The little village, steeped in history was truly amazing as we wound our way round cobblestone streets, little alley's, and up and down rough stone steps. There was not a wasted inch of space. Gardens in pots, and any spare piece of dirt. The hillsides terraced and planted down with vines. The region famous for it's varied uses of apricots. Apricot licquer! Yum! Apricot schnapps... ,soaps,candles, you name it they have produced it. Seeing buildings built right up to the rocks in the hillside was quite amazing. The shops had beautiful national costumes for both male and female, the colours were wonderful. The nicknacks, hand made by the locals and the emphasis on beautiful Christmas decorations showed the passion the people have to showcase their region.
After yet another amazing meal the boys set off to bike ride 33km to Melk. Ruth and Carol set themselves on the top deck of the ship with books, iPad hats and water to enjoy the amazing scenery during the sail up the river to Melk. We experienced Melb weather with sunshine, grey clouds and finally rain. We saw the boys along the way and waved from the comfort of the ship.
We docked at Melk for 6 hours only. Enough time to visit the Melk Abbey before dinner. The Abbey is a working monastery with 39 monks living there. During our tour we could hear the monks singing in the chapel which was the 'icing on the cake' and completed the scene we were in. The Abbey also 'housed' a school for 900 students. It was a huge complex and well worth the visit.
Sent from my iPad
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