A humbling experience.
We disgorged early to catch a bus up to the Melk Abbey, a working, living breathing place of some significance, Still a general education school for 900 day pupils it has 100 regular teaching staff plus church officials, a culture and tourism enterprise very well run, and a priesthood of some 18 who reach out into the local area with their efforts.
Sadly we were unable to take photos inside, so can't visually share the splendour and intrigues but suffice to say it was a good tour covering all aspects of the abbey's life for almost 1000 years, many interesting relics, books and other items (such as a reusable coffin) the most stunning library and other halls, and a glorious balcony view over the Danube.
Finally there’s the cathedral wich is just beautiful and magnificently kept, providing pastoral care for the many residents of the area.
As we were leaving the abbey we passed though the cathedral and we enjoyed the end of Mass quite by accident, it was a moving experience and one we were happy to share with just a few of the others on our tour, the rest having wandered off by then!
Our plan for today was to do the cycle tour that was on offer - but not by bike - just Shank’s Pony as usual and right after the abbey we walked down through the town and headed off in the right direction to take the left bank of the magnificent (but definitely not blue) Danube towards Dürnstein.
Its a path of 32 km or so, one we’ve heard about repeatedly as the boat provides a tour for people to take on bicycle, which they had plenty sign up for, in fact so many there was quite a waiting list for the 23 places available. The four Kiwi sisters who we talk to regularly were told it was too difficult for them. More on that later.
Soon into our journey we repeatedly saw police riders, wondering what was going on we soon came across a batch of cyclists going by, it turns out it was a major road race, fortunately only effecting us for a few miles. We turned off that road but not before seeing many hundreds of cyclists go by - no idea what proportion of the total that was, however two hours later we occasionally saw a batch on the opposite bank so presumably it was many thousands.
By this time we'd crossed the Danube and our route was left-bank all the way. After a few more miles we arrived in Bad Aggsbach where we decided it should be lunch-time. We found the only cafe, and had pizza and bier or two - very nice, and watched as our boat chugged by.
Back to the cycle path, we continued northwards, enjoying the tiny little towns, hamlets and dotted churches on the route.
Quite apart from these little divertissements the main order of the day is the Wachau Valley, one of Austria's most famous growing regions, where vines, apricots and other fruits flourish in the perfect conditions, meaning there were associated wineries, liquor, fruit and jams available everywhere. How did we resist?
Much later on we saw the cyclists of the Scenic boat parked next to us, numbering 40+, and a few minutes after, our unruly mob, passing by. We gave them encouragement and they were cheering for us too! Interestingly around 6 people had dropped out early on, so the sisters were rightly aggrieved they had not been able to take the tour.
Because of lunch and the many distractions we were later arriving in Dürnstein than planned and didn't have time to go up to the C12 Schloss to see the ruins of where Richard the Lionheart was briefly and illegally incarcerated, but one can't have everything on a river timetable! Interesting note - the ransom paid was described as 1/3 of England's wealth at the time and also at approx 3 x GDP - both scary numbers.
Tonight was the crew show - the opportunity for all those who serve us and otherwise make things tick to have a great night and provide cost-free entertainment. Joking aside it's a great cruising institution we have seen so very many times over the years and attending is one of our ways of showing our appreciation to the staff. On the agenda compered by an Indian were regional dance from Slovakia, song from Indonesia, comic sketches from Canada and Italy plus ensembles from a bran-tub of places. Great fun well received by all, and our second humbling experience of the day.
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