Melk & Durnstein
Our first day in Austria started with a fantastic morning in Melk.
Melk is a small city next to the Wachau Valley along the Danube; the name of Melk means “border” because it is the national line between Austria and Germany.
Our tour began with a walk around the town and a visit to the major attraction in Melk: the Melk Abbey. The Abbey, perched above the town on a hill overlooking the Danube, is an Austrian Benedictine Abbey and one of the world’s most famous monastic sides. It was founded in 1080, the year when Leopold II gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks.
The tour of the Abbey included the main publics rooms: a magnificent Library which is one of the most resplendent Baroque Library in Europe, with more than 90000 books, nearly 2000 manuscripts and a super ceiling fresco; the glorious spiral staircase; and, a highlight for some, we ended our tour with a private organ concert.
After the visit to Melk most returned to the ship where we would sail down river enjoying the beautiful Wachau Valley from the decks of the ship, as the ship sailed for Durnstein.
Yet another group of explorers decided to take a more adventurous route and traveled through the Wachau Valley on a fantastic bike ride, headed to Durnstein where we met the ship.
Durnstein is one of the most visited tourist destination in the Wachau region and also a well-known wine growing area. The grapes from the surrounding hills are harvested by volunteers from villages throughout the valley. For that reason, at the end of the afternoon we visited the wine cellar, Kloster Keller, for a delightful wine tasting.
At the end of the day, returning to our ship, we walked along the Danube with an amazing sunset and sharing the experiences of the day.
