The Magic of Mölkau

The days leading up to the wedding were filled with making bows, crafts, and speech practicing. Nicole encouraged me to have some alone time now and again, so I would periodically go explore the village of Mölkau, where we were staying. It did not disappoint!

Bicycle Ride Through the Country

My first excursion was by bike. It was my first bicycle ride since my run in with the moped two weeks ago. I was quite excited about it – Germany looked like the perfect place to explore by bike! It was flat, the roads were well maintained, and you didn’t have to wage war on cars. (Nicole borrowed a helmet especially for me!)

I peddled down the main road, the side streets, and back trails, absolutely enthralled by the residential architecture. It was so different than back home, yet most of the houses were relatively new.

For example, I only saw one shingled roof (and they were shingles in some sort of petal shape) – all the rest were terra-cotta or faux terra-cotta concrete, matte or glazed in orange, blue, black, or brown. Volkmar told me after that terra cotta roofing lasts forever- that its salvaged from old buildings and re-used. The faux roofing made from concrete doesn’t last as long – it needs to be replaced every 10 years.

The countryside with golden with fields of grain, with wild poppies and daisies growing at their edges. When I was walking my bike along a footpath towards bails of hay, I saw an old couple walking my way. The man was carrying a wicker basket with a white cloth on top. The woman was carrying a bouquet of flowers. As they passed me, they smiled and spoke to me in German. I beamed back, thinking “My god! These types of things really do happen in Europe!” These people had my kind of picnics! This was my kind of place.

wood fence and a field by a forest

Morning Coffee

While Nicole and Volkmar worked on their vows, I took a stroll over to the corner store. I accidentally ordered a cappuccino, which was

excellent I might add, and a heart shaped jam cookie I’d been eying since yesterday.

I sat on the wooden bench in the park outside the village church. As i sipped my coffee, I watched as a man in a bow tie washed the windows of the Badstudio (bath shop?) and two elderly people watered the flowers in the church graveyard over the stone wall. All the while I could hear children playing at the petting zoo down the street, and crows call to one another from the treetops. It was lovely.

A Walk in the Woods

Earlier that morning, Volkmar took me on a walk in the woods behind their cottage. The woods were just like back home, minus the bugs. I pushed the stroller with Isabelle asleep in it while he held Anna. I would occasionally get the puppet owl out and hoot Anna into little fits of giggles.

Volkmar told me stories about his many adventures in these woods as a child. Occasionally we would stop to pick a maple leaf for Anna to wave like a flag, or he and Anna would go approach a textured tree and touch its bark together. The walk was full of beautiful, quiet moments like these.

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