Community in a family-run hotel. Our room was very tiny. Literally, only one person could be standing at a time. However, we were on a pilgrimage and were grateful to have a room. Did I mention that the food was superb and served family style. And look below; this was the view from our room.
U.S. soldiers line up for the Opening Procession. Matt is in there somewhere! We've been attending the military pilgrimage for five years now and this was the largest group of Americans we had ever seen. For the first time ever, the Army sent the USAEUR Army band. On Saturday, the bands from the different countries performed in places throughout Lourdes. The Irish pipers gave impromtu performances all through streets. Truly delightful!
Soldiers marching through the streets. These are Croatians. The view is from our hotel room.
We attended Mass on Sunday in the grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette. It was a beautiful Mass with the Irish.
I am going to be so sad when we finally move back to the States and won't have the opportunity to go Lourdes so regularly. Despite all our difficulties, we received so many graces.
MK's favorite thing in Lourdes is the Mary water. Before we can do anything else in Lourdes, we have to go fill our bottles with Mary water. We drink the water all weekend and save some to bring home to give to our friends.
We stayed with the Heidelberg Military Community in a family-run hotel. Our room was very tiny. Literally, only one person could be standing at a time. However, we were on a pilgrimage and were grateful to have a room. Did I mention that the food was superb and served family style. And look below; this was the view from our room.
U.S. soldiers line up for the Opening Procession. Matt is in there somewhere! We've been attending the military pilgrimage for five years now and this was the largest group of Americans we had ever seen. For the first time ever, the Army sent the USAEUR Army band. On Saturday, the bands from the different countries performed in places throughout Lourdes. The Irish pipers gave impromtu performances all through streets. Truly delightful!
Soldiers marching through the streets. These are Croatians. The view is from our hotel room.
We attended Mass on Sunday in the grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette. It was a beautiful Mass with the Irish.
I am going to be so sad when we finally move back to the States and won't have the opportunity to go Lourdes so regularly. Despite all our difficulties, we received so many graces.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Rain, rain, rain in the South of France
We just returned from our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, France yesterday. We had a wonderful pilgrimage but met with so many challenges on our journey there! It's amazing that we made it all!
We purchased our plane tickets in January, got a really great deal; $346 roundtrip for three people from Munich to Toulouse, France on expedia.com. However, I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize until three days before we flew that we were leaving Toulouse on Monday at 9:20pm and not 9:20am like I thought. Matt was hot! That put us back in Munich at 11:00pm and home at 12:45. oops.
We made hotel reservations in February. The military pilgrimage to Lourdes is the biggest pilgrimage and rooms are very hard to come by. Our hotel was perfect! Only 100 meters from the St. Michael's gate, A/C, breakfast and dinner included. However, the hotel did not hold our reservations, they booked the Slovenian Army instead. So, we were leaving on Wednesday and on Tuesday, I was calling around to some of the other military communities trying to find a room. The Heidelberg community graciously took us in. The hotel was a family run hole in the wall. The room was tiny, the shower was even tinier. We had to set our shampoo/conditioner/soap on the toilet in order to have room to shower! But we were on a pilgrimage and grateful to have a room and beds!
And then, our plan was to fly into Toulouse and take a two hour train ride to Lourdes. France is famous for strikes and the day we were travelling was no exception. Yep, a train strike. So we had to sit all morning and afternoon waiting for the ONE bus to Lourdes. But, we made the bus and made it to Lourdes!
And then, to top it all off, it was cold and rainy the whole time! The South of France this time of year is supposed to be beautiful but we had Germany weather. And guess what else, it was beautiful, sunny and hot back in Germany!
There were many obstacles and challenges getting us to Lourdes, however our desire to get there was much stronger.
Pictures coming later when I download them from my camera!
We purchased our plane tickets in January, got a really great deal; $346 roundtrip for three people from Munich to Toulouse, France on expedia.com. However, I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize until three days before we flew that we were leaving Toulouse on Monday at 9:20pm and not 9:20am like I thought. Matt was hot! That put us back in Munich at 11:00pm and home at 12:45. oops.
We made hotel reservations in February. The military pilgrimage to Lourdes is the biggest pilgrimage and rooms are very hard to come by. Our hotel was perfect! Only 100 meters from the St. Michael's gate, A/C, breakfast and dinner included. However, the hotel did not hold our reservations, they booked the Slovenian Army instead. So, we were leaving on Wednesday and on Tuesday, I was calling around to some of the other military communities trying to find a room. The Heidelberg community graciously took us in. The hotel was a family run hole in the wall. The room was tiny, the shower was even tinier. We had to set our shampoo/conditioner/soap on the toilet in order to have room to shower! But we were on a pilgrimage and grateful to have a room and beds!
And then, our plan was to fly into Toulouse and take a two hour train ride to Lourdes. France is famous for strikes and the day we were travelling was no exception. Yep, a train strike. So we had to sit all morning and afternoon waiting for the ONE bus to Lourdes. But, we made the bus and made it to Lourdes!
And then, to top it all off, it was cold and rainy the whole time! The South of France this time of year is supposed to be beautiful but we had Germany weather. And guess what else, it was beautiful, sunny and hot back in Germany!
There were many obstacles and challenges getting us to Lourdes, however our desire to get there was much stronger.
Pictures coming later when I download them from my camera!
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