Day 5 Durnstein

Today after sailing down the Danube overnight, we pulled onto a quaint little town called Durnstein which is situated in the Wachau Valley in Austria.

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.

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One of the features in the very well manicured garden. We also saw a wisteria alley, and the fragrance was spectacular. You would need much more time than we had here to explore all the gardens.

View from back of palace showing some of the gardens. The flowers were just finishing and the gardeners were busy re marking new beds. The tulips were a feature.

Taxi anyone...

Ruth and Carol outside the Opera House

Inside St Stephen's cathedral......

Day 4 Vienna

Vienna the capital of Austria and the home of the arts. Strauss and Mozart are mentioned in every second sentence as they spent much time living and composing in this city.

Graeme and I went on the city tour....to visit the famous St Peter's cathedral in the centre of the medieval section of the city. The cobblestone roads and wonderful architecture was but again just a glimpse of the elegance and grandeur of this city. We concluded our tour at a typical Viennese coffee house for coffee and cake. We were told they make cakes that have no calories....'holiday cakes'.....if you believe!!!!!

Ruth and Kevin went to visit the Schonbrunn Palace. The palace home of Maria Theresia who ruled Austria for 40 years. She had 16 children. The palace is palatial, the gardens well manicured. Andre Rieu performed here,and so I will re watch with new eyes. Maria'a daughter Maria Antionette was beheaded in the French revolution. So much history in these countries.

We then had the afternoon together to explore some of the city alone. Graeme decided to test our patience when he assured us he knew the way back to the shuttle bus pick up point....we saw more of the city than we planned. All well in the end, we got back and Graeme needed to remind us he knew where he was all along!

In the evening we went to a concert in the beautiful Auersperg Palace where the orchestra in residence entertained us with pieces of Mozart and Strauss. What a fitting way to finish the day and our stay in Vienna.

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