October 14, 2015
This is first day in Austria. At 7 C and rain during the
night, and more predicted for the day, were docked at Emmersdorf, Austria, by 7
a.m., to see the Melk Abbey excursion later in the morning. Emmersdorf is the
town right across the river from Melk. We
picked up our excursion number and guest pass, the night before, since there
were to departures 9:15 and 9:45.
We sat with two sisters and two American couples for breakfast. When we returned to the cabin to get ready
for the day, we watched the river. There was a Viking ship, Legend, on the
other side and another river cruiser.
Then we watched as the shell of the Avalon Passion passed powered by a
barge, since there was not even a navigational wheel house visible nor any
doors or windows in the shell.
The announcement for the walking tour came at 9 (15
minutes before leaving time), so we gathered our receivers, cameras, sweaters,
gloves and rain suits. The groups were off on their tours by 9:15, just a 5 minute
drive to Melk Abbey. Some of our dinner companions were on the bus with us. The
temperature on the bus thermometer was 8 C.
It was a short walk, 76 steps down in a light rain to the outer
courtyard, where the garden was pointed out for viewing later. We proceeded into
the first inner courtyard and then into a second inner courtyard to join our guide,
Christina.
The abbey is also a private high school (gymnasium) with
900 pupils. The Babenberg family donated the fortified mansion to the
Benedictine monks in 1089, but kept part of it for visits. They also included
5,000 hectares of land in the donation. We climbed up the Imperial staircase
which had been included in an early 18th century Baroque style renovation
by Emperor Charles, father to Maria Theresa of Austria. There is a painting her and one of her
husband, Frances of Lorraine, at the top of the stairs. They and their entourage of over 299
courtiers were the first visitors to the renovated guest quarters at the
abbey. Her room was large and mainly pink
with a beautiful inlaid floor. We
started the tour in a blue lit room with lovely inlaid wooden floors, which
were a feature of the former guest rooms. These guest rooms each had a large
heater that was stoked with wood by servants from the door in the hallway that
gave access to the belly of the heater. We toured 6 more rooms including one
with a eight panel winged wooden alter from 1502 by Jorg Breu, from the abbey chapel. The largest room was the dining room that had
a large grated section in the middle that provided heat, from the fires below
(and smoke). The ceiling fresco was painted in 1731 and refurbished in the late
20th century. The last stop was two rooms, some of 12 libraries,
which house manuscripts and books from back to the 13th century. It
was floor to ceiling about 7 metre high shelving. These were the only rooms
were cameras were not allowed. Our tour ended and we browsed in the gift shop
before leaving to find the short cut staircase down to the town of Melk. We easily found the pedestrian street with
the shops and then wandered over to other streets finding a lovely park with a
pillar that had a thermometer (8 C), clock (11:34) and barometer enclosed in
it. We decided to go back up the 77
steps to the abbey parking lot to catch the noon ship shuttle. On the way we stopped at the abbey’s garden
and admired the late blooming roses in the English rose garden by the garden
pavilion. The garden pavilion is used for small performances and events and has
a beautiful fresco on its ceiling. There was also a lookout beside the pavilion
that had a great view of the valley below.
The bus back to the ship was only 35% full of people, who either visited
the town & climbed back to the abbey or people that had looked more closely
around the abbey. There were 10 other
buses waiting for passengers from other ships and tours. Steps 6,283.
At lunch there were a few occupied tables and we sat with
a retired couple from Arizona.
At 2, we cast off from Emmersdorf, for a couple of hours
cruising along the Danube in the Strudengau section of the Wachau Valley. There
was a little mist, which occasionally turned into light rain. There were many
vineyards on the steep slopes, many small
towns, some castles and old fortified churches, where people could shelter if
attached by an enemy. The Turks did
invade the area around the 1680s.
We stopped at
Krems about 4 pm. We had registered for a Winery visit and tasting to Winzer
Krem (winery). Others chose sightseeing in the town of Krems, as the ship is
not leaving until late this evening.
About 33 people went to Winzer Krem, we tasted three
white wines, Gurtztermeiner and two Reislings, since this is the region for the
grapes to make those wines and two reds, for which I don’t remember the names. We
saw the stainless steel storage tanks, the wine cellar for the old wines up to
45 years old and the oak barrels for aging some of the red wines as well as a
3D movie at how the grape grows and are harvested by hand due to the steepness
of the hills where they grow in the Wachau Valley. We returned to the ship by
6:30.
People gathered for the 6:45 briefing for Thursday’s
outings and learned there were several options, of which we chose the regular
one for the morning and have also registered for an afternoon tour to Schonbrunn
Palace, which was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. Also in the afternoon our dinner colleagues
from New York are going by subway with the chef to Vienna’s local market. Dinner is early, since most of the passengers
are attending the Mozart and Strauss concert and need to leave at 7:30.
Just before the dining room opened there was a photo
opportunity to take pictures on the crew dressed in Austrian costumes, posing
on the top to mid level staircase. Dinner
was served differently, buffet style, with tours of the small ship kitchen as
part of the experience. There was an Austrian two person band – accordion and
guitar - who serenaded people through dinner.
It was a very festive atmosphere. The chef showed our table group his
compact kitchen, where eight people prepare the meals every day. The elements on the range top are electric
induction, no flames and no burns from touching the elements. Three chefs were working hard, ring plates
with Viennese schnitzel, roasted chicken, roast pork and scalloped potatoes or
plates of sauerkraut, bratwurst and a different kind of Austrian sausage and
potato goulash. Four other sous chefs were assisting passengers with the
selections at the dining room buffet area. All these items were available at
the central buffet which also had a dessert bar with ice cream and sauces plus
tortes cut into the pieces. Beer was
passed to the guests that drank beer and wine was offered to others, or both.
After the main course the Maitre d’ and some of the waiters passed trays of Schnapps
– reduced alcohol apricot, raspberry and pear.
Most passengers preferred the mild flavor of the apricot Schnapps. Coffee
or tea ended the meal. We returned to
the stateroom to work on the slow upload of pictures to yesterday’s blog.
At 9, the pianist, Jerszoy was playing, in the lounge. Jerszoy
played for us Samba and Salsa that we requested, as well as other music. At
times, there were four couples dancing on the dance floor that is about 3.5
meters by 7 meters. We sat with some of dinner table mates. We chatted,
listened and danced to music for 30 minutes. Then left to finish today’s blog
and get to bed early in preparation for tomorrow’s busy day.
Final steps total = 14,041, about 13 km.
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