23rd day - July 31st: No conversation possible after the church service

My third Sunday in my semester abroad began, just like the Saturday, with continuous rain. The weather forecast said that the normal rain would turn into light drizzle around 1 pm and then completely stop. My plan was to attend the church service at the Cathedral, maybe have a conversation with the pastor, and then head to my next destination, the new industrial city of Zory, which is only 25km away from Katowice. After breakfast at the hostel, I cycled to the church. I arrived around 20 minutes before the start of the service, but some of the churchgoers were already there. Around 60 people were present when the organ started playing. An older pastor led the service. The hymn numbers were displayed and I even recognized one of the hymns. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand the sermon, which was delivered from the high pulpit. As the organ played the postlude, some people started leaving the church. I was hoping for a church cafe to possibly start a conversation, but unfortunately, it wasn't available. The pastor also didn't go to the exit, but went straight to the sacristy. So there was no opportunity for a conversation. Then I was one of the last ones in the church and the sexton was already waving the church key. So I also left and didn't even try to start a conversation.

It was still raining. I went to a cafe and looked up my route to Zory on my phone. But it was still raining at 1 pm, contrary to the forecast. Now it was supposed to rain normally until 4 pm. I went back to the hostel and waited. Shortly after 3 pm, there was only light drizzle left, so I finally decided to start cycling. At first, it was quite uphill, but not steep. But I started sweating. However, in the outskirts of Katowice, I couldn't find the right way to Zory, unintentionally took a different route, and ended up on a highway. It was drizzling again. So I turned back and wasted quite a lot of time. It was also getting dark and I decided to give up my destination for the day, Zory, and find a spot in the forest to camp. In the end, I pitched my tent near a fish pond in a wooded area. However, the highway was roaring nearby, about 500 meters away. Apart from a fisherman, no one was to be seen in this wet and cold weather. I made a cold dinner and crawled into my sleeping bag earlier than ever. It was only the next day that I realized that this was my luck - or perhaps God's will.