This morning was scenic cruising through the Wachau Valley - and what beautiful country it is. Ivan, our tour director, gave a talk this morning as we sailed through explaining what we would see including churches, castles, the nose, the Devil's wall, and, did I mention, churches and castles?
I'm not going to pretend .. it was quiet cool up on deck, even with my puffer jacket on, so when they came around offering apricot schnapps, I gratefully accepted. It was my first apricot schnapps and one of the other passengers mentioned how well it went with my jacket, and offered to take a photo for/of me.
Our port tour this afternoon was of the Melk Abbey. It was a bit of a challenge getting there - we had to go up on to our boat's sunroof and then down to get past the boat between us and the shore. Access was easier at the Abbey - there was an elevator from the upper level (where the bus pulled in) to the main entrance.
The Abbey was beautiful but no photography was allowed so I resorted to making physical notes to at least try to remembrer some of what we saw. I managed to jot down a few things on my ticket and hopefully I will be able to read it back.
I saw my first illuminated manuscript and a small prayer book where the words were represented by their initials. I imagine this could have presented an issue for people who couldn't read but it was probably more of an aide memoire. Also on display, a reusable coffin (dating back to 1784) - introduced as an economy measure. It was designed so a lever on the front was pulled and the bottom opened up, dropping the body into the ground. The idea lasted for about 6 months before it lost any favour it had to start with.
They had a video of the Melk Cross - which looked totatlly fascinating. The real one has jewels on the front, which, when turned to the correct orientation, open to reveal the hidden compartment which contains a fragment of Christ's cross. As I understood from our guide, relics were used by the Church as a way of differentiating them from Protestanism at some point (I couldn't find the date in my notes). Others at the Abbey included a pig's rib - but that wasn't a real 'relic',
Also seen at the Abbey - the library with thousands of books, one 1200 years old on astronomy and herbal medicine. The library is a 'working' library with four librarians and available for research several days a week. Thus far, nearly a quarter of the collection has been digitised. I'm not sure how folk get on with reading the books that are in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and High German.
On our way out of the Abbey, we noticed some women wearing similar outfits which we thought might have been some kind of traditional dress - blouse, heavy pleated skirt and apron. As I now know, that is traditional Austrian dress - and the women were from Bavarian and were part of a currently-on-tour dancing group with their husbands. The husbands wear lederhosen for their performances.
After the Abbey, we all boarded our buses for the drive back to the boat which had moved from Melk to Ybbs. I'm glad I had been on the FB groups for River touring because I have an idea of different things that might happen - including times when we disembark at one spot and then have to get back on the boat somewhere else.
Where is Milos? I had only just learned to trounce his nane confidently and now we haven't seen him for a bit. The staff on board are good - attentive, just the right amount of playfulness. One conjured a small bottle of ketchup from a napkin for me at dinner last night.