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Trip to Molfsee 2

By: Chona Grepo
Date: 1-Aug-2005

July 11 marked my first week of stay in the northern tip of the province of Schleswig-Holstein (one of the 16 provinces of Germany). The capital city is Kiel. I stayed in the beautiful town of Molfsee. Scandinavian countries next to it are Denmark & Norway.

Manang Edna, my hostess, had taken me to the mall a few times. The Holstenstrasse is a long street with lots of coffee shops and stores offering designer items. At every meal and snack, I feasted on fresh strawberries, fruit juices, champagne, red wine (few sips), gouda cheese, cold cuts – turkey (putten) my favorite. Her husband, Dieter, had a leather coats business which closed 15 years ago. Some environmentalists opposed his using animal furs for his coats. He gave me a hand-sewn nutria (a south american water animal) leather jacket priced at 690 euro (1 euro = P71, buying rate). Now he spends much of his time breeding adorable chihuahuas, all licensed and immunized. You may check his website at www.chihuahua-udani.de.

On my third day in Molfsee (July 13), Manang Edna and I went on a ten-minute drive to the city (Kiel). There, I met her sister Manang Nel. She stays at Schoenberg (shoen being beautiful and berg = mountain) – 42 minute bus trip from Kiel. She is a widow and stays in a big, modestly furnished house all by her lonesome. They had a business – marketing and trading of office equipment and supplies. Her husband died October of last year. Much of their unsold office stuff are still there so she gave me everything from paperclips to writing pads to letter envelopes, stickers, clearbooks and pens of all kinds. Now, I have a bunch of Parker pens with refills enough to last for the next ten years. She is about to move to a smaller apartment, and has contracted a local office to buy all her office stuff in bulk.

I watched CNN news all morning about the blast in London last July 7, shopped at the nearby groceries for fruits and vegetables, and wrote some postcards to friends whom I cannot reach thru e-mails. But I enjoyed gardening the most. It is summer, and flowers here are in their robust blooms, roses of all kinds, sizes and colors.

July 16 is Manang Nel’s birthday. We drove back to Schoenberg that mid-day, then went straight to their parkplatz where a band played English and German country, for about an hour – most applauded of which was the La Bamba (Editor’s note: La Bamba is a ‘country’ song? It is by the late latino pop singer Ricardo Valencia, AKA Ricky Valen, and it was in Spanish :)).

That same night (July 16), we strolled through their famous Hoern-Bruecke harbor from past 4:00 till 10:00 pm where big ships from Norway and Sweden, and private boats are docked. There were seehund (seals) that gently glide into the clear, dark,-emerald waters. One man could not resist, he jumped into the tempting waters in his birthday suit (nah, he had orange-colored undies on.  hi hi hi). Others were jogging, skating, picnicking, taking pictures, having coffee while I did some deep breathing exercises to get rid of my phlegm, he he. Not far from the harbor is the millionaires row. A short drive away will take you to the red district (need i say more? Harbor is where the sailors are, he he).

We had dinner at McDonald’s (sounds familiar? mwehehe) beside the Cinemaxx and overlooking the harbor.

— end of 1st week —