After the Scavenger Hunt

I am very competitive. Especially when it comes to speed games and/or knowledge quests. Today we did a scavenger hunt throughout the city, and my team was great: Susanna, Andrew, John, Tom, and I. John strategized, drawing on our huge, German map the route that would hit all our spots; Andrew navigated for us, taking pictures at each location; Tom and Susanna followed up the rear in defense from other teams, and me? My job was to copy down all the thirteen questions. That was my only job.

It was so hot out, and you know I don't do well in the blazing sun without water and wearing shoes that slip around. It wasn't long before I had blisters on my heels, and I tried really hard not to complain because I don't know these kids so well (other than Susie), and only my family and closest friends deserve to hear me whine. So I held it in pretty well, and even found a few of our destinations - Cafe Furst ("u" with an umlaut) where the first Mozartkugels were invented, and, while I didn't discover her, I did get in the picture with the woman in a drindle (those really cute dresses with white shirts underneath that people try to pull off in the twenty-first century but don't quite make it. Maybe I could get away with my prairie dress after all?!?).

The boys were really intense, marching along through the cobblestone streets with the sun beating down and me in the middle swiping at my dripping forehead every two seconds. I wanted to win, if only so they would get the satisfaction. Andrew even wore his explorer's hat - there was mention of bringing camelbacks, but I think it was in jest. We were on the last quest: Find a plaque at the beginning of Hennerstrasse with the name of a musician who lived there. We looked everywhere. We walked down the street (or up, I should say, since the road was a huge hill), didn't find it, and walked back. There was nothing. Andrew approached a young woman to ask (in German), but she had no idea what we were talking about. In German she said, "Mozart lived on Getriedegasse," but we weren't looking for Mozart. Finally I found an indentation in the cement wall with large metal screws poking out. "Look, guys! I bet a plaque used to be here and they moved it." I was serious. It really looked like that. So, in distress, we took our picture with the indentation and returned to our hostel.

When we got there we were the first team to return. We sat on the steps, sweating, hot, smelly, and hoping that we were right and the plaque had been moved. The next team arrived and we had to ask: "Did you find the plaque on Hennerstrasse?" "It wasn't on Hennerstrasse," Monica said. "Yeah, Frau Thuswaldner changed it the last minute. It was on [insert some other 'K' named street]," Cat added.

I hung my head in shame. My only job was to copy the questions.