We took another day trip from Vienna, a combined train/river cruise to Melk and Krems. It starts with a 3 hour train ride to Melk, where we visited Melk Abbey. We had to take a cab to the Abbey and did a self tour.
The Abbey has been occupied by Benedictine Monks for over a thousand years. This large complex sits high upon a hill overlooking the Danube River, the town of Melk and the surrounding farm areas.
The library was
amazing! Smaller shelf supports were covered to appear to be leather
bound book spines. The room was full of beautiful books and artifacts. The high ceiling had a wonderful mural. It included blue skies, white puffy clouds and angels, so that you felt like you were entering library heaven. No
pictures, even without flash were permitted but we borrowed this picture from another site. 
It's said that they sold their Gutenberg Bible to pay
for the Abbey's restoration, even so, they still own several priceless Bibles and a copy of
the Quran from the 1600's. It must take a lot of resources to keep a complex this large and beautiful maintained and working well.
These are the pews in the church. You can't tell very well from this picture, but they are not just flat wood with some carving. The bottom third is thicker than the top. We enjoy the ornateness of even the simple portions of the churches we visit.
The Chapel was absolutely breathtaking, it is Baroque style. Lots of marble, gold & wonderful paintings. They were playing the pipe organ when we were in the church. It was very enjoyable.
This is inside of the cupola. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the beautiful paintings.
This is from the bottom of one of the winding staircases looking up.
We always enjoy taking pictures of ceilings, floors & stairways. This was a wonderful place to get great pictures.
We went up on a nearby building for panoramic view of part of the complex and the surrounding town of Melk.The sky was blue, but there was a bit of haze in the air. The temperature was a bit cool. Very pleasant for us!
We walked down to town and had lunch at
a outdoor cafe. The first picture, at the top of this blog entry, was taken from the cafe. After we stuffed ourselves on weiner schnitzel, we on to a short cruise on the Danube through the Wachau valley to Krems.
The river cruise was nice and picturesque, not as awe inspiring as we had expected but really nice. Initially it was crowded
but since we were on the top deck people got cold and went downstairs and
inside where it was warm. We just sat in the sun like lizards and enjoyed the view.
The Wachau is a historical area with castles perched high above the Danube, hotels and homes along the banks. The mountainsides are lined with vineyards. Lots of beautiful green crops for us to enjoy!
For Elizabeth, it was a little like seeing a book come to life. Two of the books from The Clan of the Cave Bear series were partially set in this area. She really enjoyed seeing it and remembering the stories that she had read.
From the cruise dock it was along walk to the "old town" in picturesque Krems. Once
inside the walled city we sat and drank a coke resting our feet. Refreshed, we walked through a tourist
shopping area, then on to the train station for the trip back to Vienna. We grabbed a cab back to Stephansplatz stopping at a local grocery store for ham, sliced cheese, crusty roll and croissant for supper. YUM! We had a pleasant meal, eaten outside on our private balcony under the stars.
TJ & EA on the Danube in the Wachau valley of Austria
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