Still without any formal language training, almost everything we say starts with: Sprechen Sie Englisch? The response, without fail, is always: ein bisschen (a bit).

Except, ein bisschen really means: I am fluent and will hold this entire conversation with you in perfect English!

Honestly, it is pretty amazing. Perhaps Germans use this response so that we will forgive any imperfections in their English, but often there are few to be had. The level of English fluency in this country is better than in the States!

Born in Bavaria himself, and with a Freiburger secretary, the Pope made the Münster of Freiburg a stop on his German tour. Still without our personal possessions, there was literally nothing to do but try to get a glimpse of His Holiness!

We walked to the Altstadt (town center) on Thursday and Friday to see the preparations. Those with special invitations would be sitting on bleachers and grandstands outside of the Münster watching the proceedings on big screens. The large farmer’s market that occurs everyday on the Münsterplatz had been moved to a small side street to allow for the assemblage of twenty first century projection and sound equipment on all sides of this thirteenth century relic. The coolest thing I saw were the flags outside the Rathaus (Town Hall). Five in total: Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the flag of the European Union, and the Papal flag. 

Benedict was scheduled to land at the airport at 1:00pm and arrive at the Münster at 2 on Saturday. Joe and I walked up to the main street of town at 10:30am. There were plenty of people waiting already, so we took the first empty spot we could find and bellied up to the barricades. We burned the first hour playing Words with Friends against each other on our phones, but low batteries and prolonged squinting at tiny screens lead to an incomplete game. So…we just stood there, defending our personal space….for two and a half more hours!

Finally, the cheers started and everyone shuffled to get the best view. Here came his Holiness, seated high in his Popemobile.

And there he went!

He was going so fast!! This was no parade-walking speed. He acted as if he were late for church! If you didn’t set your camera for sports mode, you might be disappointed with the outcome of your snapshots.  

That was it. Then we walked back home. The T-Mobile store was showing the service inside the Münster on a flat-screen, so we stood there and watched for a few minutes. I must say, he has a nice colored complexion for an 80-something German.

As I write this now (Sunday), the parade of pilgrims has been flooding by the balcony for seven hours, since they woke me up at 8am. Joe started watching them before sunrise. They are on their way to and from the airport, where Benedict held mass this morning.