Day 6 - Boat trip and concert in Silkeborg

Today was a change in the weather. We have so far enjoyed some sunny and even somewhat too hot and humid weather which has now changed to wet and cold weather. It sprinkled off and on all morning and afternoon, making the day feel a bit more slow despite our kids being happy to see each other again-- this day being the last of Midtvest and Piedmont being together. When reminded that it's the last day together, groans of sadness from the kids were heard throughout the bus and even standing in line to get places, everyone kept saying how sad they were to say goodbye tomorrow.The morning bus ride took us to the mid-peak of The Mountain of Heaven or in Danish, Himmelbjerget, where we took a short uphill walk in a tree filled park leading us to the top peak overlooking the longest river in Denmark, Gudenaen meaning the River of God. It was too bad for the bad weather and brisk wind because the sights from the top were incredibly beautiful. Everyone wanted to take photos with their new friends; thankfully we were able get a photo with the new family of musicians from Denmark and America.

After a short downhill walk to the river, random games abounded while we waited for the boat. The new game: "Big Booty" became the new favorite, much like that of the "Pony Game" played together yesterday. Rachel A. was the first round winner of the game. The "Big Booty" champion in round two was Kai! Another game of "Ninja" was played closer to the river and a gesture and sound game was played. Soon our boat arrived and we boarded. Let's be clear, this is no normal boat ride. This was a boat ride on the world's oldest working paddle wheeler boat. You could even see the men shoveling coal into the furnace and the iron machinery working. It was so cool to be a part of the history! Too bad it was in fact, so coooooool. It was a brisk hour and a half. After eating our home stays homemade lunches together on the boat, we found ourselves feeling a bit more nourished and in awe of the gorgeous scenery. Copland's song: "Shall We Gather at the River" came to mind, if you know the lyrics.

After our short walk to the town, Silkeborg, singers were happily released to have some free time to go shopping in the local Danish shops, and in the bakeries with all the sweets one could want. At 3:15 our singers returned and with our Danish counterparts, we made our final rehearsal for our final concert together. There was a bit of fatigue, but also sadness that this was the last time we would perform together until October, and with this exact group of singers. After our rehearsal, we went to eat dinner which was another set of sandwiches. As Dorte said, "another city, another sandwich." Some of the interesting sandwiches have been: Cottage cheese with mayo, bacon with chicken, cucumber and tomato, shrimp and egg, veggie, and sliced meatball with sweet caramelized red onions. Let's just say, we've heard lots of requests for Chinese food... yumm.

Our concert in Silkeborg was quite lovely with a very involved audience. Chris got several good recordings from the night and Marisa videotaped the entire concert. A quick bus ride home and we all returned to our home stays until departure first thing in the morning.