Anttilat

On Monday morning we packed our luggage and ourselves into minibuses and headed again towards the Harz area. Buses went some 130km/h on autobahn and still several cars and motorcycles effortlessly passed us. This time Harz wasn't our goal. We hopped out of the cars in some small village outside Gotha. We had packed some bread and chocolate for lunch before leaving and here we had a small break for eating.

There was a long hike ahead so some of us wanted to use a bathroom. Klaus asked from some old lady living nearby that we could use her toilet. She was a nice lady and she even wanted to give us some canned mirabelles to eat. Those were quite nice and everybody got a taste. She also wanted to show me and Nora her bunnies. If you wonder, like I did, why an old woman would want to keep a bunch of bunnies, the answer is for dinner. They were, indeed, quite big and chubby looking.

Klaus told that the hike to Gotha was 16 kilometers. It included a long walk in scorching sun aside huge fields. There were some nice villages on the way, too, and we stopped at one to eat some ice cream. That gave us a little more strength to keep on going but still we all wondered if it could really be just 16 km. Klaus promised that next time he'll write down to our program "16 km hike, will feel like 26 km".

With aching feet we finally arrived to Gotha where we met Tuomo and Laura (the twin). They had skipped the long hike and had instead walked around Gotha at their own pace. Although we all had a physically hard day I'm quite sure we all felt happy for the trip. It was a great experience and I feel proud that I could do that - even if I did whine like a little baby. (Nora actually even taught me an important German phrase: "Wann sind wir endlich da?" - "When we will finally be there?")

In Gotha we stayed at Versöhnungskirche (Church of Reconciliation). We all were so tired that I don't think any of us stayed up late that night. For a while we enjoyed singing together while Kevin played guitar. After a hot day going to sleep in a cool room felt nice.