(Spain) Vacation Day 3: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Day

Day 3 of our Madrid trip was probably the day with the fewest activities on paper, but without a doubt, it was the most special one so far.

We saw the Pope!

Not only did we see him, but at one point he passed less than three meters away from us. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was one of those moments you know you’ll remember forever. Out of all the things we had planned for this trip, seeing the Pope in person was definitely not something we expected to happen.

People waiting for the Pope to pass

We also attended the Mass he celebrated, which reportedly gathered around 1.2 million people. Seeing that many people gathered together was incredible in itself, but what impressed us even more was how organized everything was.

Entire streets were closed off for the event, attendees had to pre-register, and huge screens were set up per street so everyone could follow along clearly. The screens were not only massive but also surprisingly clear.

The part that impressed me the most was Communion. I kept wondering how they would possibly distribute Communion to that many people, and then priests started walking to different stations throughout the closed streets, allowing attendees to receive Communion without needing to crowd into one area. ANG GALING!!!

One of the many communion priests - the one under the umbrella. So before communion, you'd see white umbrellas spreading through the place!

The Mass lasted around two hours, and despite the size of the crowd, it felt peaceful and incredibly special.

I saw about 3 people who passed out, probably of the heat and maybe hunger as it was a 10am mass and people started walking to the place around 7am, maybe some even earlier. So not everyone was able to have breakfast. There was a lady just behind us who did too. But her family called for medic and another lady in front of us immediately rushed to go to them. But by that time, someone was also already assisting the passed out lady. 

After the Mass, we headed to Delica Bistro for lunch. It was an Italian restaurant, which means we still haven’t had a proper Spanish meal. Well… unless churros count. Haha!

This was sooooo good especially after being under the sun for hours

After lunch, we wandered through the Sunday market. I was hoping to find more handmade goods, but there weren’t as many artisan vendors as I expected. Whenever we came across something handmade, the husband would look at it and say, “You can make that too!” like the supportive husband he is. Then me in return would point at something and say "and you can make that!" hahahah. Mej mayayabang din.

The weather was a bit of a mixed bag. The breeze was nice and cool, but the sun during the mass was quite intense. Between the heat and all the walking, our energy levels were completely drained by the afternoon.

So we headed back to the hotel, took showers to cool off, and promptly passed out for a nap.

When we woke up, it was time for the glamorous part of travel: laundry. hahahaha

We did a load at the hotel while grabbing takeaway dinner. Ton got a kebab from Culto Kebab, and went to an Indian restaurant in search of rice. Apparently they wouldn’t let him buy just rice, so he ended up buying a meal as well. 

While waiting for the laundry, we settled into the lounge area near the laundry room. I spent the time working on a Design Team application and finishing a blog post for Printable Cuttable Creatables.

And then came one of the sweetest and most unexpected encounters of the trip.

I finally listened to a video message from Viv - the lovely lady I mentioned in my Spring Market blog post. In the video, she shared that she would be sending one of my cards to a telenovela actress.

A woman who was also waiting for her laundry overheard the message and started chatting with us. She had also helped us figure out how the paid laundry machines worked, which we appreciated!

She asked if I was from the Philippines and then asked if I was a Canva Creator.

I laughed and told her I wished I was, but that digital art isn’t really my strength - although learning it has been on my list for a while.

It turns out she is a Canva Edu Creator from Mexico. She initially thought I might be in Madrid for a Canva event or that I was some kind of artist because she heard bit of the video message about a card i made. We ended up chatting about Canva, creative work, and even tried figuring out whether we had mutual Canva friends in the Philippines.

A little while later, she returned from her room carrying Canva merchandise for me.

Eeeeek!!! Kakatuwa!

Canva goodies!!!

She asked if I was interested in becoming a Canva Creator. I told her I probably needed to learn a lot more first, but she encouraged me and said to message her when I’m ready.

After the laundry was finished, we finally redeemed our complimentary welcome drink coupons from the hotel. We sat outside with two glasses of beer and a cookie that we purchased from the hotel café.

The cookie deserves its own mention because it was really good.

We spent some time sitting outside, enjoying our drinks and chatting about everything we’d done over the past few days. It was a nice chill bonding with the husband.

Back in our room, we started packing for the next leg of our adventure.

Tomorrow, we leave Madrid and head to Barcelona.

Madrid gave us beautiful architecture, great food, unexpected shopping adventures, a new friend, and one unforgettable experience that we’ll be talking about for years.

How exactly are we supposed to top seeing the Pope from three meters away?

I guess Barcelona is about to find out. 

Here are random photos I took the whole day:

Lucky photos from our sitter:

And my junk journal mini stash for today:

Also linking here my previous vacation posts:

Day 1

Day 2