Melk, Austria

Day 11 - Melk (September 9)

Tina and I both woke up at 6:30 AM as he ship sailed along the Danube. The sun was out and a light mist was lifting off the water. Since Tina wasn’t hungry I volunteered to go have breakfast and bring her back a cup of coffee. By 7:30 AM I was back at our room with coffee cup in hand to the welcome of a my bride. As Tina finished getting ready for the day I prepared to download everyone’s photos from yesterday. About that time the ladies next door came knocking and Tina decided to join them for breakfast while I finished the downloads.

Most of the day was spent on the Danube cruising past beautiful farms, small communities with their church spires and lots of ancient castle ruins perched high atop the hills. The ship docked in the city of Melk around 1:00 PM, just after lunch. We were stopping here to see the Abbey, a 900-year-old Benedictine monastery featuring Austria’s finest Italian baroque architecture and walk through the town.

Melk has played an important role in the Danube region since Roman times, when a fortress was built on the promontory overlooking a tiny "arm" of the Danube. Melk also appears in the German epic poem Nibelungenlied, in which it is called "Medelike". The rock-strewn bluff where the abbey now stands was the seat of the Babenbergs, who ruled Austria from 976 until the Hapsburgs took over.

In the 11th century, Leopold II of Babenberg presented the palace at Melk to Benedictine monks, who turned it into a fortified abbey. Its influence and reputation as a center of learning and culture spread throughout Austria, as reflected in Umberto Eco's popular novel The Name of the Rose. Eco researched his novel in the abbey's library. For more on the Abbey go to: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/melk-abbey.htm

Melk Abbey suffered damaged during the Reformation and the 1683 Turkish invasion, but it was spared direct attack when the Ottoman armies were halted outside Vienna. Reconstruction of the abbey began in 1702 in full Baroque style and was completed in 1736. The abbey church was damaged by fire in 1947, but is now almost completely restored.

After touring the Abbey, we walked back to town along a gravel stairways and small alleys. It is a very nice town and the central pedestrian only shopping district was, like many we have been to, is set up for residents as well as tourists. We made a stop at a great little pottery shop where we bought several unique items.

Leaving the town of Melk we walked across the Iron Bridge and through the Princess Forest back to the river and our ship. Back on the river, the ship continued our cruise down river. Later that evening, we had our daily briefing then went in to the dining room where The girls had arranged for three other couples to join us for dinner to celebrate Tina’s and my 18th Anniversary. John and Cynthia from Sydney, Don and Ann from Kansas, and Rene and Claire from San Diego. Just before the first course, we were presented with a lovely framed watercolor from Rene. He had painted it during the stop at Nuremburg and had it framed and glassed especially for us. After dinner, the staff came out with a small chocolate cake with a fire cracker candle on it and sang “Happy Anniversary” to us.

Just after dinner we arrived at the town of Durstenburg, where we were to spend the night. At 9:00 PM we all joined our Activities Director, Marcus, for a walk and talk about town. Even though the sun had gone down there were plenty of flashlights and street lamps. We walked up into town with several stops for a brief talk on the history of the area including a stop at the local cemetery. This is a very small plot of land in the center of town. Since there is always people dying and needing to be buried, the plots are recycled with the bones of prior residents being added to the bone pile. From there we continued back to the river and along the quay to the base of the town church which is painted a stunning blue with white accents well lit up. Looking up at the spire you could see the castle ruin, also lit up, on the hill above town. It was all very pretty.

Returning to the ship, we all retired for the night.

To see all our photos go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski