Wachau Weekend

On Sunday, we got up early and took an hour's trainride from Vienna to Melk, a lovely town on the Danube. The town is nestled under the shadow of Melk Abbey, or Stift Melk, a Benedictine Abbey.

We walked from the train station, through town, and up many, many stone steps to get up to the Abbey in time for 9:30 Mass.

M and I found that people were friendly and welcoming. It was clear that most of the people attending Mass were local parishioners, rather than tourists. Everything was in German, but we did our best to follow along as we sang.

After Mass, we went out into the sunshine of the Abbey courtyard. We brought our new camera - A SERIOUS CAMERA - and fought hard to understand even its most basic functions. We had fun taking turns using it.

We thought about taking a guided tour, but decided we would scout out the place on our own and do research before coming again so that we understood what we were looking at without taking a tour.

Inside, one of the highlights was the extraordinary library.  No flash photographs are permitted, but I got a few good shots. M actually got much better photos using his plain, old camera than we did with the fancy, new one.

There were beautiful statues, staircases, and views out the windows.

Outside, there is a terrace from which you can see the town and the Danube.

After this, we walked into town toward the boat launch. Looking up, we got an impressive view of how enormous the Abbey is.

We waited to board the boat - there were lots of people waiting, many with bicycles. We decided that we would bring bikes when we come back in the fall.  Perhaps even a bike/winery tour. The cruise down the Danube was lively and scenic.

In Dürnstein, you can see the ruins of the castle where Richard the Lion-Hearted was imprisoned in 1193.

Below that is the picturesque town:

We took a lot of photos, but I'm not really sure what all of these places are. Maybe M knows and can tell me. Then I'll tell you. In the meantime, just enjoy the scenery (as I did).

We disembarked at Krems and walked our way into the old town.

First is the Steiner Tor,

Apparently, one of the inscriptions says 'AEIOU', which was the personal insignia of Emperor Friedrich III - “Alles Erdreich ist Österreich untertan” (English = “All the earth is subordinate to Austria”).  I didn't know this or see this when we were there, but the handy website (above) told me.

We walked some more stairs

to get to this church:

(the one in the background with the red roof with the clock).  It was small and beautiful.

We saw some other interesting things:

It was a wonderful day trip, and a great end to the weekend.