My first full day in Krakow was busy, to say the least! After a quick breakfast at the hostel (thank goodness for my duffel of gluten free food!), I went with the group to the area of Divine Mercy. This “Pilgrimage of Divine Mercy” began at the Chapel of Divine Mercy, which is near where Saint Faustina lived/died. The line was atrociously long, but it was fun to meet my first pilgrims from other countries (and from the U.S.). The chapel housed some beautiful relics, and the walls were filled with items like rosaries and trinkets symbolizes prayers that had been answered. After the chapel, we went to the Basilica of Divine Mercy, which is a huge, modern church with the original image of Divine Mercy.

We unfortunately were not able to make it to the John Paul II Sanctuary due to the excessively long lines, but that just means another trip to Krakow at a later date!

room at the hostel
almost got caught in the rain exploring!

A combination of jet lag and a morning of walking, exploring, and standing seemed to hit me all at once right around lunch time. I had a bit of a spell where I almost fainted, which was no fun at all. A couple of extra-kind pilgrims took great care of me, along with our wonderful guide, Ola. We slowly made our way back to the hostel, where I rested for the remainder of the afternoon.