Austrian Magnificence

 Imagine waking up to see this site: 

I had been SO excited to capture this photo from the cabin, only to learn that we would be stopping there, by bus, first thing after breakfast.   The plan was that we would disembark for the bus, and the ship would travel north without us, meeting us at our next destination.  How clever is that? 

I was able to capture a couple of photos from the bus along the way.

It only took about 10 minutes for us to make the drive to Durnstein, where this beautiful church stands.  And, what is very interesting is that there didn't seem to be a way to capture a photo of the church from the village as it is nestled at the foot of a sloped hill. 

This is Durnstein, a small village along the Danube, that is known for wine making, as well as the production of Apricots.

Our tour guide was extremely entertaining and had to keep to a strict schedule as we had an appointment to tour Melk Abbey and it apparently is crucial to stay on schedule due to the policy of the Abbey.  So we really had only a very short time to absorb the beauty of our surrounds. 

We climbed a pretty steep stone walkway to make our way up to the main street.  Apparently 279 people live in this charming village. Our guide told us that in the summer months, there could be 15,000 visitors in one day as it is obviously a tour destination visit. 

The village is surrounded by rows and rows of grapes that seem to climb endlessly up the cliffs

There are walls at the base of the town.  They served different purposes over the years, acting originally as defensive positions, and when the need for that was no longer, it became used as a convent among other things. 

This town is simply charming and walking along the cobblestone streets was a delight.  I imagine it would not be as delightful if those scads of tourists were attempting to squeeze onto the streets.  We were fortunate that only about a third of the ship had decided to take our tour, about 48 people.

There appears to be only one main street, but charming sites to be seen while strolling along it. 

There was a castle ruins up on the hill but we would never have had the time to climb to the top for a visit, as we had 10 free minutes after the tour, which gave us just enough time for a few photos before scrambling back down the hill to the bus park.  The castle was built in the 12th century and has a history of imprisoning Richard the Lionhearted for two years in 1192 and 1193.  It was destroyed by the Swedes in the 30 years war and has stood untouched since. 

From here we drove about 45 minutes to the town of Melk where a stunning Benedictine Abbey stands. 

This Baroque style complex has been here on the outskirts of Melk for over 900 years.  There are about 29 present day  monks who continue to live on one of the wings, ranging in age from 25 to 95. 

No interior photos were permitted.  The one long wing of the abbey is set up for tours, with interesting artifacts among the rooms.  This same wing was the official residence of Queen Victoria when she would come to visit the area and I was quite surprised to see how large the bedrooms were along this one very long hall. 

The abbey holds a large library that is presently under renovation.  The old, valuable, books are being carefully digitized to preserve the contents, to safeguard the contents from any future loss.  

In the library stands a huge globe, about 4 feet in diameter.  It was made in 1620 and has an amazingly accurate representation of the world, particularly of North America that we could see.  It was noted that California looks like it has broken away from the continent, and most of Quebec was missing, but the general figure looked very much like what we would expect to see on a present day globe.  Personally, I find that fascinating.

In the back of the complex stands the church. 

The interior is quite ornate and very overwhelming.  There appears to be a substantial amount of gold, but it turns out that only 8 pounds of the precious metal was used as gilding over wood was used to create the glorious beauty.  I had seen that in St. Petersburg palaces when we visited.  

Outside the church is a courtyard that offers a view of the river. 

And there are substantial gardens that one could visit if one had time.

Unfortunately, we were stressed for time once again and unless we sprinted, there was no way we would have been ever to view them.  We walked briefly to explore, but the grounds near the entrance looked like a forested maze and we were concerned that we'd get lost and miss our transfer. 

Back on the ship, we once again traveled along the Danube enjoying the lovely views.

We docked in Grein where a lovely castle stands upon the hill.

We had an excursion to the castle, so we headed up to the base, and climbed up the 120 steps to the entranceway. 

It was built in the late 1488 and is considered to be the oldest residential castle in Austria.  The owners have direct ties to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.   The present day owner decided to open it up for tours so that the people could see the splendor of the interior. 

One of the rooms has this unique diamond shaped pattern for the ceiling.   

There was a "grotto" among the rooms, which offered cool relief.  I've never seen anything like it.  We walked inside and were stunned by the details. 

Everyone of the stones came from the Danube.  The grey and white are natural colors, and the red, black, yellow and green are painted.   It was a visionary delight!

There is a full sized altar off a large hall, with doors that can close in front. 

It featured a carving of the nativity in the center. 

Each of the rooms had one of these ceramic heating stoves tucked in the corner, or standing along the wall.  We had seen these unique heating devices when we visited many years ago.  I found them fascinating and quite beautiful. 

The tour was rather extensive, and Marty and I really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we made the trip back down the 120 steps, stopping to take this photo along the way.  

Isn't it stunning?

Once again, we had no time to explore the town as I had scheduled the special "Chef's" dinner for the evening.  But, no worries...we enjoyed several courses picked by the chef, each with complimentary wine to enhance the experience.  

Dinner took over two hours!  And we certainly had a grand time enjoying it.   (We had a record number of utensils to choose from when we sat down.  I told Marty that I needed Carson from Downton Abbey to instruct me on what to use when.  I went with the "start from the outside and work your way in" suggestion.  But there were two across the top!  No worries... the staff just comes and moves them around anyway.) 

Until next time....  

Meandering Through Vienna

Yesterday we ported in Vienna.  Here is the view from the cabin.

On the trip through the night, I had awoken to what I thought was the cabin deck lights shining in my eyes.  I was a bit confuses as to why they would be on, and when I looked through the glass door, I realized that I was peering at a concrete wall.  A quick step out on the deck showed another ship coming in to squeeze next to us to complete the transition at the lock.  Pretty fascinating stuff, if you ask me. 

A couple of hours later, we were docked at the port, ready to head out on our daily adventure. 

Our excursion took us to the streets of Vienna where we learned, once again, some of the history of this city while on a guided walking tour.  Afterwards, we had free time to ourselves.  We opted to forgo lunch on the boat to see some of the sites of interest to us that we had not seen in our past visit. 

Our walk took us past the famous stallions.  Marty was able to catch a photo of one from his zoom camera as we weren't permitted anywhere near them, which certainly makes sense.  The streets were very crowded and I'm sure these horses don't need tourists in their face. 

Our free time took us past the plague memorial.  I had mentioned in the past that most of the towns in Europe in this area had one erected to thank God for surviving the plague.  Vienna was no different. 

We decided to explore the Kunsthistorisches Museum which is the museum of art history. 

As you can see, it's a fairly substantial building.  

The interior was filled with room upon room of artifacts.  I am obviously only going to feature a few that caught my eye. 

This is a late 15th century bust of St. Catherine

This gem from the 16th century has an internal mechanism that triggers her playing her instrument while turning her head from side to side.  I was surprised to see something so intricate from that time period.

Each of the ceilings were decorating similar to stately homes that we've toured in the past. 

I loved the beautiful colors in this one.

Among the collections in this room were clocks of just about any size and shape, mostly made from precious materials. 

These tankards were amusing

particularly the one that looks like a praying monk.  Beneath that head was something tastefully delightful. 

By now, we had examined quite a number of items and decided it was time to go out and explore more. 

Walking along, we passed this statue of Mozart in the park.  I thought the floral Treble clef was quite creative.  It was beginning to drizzle, but that wasn't really an issue. 

We  decided that it was the perfect time to to stop in the cafe on the bottom floor of the opera house.  It felt great to rest my feet, and, of course, order a specialty cake.  My choice did not disappoint. 

Refueled, we headed to the Vienna City Museum. It's a free venue that opened in 2023.  Among the many artifacts and displays, it has two different dioramas of Venice.  This one shows the city as it would have appeared in 1852.  In the center one can see the beautiful St. Stephen's Basilica. 

Interestingly enough, the basilica still stands, but is surrounded by high buildings which hide it until one is standing at its base.  

The Vienna Museum was quite interesting as it explained the history from its inception.  It gave details of the Roman occupation, and how the city changed hands over time.   

The displays were easy to read and I found to be quite valuable in understanding what happened when, all to present day. 

I noticed quite a few religious icons in the early collections, and they indicated that they were from St. Stephen's Basilica.   

Here is a painting of St. George from 1480.

This fresco was painted around 1404 and is believed to have a connection to the Scala Family who had fled to Vienna.

This is an even earlier group of statues, dating from 1380 which represents the Epiphany. 

Here are 15 century shields and helmets that would have been carried ruing funeral ceremonies. 

I was confused as to why there were so many artifacts from St. Stephen's Basilica.  But then I read that they had been removed in order to preserve them.  Replicas now stand in their place in the basilica. 

It wouldn't be a Vienna Museum without a painting of Maria Theresia.  She was the mother of 16 children.  This painting includes a painting of her first born Joseph in the top emblem.  It was painted in 1744. 

Moving through time, we see Francis

and his wife Sisi.  They were married when she was just 15 years old.

This painting from 1900 is entitled The Old and New Gas Lighting, from 1900.

It was commissioned to celebrate the municipal takeover of Vienna's gas supply.  It features dark days on the left, and bright modern streetlights on the right. 

Moving forward in time, one can see the obvious discrimination of the Jewish population beginning in 1939.  Jewish assets were seized by the Office of Property Transactions.  Firms were ordered to be liquidated.  One man, Hans Grunsfeld had his shop seized.  He was one of 653 watch and jewelry stores that were ordered to be closed in the city. 

These Jewish families could not just leave Nazi Germany without securing an entry visa into another country.  The United States insisted that the person entering would not impose a burden on the country.  They needed a family member in the US to vouch for them. 

Finally, I took a photo of this building, thinking it was an innocent looking hotel. 

Reading through the information, I soon learned that Hotel Metropole, was the infamous headquarters of the Gestapo.  Jews were regularly rounded up and shot right up until the city's liberation.  

We decided at this point that it was time to make our way back to the ship.    We passed some lovely tulips in bloom along the way.

I will admit that the transition home wasn't as clear as what we had expected.  And, we weren't alone in our confusion.  But all ended well, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner with fellow cruise members.  In fact, we were having so much fun, we had to be asked to leave the restaurant! 

We have a big day planned for tomorrow.  I'll be sure to keep you posted!