The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

Or they have been since we arrived back in Austria.  Today we visited Melk and Durnstein in the Wachau Valley region of Austria.  The scenery is stunning with mountains, greenery, blossoms starting to bloom on the trees, the wineries, the castles and colourful houses.  It is totally right out of The Sound of Music so Robert keeps playing Edelweiss and Doe-a-Deer on his phone as we wander the forests and hills of the region.

Our first stop this morning was Melk, which has been home to the renowned Benedictine Abbey since 1736.  The monastic community of Melk is over 900 years old.   Before that, it was a palace.  It was stunning and full of some amazing artifacts.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and was quite funny at times but he provided us with way too much information for my brain to absorb.  After having 2 guided tours in the past couple of days, I've decided I much prefer Tanya's tour guiding; she tells us the things we want to know, makes up stories when she doesn't know the answer (she had Robert convinced that one of the churches we saw in Vienna was built by Captain Von Trapp's brother who became a priest so that he didn't have to come out to his family), and otherwise just happily babbles away.  We were disappointed that we were not allowed to take photos inside the Abbey as there were some stunning rooms (I may have actually drooled in the library).

After the tour, Robert and I explored the little town and had a look in some of the cute shops before heading back to our ship.

After lunch, the ambitious group headed out on bicycles to bike from Melk to our next stop, Durnstein, but Robert and I chose to admire the gorgeous scenery from the Sky Deck.  We biked Mackinaw Island a couple of years ago to fulfill one of the items on my mother's bucket list and my butt is just now recovering!  The funny thing is, when Robert started talking about taking a river cruise, he was looking at the Viking River Cruises.  With his accent, though, I thought he told me he wanted to do a "Biking Cruise" from Budapest to Vienna and I thought he had lost his mind; there was no way I was going to ride a bicycle from Budapest to Vienna.

Apparently the currents were strong so we arrived in Durnstein earlier than expected.  I had told Robert I wanted to climb up to the ruins of Kuenringerburg Castle.  It was in this fortress that Richard the Lionheart was secretly imprisoned during the Third Crusade.  When he was eventually released, his ransom was no less than a third of England's whole wealth!

It was a steep climb to 1,024 feet above sea level but it was so worth it for the amazing views.  We climbed up the main pathway but on our return to town, we scrambled down the well-worn cobblestoned steps, not an easy task for someone who tends to be clumsy and is terrified of heights.  There were no guard rails or trees positioned well to use for assistance.  I knew I should have bought a set of hiking poles like all the Austrians use for all their walks!  But you should all be happy to learn that we both survived and Robert, who was questioning my desire to do the walk and wishing for the 'gentle walkers' option partway up, was also smiling and proud of our accomplishment upon our return to the boat.

Tonight was our farewell dinner.  We were joined by a nice elderly couple from Montreal who sat at the far end of our table a couple of nights ago.  Robert was happy to order lobster as a bonus tonight and the baked Alaska parade is always great fun.  We then danced a bit in the lounge and I  am pretty sure there was a man taking pics of us ...

Tomorrow we return to Tanya and Markus for another 2 nights before our return home and a giant jolt into reality....a few extra feet of reality by the sounds of it...