POPE DAY!!  February 28th, 2018!  Best day ever!!  We went to a Wednesday Papal audience.  It was moved indoors because of the cold temperatures.  The Paul VI Audience Hall holds a little over 6000.  We left the house at 7:30 am to get good seats and were still half way back from the stage. The Pope arrived by 9:40 and made his way to the stage greeting people all the way.  There was a reading from one of the gospels repeated in 5-6 languages, blessings from the Pope in 5-6 languages, and the Our Father in Latin (that we couldn't keep up with, they said it fast!)  The most moving part for a lot of us was when the Pope came down to the front row of the people and personally spoke to them.  Many were handicapped in one way or another, some looked physically infirm or ill, then he moved on to the newly married couples that had come for a blessings on their marriage, others looked to be from various religious orders, and some, maybe dignitaries.  He was completely focused on the person he was speaking to.  Many were emotional, crying tears, kissing his hands, etc.  People LOVE him and you can tell he loves people too!

Waiting for the Pope to arrive.

 My first look at the Pope!  https://youtu.be/YrPZR-92QWw

There he is!

This is zoomed in.  We weren't as close as the picture leads you to believe.


A moving video of Pope Francis greeting people.  https://youtu.be/1xxyuclE5DA

I got a selfie with the POPE!  Can you see him?  He's the white speck in the background.

Aaron got a selfie too!

He's leaving the hall.

His final wave to the people.