After a very tiring journey from Scotland we arrived at Savio house late on Friday the 24th of June, many of the group had already arrived and settled in and were enjoying catching up with each other. We were greeted like old friends we are no longer strangers travelling to Madrid to see the pope; we are friends going on a pilgrimage.

We all met early the next morning for breakfast before having morning prayers. As a group we reflected on how in life we have hard times in life, but these are rewarded with good times. This was symbolised using Lemon and Chocolate. We know that sleeping on classroom floor will be very challenging - a lemon moment but we hope this will be balanced with many chocolate moments. We had some more ice-breakers during the weekend but everyone was much more relaxed and joined in the tasks.

Many people had expressed concerns about being lost and not knowing Spanish so we spent some time learning important phrases in Spanish. We even had a Spanish man to help with our pronunciations. Through group discussion we realised that there was many things we have to fit in our backpack for the 23 days we are away. We produced group rules that we all agreed with to help everyone enjoy the full experience of the pilgrimage. "Look after each other" The itinerary is busy and we as a group are "buying into the full experience" so can't be too sleepy or dehydrated.

On the Saturday night the group enjoyed a homemade Spanish meal consisting of Spanish soup, paella seafood or just meat and extremely yummy deserts. There was plans to watch a DVD however the group bonded we spent the evening socialising discussing many topics.

Sunday morning came so quick. We had a lovely mass and morning tea but then we had to pack our bags and say our farewells.

The next time we come as a group we shall be on the plane to Madrid to have a wonderful experience as pilgrims of World Youth Day 2011 Madrid.