POLAND: They huddled under umbrellas, bin liners and even polyester Vatican flags: anything to shield them from the driving rain that began after 8am and got heavier with the passing minutes.
Those in the front rows, dressed in raincoats and plastic capes, had arrived at Warsaw's Pilsudski Square the previous evening to secure good places for the new pope in town.
Shortly after 9am the atmosphere, if not the clouds, lightened dramatically when Pope Benedict arrived in his papamobile and began a long, circuitous route to the specially constructed altar, crowned with a towering aluminium cross.
After a two-hour Mass, said in a mix of Polish and Italian, the pope left the altar for a walkabout that turned into a mob scene. A voice urged the crowd: "Show the pope some enthusiasm and joy!" Seconds later, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah burst over the sound system. Soon cheers of "long live the pope!" echoed through the square, as people waved Vatican flags emblazoned with a vague likeness of the German pontiff.
"There was a big difference in the whole feel of the Mass. The reactions of the crowd were much more quiet," said Piotr, a 17-year-old in the crowd.
At 270,000, numbers were down on the last visit of Pope John Paul - not surprising considering the dreadful weather. But organisers are expecting larger numbers at Sunday's memorial Mass for the late pope.
"This is very important, like every papal visit, and I wonder why the media are always trying to compare these two popes," said Teresa (60). "They are two different people. John Paul was a charismatic, an actor, and this one is the scholar. We shouldn't compare."
Despite the enthusiasm, there were disappointments, too. A Jewish group had assembled at the memorial to the Ghetto Uprising of 1943 in the hope that the pope would stop briefly to meet them. Instead the papal convoy raced by with a brief wave from the pope that officials said later was a blessing.
As the papal entourage moved from Warsaw to Krakow yesterday afternoon, the capital's bars were allowed to sell alcohol again, ending a 24-hour ban imposed by the government.
While most consoled themselves with soft drinks, one newspaper reporter announced he had no trouble getting a drink in Warsaw on Thursday evening: in the bar of the lower house of parliament, the Sejm.