It was midnight when we slipped our moorings in Vienna and departed on the next leg of our journey.
Only the empty deck chairs were there to acknowledge the bridges as we silently passed under.
Day 6, Thursday, July 20
The stretch of the Danube between Krems and Melk known as the “Wachau” is possibly the loveliest valley along the entire length of this majestic river. Both banks are dotted with ruined castles and medieval towns.
The agenda for Daisy and me that day included cruising up the Danube in the morning, an excursion to the Melk Abby in the early afternoon, then some more cruising. The evening before the ship’s program director announced that she would give a running commentary all day from the sundeck on the sights that we would see as we cruised the next day. It was a wonderful combination of leisure, history, and beautiful sights on a sunny day, while leaving the driving to someone else.
Austria’s Wachau Valley of the Danube features an 18-mile stretch that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The prolific grapevines and quaint villages are the legacy of vintners stretching as far back as Celtic and Roman times.
We observed these land and water sites as we glided up the Danube.
The fortified church in Weissenkirchen is an indication that the Wachau Valley was not such a peaceful place during the Middle Ages. Local disputes and later threats of attack by the Ottoman army meant that towns lacking a castle needed a well-defended place of refuge. Weissenkirchen is regarded by many as the prettiest wine village in the Wachau. Notice the grey fortified walls surrounding the upper steeple of the church.
Of course Daisy and I were interested in seeing RV campgrounds along the river. They reminded us of our truck camping adventures. For this trip, however, we were glad to be pampered and leave the driving and cooking to others.
Another impressive fortified church, Sankt Michael Parish Church, has an interesting story. Once upon a time in a previous century, there was a very heavy early snowfall, which filled the narrow space between the church and the mountain behind it. During the night, 7 rabbits ran across the snow to the roof of the church to take refuge. The next day was warm, and the snow melted quickly, which left the rabbits stranded on the roof.
Notice the roof ridge!
The villagers decided to memorialize the event by having small metal sculptures of 7 rabbits mounted on the ridge of the roof. This photo of 4 of the sculptures shows that they were strange looking rabbits (almost more like horses!), and that the years of wear have left some with missing features.
On the mountainside above the village of Spitz is the ruined fortress of Burg Hinterhaus.
Many legends revolve around the Ruins of Hinterhaus, which is still haunted today, when the spirit of the late Adelheid, wife of Henry the Lion, appears. Henry the Lion it seems avoided custom and married a new wife shortly after Adelheid’s death, not allowing a year of mourning to be observed. He died shortly thereafter, and many saw it as a punishment for his shameful behavior. Every year, on the day of her husband 's death, legend has it that Adelheid appears and walks the ramparts.
Each flat bend of the river houses villages and the steep hills have evidence of fortifications conquered and abandoned.
Schonbuhel Castle has ancient walls housing a Baroque palace with a distinctive “onion” tower. It dates from the 12th century and is built on the fortifications of an earlier Roman fortification. It is said that this fortress was never taken by force but did fall at times to siege and starvation.
It was a great day to sightsee and enjoy the company of new friends. In between commentary and small talk was an opportune time for private meditation on the wonders that I had beheld.
Of course there were campers and boaters enjoying the day as well. The developed campgrounds that we could observe from the ship had occupied sites in which large tents with multiple rooms were often pitched. Even the RVs (called caravans in Europe), had roomy tents attached to them. My guess is that large family-style groups and family outings were the norm that day. Inboard and outboard boats occupied the bays off of the river, along with numerous personal craft such as kayaks and 2 to 3 person rowing skiffs. Swimming, fishing and sunbathing activities were the norm.
Our next port of call was the town of Melk and its famous Abbey.
Melk, Austria – a picturesque history with a very dark blemish in its recent past.
We approached our docking spot, and it was occupied by a sister ship! No problem. We’ll just tie up to her!
Rail to rail berthing.
Melk’s Benedictine Abbey is an active 900-year-old abbey and one of the most impressive sights of lower Austria. The Melk and Pielach Rivers join the Danube here, and the Romans built a fortress at this strategically important site 2,000 years ago. By about 950, a small castle overlooked the valley, and Duke Leopold III later gave it to the Benedictine monks, who converted it to a fortified abbey. The monastery was badly damaged by Turkish troops, then rebuilt on a grand scale, completed in 1746. The photo above shows only a portion of the huge structure that was originally a palace.
We bused it from the dock to the Abbey.
We had the opportunity to walk down to the dock through the town if we chose after the Abbey tour.
Photography was prohibited inside the very elaborate rooms of the Abbey, so a friend took this photo of Daisy and me on one of the terraces. With this photo you can get an idea of the ornate Baroque features of the exterior, and the interior décor with its magnificent frescoes were even more opulent. The wing just behind our heads is a library with over 80,000 books, many of which are priceless and used by the black-robed monks for theological study.
We thought this was a dramatic view from the Abbey terrace of the village of Melk, which has about 5200 people. Like every town, there was a church and houses of many colors with steep roofs. The fields of crops outside the town and the mountains in the background are typical of this area of Austria.
It was a very hot day. We were dragging after the tour and decided to ride the bus back to the dock and forego the long walk through town to the port. Now I wish we had taken the walk. This town known for its Abbey was also the site of a concentration camp during WWII. Its crematorium is now a museum, and we would like to have seen it. We were back on the water in the late afternoon.
Our day was not over yet and we had a few more river miles to travel before our scheduled docking port in Passau, Germany. We passed more unique scenery as we headed up the Danube.
Look closely at the picture on the right.
Another small village church below had an onion top indicating its lineage.
Next we approached a double lock structure. Both gates were closed, but in front of one gate was a surface turbulence indicating that it was opening.
Then I realized that our ship’s Captain had pulled to one side to allow what was in the gate to exit. It was a tug attached side-by-side to a barge exiting the lock. We entered as they left.
We entered the lock and took this picture before the rear door closed. Notice the putting green and herb garden used for the kitchen.
The water level rose and…
We soon exited the lock at the higher level headed to a docking at Passau. We had a port talk scheduled to find out about the next day's excursions and events. Dinner was scheduled for 7:00 pm and there was evening entertainment at 9:15 pm. Tomorrow would be another special day for us, as we were meeting old friends who live in Austria.
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