Melk, Day 7

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We woke this morning in Melk, site of the Benedictine Abbey. Melk lies next to the Wauchau valley, one of the loveliest stretches of land along the Danube. After breakfast we boarded our bus fot the short ride to the entrance to this beautiful Abbey. The Abbey was originally a palace and is a golden color and sits on a hill at the entrance of the valley. We visited several rooms including the library with some 80,000 volumes of priceless works. After our tour we checked out the gardens which had a beautiful view but I didn't see many flowers. It had a lovely fountain. I would have liked to spend more time here, but we had to get back to the bus on time so we could set sail for Vienna where some of us had tickets to a classical concert in Vienna.

Once back on the ship, we set sail for scenic sailing through the Wachau Valley with commentary by Soma. We passed mountainous regions with small villages, churches, and castles. It truly was breathtaking. It was about a 40-mile stretch and once we were finished we went back down below for lunch. We have a nice group of people on this tour and we have enjoyed getting to know them.

This afternoon there was an apple strudel demonstration and later a talk about the Habsburg Dynasty, but we stayed in our cabin, me to take a nap and John to read.

We had a little early dinner tonight so we could go to our classical concert which featured Mozart and Strauss, two of Vienna's most famous citizens.

I have not been able to upload any pictures because the Internet is spotty at best. I have been posting pictures on Facebook when able.

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