20240818 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 17/27 - Melk, Austria

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 17/27 - Melk, Austria

This morning was a cruising morning. We sailed through Austria's Wachau Valley.

Dürnstein Abbey

We saw a lot of tiered gardens

Parish church of Weissenkirchen

They told us that there is a legend of a giant buried along the Danube. I don't know if it is true, but we saw his nose.

St. Michael's Church

Hinterhaus castle ruins

This is a larger replica of Venus of Willendorf. The original is only 11cm tall. The original was carved around 27,500 BC and is the oldest statue found in Austria.

Wachau Goddess

Aggstein Castle

Around noon, we docked in Melk for our excursion to Melk Abbey. Everyone disembarked and the Lofn sailed away. We would meet here a little farther up the Danube.

Approaching Melk Abbey

Stift Melk, or Melk Abbey is a working Benedictine abbey. Built in 1089, the abbey has continuously housed monks in its baroque walls. The abbey is home to 21 Benedictine monks who range in age from 20s to mid-90s. It has nearly 500 rooms, seven courtyards, and 5.7 acres of roof.

Entering the Abbey

The architecture is impressive and the building is massive

Another courtyard

The entry stairs to the museum in the abbey

For me, this is where the tour came off the rails. They ban all forms of photography and videography inside the buildings. It was a shame as the museum had many really interesting items and the cathedral was spectacular.  If you read this blog, you know that photography is important to me and that I use it to capture memories. Establishments that refuse to allow it, in my not-so-humble opinion, are backward and I don't care to visit them. So...the inside was lovely - use your imagination.

We thought these paintings in the courtyard were interesting.

We strolled through the gardens - there wasn't a lot to see.

St. Nicholas Church in Emmersdorf in the distance

A fun fountain

We hopped the bus to meet our ship in Ybbs, a few miles farther up the river.

That's a big propeller

At the port in Ybbs

Right after boarding, the skies unloaded and the rain poured down. We entered a lock but it was raining so hard, I wasn't about to go outside and get photos. Still, all this rain means that low river conditions shouldn't be a problem for the rest of this cruise.

Eventually, the rain subsided and we were treated to this spectacular rainbow for our troubles.

After dinner tonight, Program Director, Ivan, held a movie trivia night. He asked ten questions each about movie trivia, movie music, movie posters, and movie quotes. We joined two couples from Wisconsin and pulled out the win with 36/40 points.

Team "Travelers" - Garry, Arlona, Ann, Pat, Katie, Mark

Tomorrow, we will dock in Passau, Germany but spend the day in Salzburg, Austria. It will be a long day tomorrow. The hot spell has ended and tomorrow is supposed to be in the high 60s - quite the change from triple digits last week.