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This post is about a 17km walk from Hintschingen to Riedsee. I cross the 17000km mark on The Longest Way, and a unicorn performs a dance.

We woke up under the bridge near Hintschingen. It was hazy. I didn’t want to put on the unicorn costume anymore, but Lea wasn’t having any of it.

“It’s time,” she said, and she was right.

the heat

The costume was inflatable, and it came with a little fan that was constantly providing it with new air, but that didn’t seem to help much. I felt hot and sweaty immediately after putting it on. Also, I could hardly see anything. There was a small plastic window under the unicorn’s chin, but it fogged up very quickly. And so I stumbled along, following Lea and Emmi, looking at the ground in front of me.

unicorn tales

One time we walked into a little girl’s birthday party. A bunch of kids took a photo with the unicorn, only one little boy didn’t want to.

Another time we ran into a guy in a car who wanted to know if I had lost a bet. Lea told him that no, I hadn’t lost a bet. Some other people appeared, and I said I was doing canvassing for the far-right AfD. Everyone laughed, just not the guy in the car. He made a grumpy comment and drove off. I, the unicorn, didn’t care.

the car

Then we ran into Heidi. She was riding her bike on the cycle path, and when she saw us she invited us to her home for tea and cake. Her home was on the way, so we said yes.

It was there, in Heidi’s village, that a gentleman was sitting in his kitchen when he heard a loud noise outside. When he went to the window to look down, he saw a unicorn that was pulling a trailer and had somehow crashed into his car.

There was some damage, but the owner of the car was very nice about it. We exchanged contacts and I said I would make it right somehow.

Heidi

Heidi turned out to be awesome. She was an avid hiker and a professional pilgrim who used hiking trips as a therapeutic approach in the systemic therapy she offered. She had her old hiking boots on display in her driveway, and next to her door there was a scallop shell, the symbol of the Camino de Santiago.

We stayed for tea and cake, then I transformed back into the unicorn, and we walked some more.

the dance

By the time we reached the 17000km mark on The Longest Way,  I was exhausted. Lea helped me take my daily selfie in the costume, and then she filmed me doing my dance.

pictures

the walk from Hintschingen to Riedsee:

morning mist near Hintschingen

unicorn walking with the Caboose

Heidi and her husband gave us tea and cake

Heidi’s old hiking boots

the place where The Longest Way passed 17000km

the unicorn on The Longest Way

The unicorn sits after having walked 17000km.

a unicorn crashed into this car

Lea and Emmi near Riedsee

FEMINISM IS HATE (?)

unicorn deflated on a campground at Riedsee