Melk, Duernstein and the Wachau Valley

Melk Abbey

Today was a 2 port day.  We began by docking in Melk before sunrise this morning. At 8:15AM we were off for a tour of the Melk Benedictine Abbey.  This is a church, a school, and a place for 15 Mocks to live.  Another 15 monks are based here but are assigned to churches in the surrounding communities. The Abbey is very large, as our pictures just might hint. 

Melk Cross 1362

We began by touring a wing set aside as a museum.  Here we saw religious art, the Melk Cross containing a relic of the true cross, several impressive Monstrance, Chalices, and staffs.  After a few minutes on a veranda overlooking the town we entered the library. They have a large collection of antique books, many of which were hand copied by previous generations of monks.  No photos are allowed in the library and books must be read there - they cannot be taken out.

Inside Melk Abbey Church

From there we entered the church.  It is a very ornate Baroque church, with gold everywhere. There are paintings on the ceilings here, in the library, and in several other of the rooms.  The Benedictines take a vow of poverty, but they support the Abbey through forestry and tourism.


There was a wonderful old grandfather clock outside the gift shop.  I looked it up later and found it is called the Ischl Clock.  It was built about 1810 and is made of 10 different kinds of wood found around Bad Ischl - pear, walnut, oak, beech, linden, maple, ash, Scots pine, larch, and spindle tree.

Ischl Clock

After leaving the church we met some friends and decided to take the walk through town back to the ship instead of taking the bus.  This was a pleasant walk, although the first section consisted of many steps down the side of the hill.  The stairs were even and there was a good railing so it wasn't bad. Once in town we stopped for coffee and a little shopping before heading back to the ship.

Avalon Panorama docked in Melk on the Danube

Everyone was back on board for lunch as we shoved off to travel a little further up river to Duernstein. On the way we stood on the sun deck and took pictures as our cruise director narrated the sites of the Wachau valley.  We docked again about 2PM and most of the people on board went for a walking tour of Duernstein.  The last 2 days have been long ones and we got our walk in this morning, so we decided to stay on board this afternoon.  This is a pretty but very small town and we can see most of it from the ship anyway.

Church with Watchtower in the Wachau Valley

A few of our new friends on board went on a biking excursion along the Danube this afternoon.  There was a truck with a trailer full of bicycles waiting for them outside.   This is the second excursion of this type offered, but it came with a warning - if you haven't biked in a while, this isn't the time to start.  We accepted that warning.

Duernstein

Tonight there was a wine tasting during happy hour and I sampled three wines of the region.  They were very light, nice enough, but not enough body for my taste.  The dinner menu tonight included several local dishes, including a duck with orange sauce and an apricot dumpling for dessert. I tried both of these and they were quite good.  After dinner some members of the crew put on a show for us.  It was a lot of fun, with several interesting surprises.  They alternated between comedy, singing and one couple who did a tango.  I didn't have my camera, so no photos and it would take more than a paragraph to explain. 

The ship will be docked here until 11:15PM, then on to Vienna.