Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
 

Cruising through the Wachau Valley, visiting Dürnstein & Melk
Zzzzzz...Hello world, where am I?, Oh yes, I'm bored. <br>Zzzzzz...(blinks)...Where am I?, Oh yes, but I'm still bored.<br>Zzzzzz...Where am I? Hmmm...anticipation, can't wait until tomorrow!<br>Zzzzzz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friday 25th April 2014
  
   
When we awoke, the Scenic Diamond was just approaching the Wauchau Valley village of Dürnstein, home of the castle where Richard the Lionhearted was kept prisoner in 1193.
Some of our fellow passengers decided that they would attempt the walk up to the ruins of the castle, high on a bluff overlooking the Danube, but we decided that would stroll along the river bank and explore the village instead.
 
 
 
 
It was still rather early in the morning, so the village was very quiet.
 
 
Having explored the village, we found ourselves heading further up the town. Soon we found ourselves following a fairly steep track leading up... and up... and up... towards the ruined castle.
 
The higher we got, the better the views became...
 
... and the prettier the plants became.
 
 
 

By this time, we were feeling quite
out of breath, but with the castle in
sight, we had to get there!
 
At the top, we were rewarded with wonderful views. Our ship was docked near the trees on the left of the above picture.
 
 

Geoff took the picture on the left while Bruce scrambled up to the top of the ruin and took the picture below.
 
We took a different route down. It was a more sloping and gentle route and we saw some more beautiful flowers on the way.
Half way down the, we passed under this arch. We were quite startled when a recorded voice started giving us information about Richard the Lionheart and his imprisonment in the castle in 1193.
 
 
 
We still had some time to spare before we were due back on the ship, so we went back into the village for a second look.
We visited this very lovely cemetery. (Thank you John for the picture on the right).
The shops were beginning to open and it seemed that there were two main themes... apricots (marille) and coffee!

 

After a happy little mooch, we strolled back towards the ship.
 
 
 

Some of our fellow passengers had elected to cycle (with a guide) to our next stop, Melk. It all seemed a bit too strenuous for us!
 
At 10:30 am, we sailed from Dürnstein. We were looking forward to a leisurely and scenic three and a half hour cruise through the Wachau Valley to our next port of call, Melk.
 
 
Video: Leaving Dürnstein
 
The pretty little village of Dürnstein, seen from the river as we left, heading upstream
 
 
 
 
We sailed through beautiful countryside, surrounded by tree-covered mountains. Around each bend in the river there seemed to be an ancient castle, quaint village, or steeply terraced vineyard. We were sailing through the 24-mile long picturesque Danube Wachau Valley between Krems and Melk. The valley is a narrow gorge where the Danube flows between the foothills of the Bohemian Massif and the Dunkelsteiner Woods.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At lunchtime, we arrived at Melk, home of the Melk Benedictine Abbey.
Our intrepid cyclists arrived simultaneously, looking a little tired but happy.
After lunch, the tour began. This time we chose to go with the group because we weren't too sure where to go. We were taken by coach to the top of the hill where the abbey stands 200 feet above the village and walked down the stairs from the parking lot.
 
The Melk Abbey was built by the Benedictine monks over 900 years ago. It has suffered numerous fires, the plague and war damage through the centuries. Its present high baroque form was constructed in the early 18th century, and many of era's most famous painters, sculptors, and stucco craftsmen worked on it.
 

We were in for a most enjoyable visit!

Despite the group ticket, we went on ahead
and did the tour ourselves.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Marble Hall has some spectacular stucco, and its ceiling fresco is impressive.
 
 
The view from the abbey, overlooking the village of Melk and a canal leading off the Danube, is lovely.
Melk Abbey Library (not photographed) is most impressive too, with 100,000 volumes of mostly religious leather-bound books.
 
The baroque abbey church is unbelievably ornate, with stucco and gold leaf covering everything in sight.
The church builders' goal was to demonstrate what heaven looks like.
 
 
 
 
A view of the gardens at the abbey. They hadn't yet opened for the season, so we couldn't go into them.
 
We got directions from our guide so that we could walk back to ship independently. We then walked down from the abbey into the village, where we bought apricot treats, including apricot kernels (chocolate covered ones too!) at one of the shops.
We crossed the canal via the pedestrian bridge and got some
wonderful views of the abbey as we walked back towards the ship.
 
 
 
 
 
At 7.00pm we sailed and all passengers were requested to come to the lounge for an announcement by the captain before dinner. Once we had all gathered, he told us that due to low rainfall, water levels upstream might becoming too low for the ship to sail. We didn't quite catch what he said about the minimum levels, but the gist of it was that he needed to know that he had eighteen inches of water under the vessel to proceed safely, but the current estimate was for only twelve inches of water. He said that the situation was being monitored, but that we might be delayed or even have to change ships and move to one which was coming from the opposite direction at a point beyond the low water levels. We weren't too concerned; we would just go with the flow (or not, as the case may be!)
 
Tonight was the night of our special meal at Portobello Restaurant.
What a treat it was!
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble