Today we cruised through the Wachau Valley of Austria. It is a beautiful area. There are vineyards that stretch for miles from the river up the hills. They use all the land possible to grow grapes. These are mainly grapes used for Riesling wine. There were may many churches and ruins of castles. The small towns were very picturesque - kind of what you imagism for a European town.
We had a "Taste of Austria" buffet in the lounge for lunch. And a guy had gotten on the ship to entertain with his accordion. We actually stopped at one of the small towns along the way and picked him up which was actually pretty entertains because the kind of grabbed him and made him jump aboard! The lunch was pretty good and the little chocolate cakes were very good.
After lunch we arrived in Melk where we were going to take a tour of an abbey that had been founded in 1089 and the buildings were built in the early 1700s. It was an amazing place. The abbey is also a Benedictine monastery and a school which has 900 students - both boys and girls. The library was fantastic and has many thousand volumes and some of the very oldest in existence. The church very ornate!
All in all it was an excellent day. The weather was cool and sunny. Could not have been better! On to Germany tomorrow.
Thought I was finished with the blog but then we had dinner. We were having a very pleasant dinner when I decided that I needed another beer. The free beer that we can get with our meals is called Bitburger and it is AWFUL so I decided to go up to the bar and get a decent beer. Lori wanted one too. The poor little guy was horrified that I hadn't just ordered it from the waiter. He said he would find me in the dining room which he did. Then Scherry decided she needed more wine and lifted her glass to the waiter and put it down so hard on the table that the stem broke! We have never laughed so hard. It was too funny. Probably something you needed to be here to enjoy but we all laughed and laughed!
Anyhow, here are some pictures.
Castle where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned in 1192 on his way home from the Crusades.
Castle along the Danube near Melk.
The abbey at Melk.
The altar in the church at the abbey in Melk.
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