This was a very warm day. In the morning we toured the 900-year-old baroque Melk Abbey, perched on the sheer cliffs high above the Danube. It has some wonderful history about the Hapsburgs and developments in religious and cultural life. Such opulence in some of these castles/monasteries/cathedrals. We wondered if they understood Jesus' message of giving to the poor rather than taking from the poor!
The library was floor to ceiling with thousands of medieval manuscripts/books, many with beautiful art and calligraphy illustrations. No pictures allowed, but it was a beautiful Abbey.
The afternoon was a wonderful, leisurely cruise through the Wachau Valley, heart of Austria's wine country. Many vineyards planted on the hills. castles, quaint villages. It has such unsurpassed beauty it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Later in the afternoon we stopped at Krems, Austria. None of the shops were open since it was Sunday. I climbed up steps to a church on a hill. The organ pipes and Gothic architecture amazing for such a small church. It was so hot that we couldn't wait to get back on the bus and taken back to the boat.
That evening they had a Bavarian feast, with various stations around the ship to pick up specialties of the area. Even got to go through the galley and see the roasted pig head decoration, and load our plates with pork, veal schnitzel, chicken, potato dumplings, sausage, and on and on. Fantastic dinner.... and again, we're eating way toooo much! The dinner wait staff were dressed in Bavarian dress, and musicians entertained us during dinner. A fun evening.
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