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How Friggin Sweet!!!!
Wednesday, 07 January 2009
That was the quest of two children aged six and seven who had thought of almost everything - right down to suntan lotion, sunglasses and the five-year-old sister of the bride-to-be, who was brought along to "witness" their nuptials on the other side of the world.
With their suitcases on wheels and sandwiches of chicken paste and processed cheese, the trio - sensibly bundled up against the minus-six temperature in their homeland - travelled from Langenhagen, near Hanover, in Germany, in their bid to reach the airport more than 50 kilometres away.
It was barely light on New Year's Day when, fuelled by passion and a documentary they had seen about the wildlife of Kenya the night before, the lovebirds and the witness set out on mission impossible. They had no passports, no tickets and no idea really where Africa was.
"The two children were determined to tie the knot under the African sun after seeing a nature documentary together," said police spokesman Holger Jureczko in Hanover. The pair, identified only as Mika and Anna-Lena, "are very much in love and decided to get married in Africa, where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Anna-Lena's little sister, aged five".
The idea for the romantic trip began when Mika told the two girls about his holiday in Italy while their families celebrated New Year's Eve together. As the adults drank champagne, Mika and Anna-Lena watched the lions cavorting on the Serengeti and hatched their plan.
As the first dawn of 2009 broke, and while their parents slept, they left their house and walked a kilometre up the road to a tram stop, from where they travelled to Hanover's central station. Waiting for a train to the airport, they attracted the attention of a guard, who contacted police.
"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Jureczko.
He described Mika and Anna-Lena as "sweethearts".
Anna-Lena told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "
Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.
Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of the plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought, 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' "
The police told the trio it would be difficult to get to Africa without money or tickets and instead gave them a tour of the police station before handing them over to their parents.
German children elope
Wednesday, 07 January 2009
That was the quest of two children aged six and seven who had thought of almost everything - right down to suntan lotion, sunglasses and the five-year-old sister of the bride-to-be, who was brought along to "witness" their nuptials on the other side of the world.
With their suitcases on wheels and sandwiches of chicken paste and processed cheese, the trio - sensibly bundled up against the minus-six temperature in their homeland - travelled from Langenhagen, near Hanover, in Germany, in their bid to reach the airport more than 50 kilometres away.
It was barely light on New Year's Day when, fuelled by passion and a documentary they had seen about the wildlife of Kenya the night before, the lovebirds and the witness set out on mission impossible. They had no passports, no tickets and no idea really where Africa was.
"The two children were determined to tie the knot under the African sun after seeing a nature documentary together," said police spokesman Holger Jureczko in Hanover. The pair, identified only as Mika and Anna-Lena, "are very much in love and decided to get married in Africa, where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Anna-Lena's little sister, aged five".
The idea for the romantic trip began when Mika told the two girls about his holiday in Italy while their families celebrated New Year's Eve together. As the adults drank champagne, Mika and Anna-Lena watched the lions cavorting on the Serengeti and hatched their plan.
As the first dawn of 2009 broke, and while their parents slept, they left their house and walked a kilometre up the road to a tram stop, from where they travelled to Hanover's central station. Waiting for a train to the airport, they attracted the attention of a guard, who contacted police.
"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Jureczko.
He described Mika and Anna-Lena as "sweethearts".
Anna-Lena told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "
Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.
Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of the plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought, 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' "
The police told the trio it would be difficult to get to Africa without money or tickets and instead gave them a tour of the police station before handing them over to their parents.
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