I did the most touristy thing there is to do in the Wachau Valley today: I visited Melk Abbey. Melk Abbey is a Benedictine abbey founded in 1089 and is one of the most popular attractions in Austria.
It is about 18 miles from Dürnstein to Melk. Although the town of Melk is charming, it is the Abbey that has the most appeal. I followed the B3 south from Dürnstein along the Danube, stopping in the quaint village of Schwallenbach to take a few photos along the way.
When I arrived in Melk, I walked around the town for a little bit and marveled again at the unique character of these towns and villages in the Wachau Valley.
I headed up to the Abbey for the 10:55AM guided tour in English. I could have skipped the guided tour, as the guide was rather hard to understand and just rushed us through from one area to the next. There are several courtyards and fountains on the way in, and then you take the Imperial Staircase up to the museum, terrace (overlooking the town), library, and church. Sadly, no photos are allowed inside. After the tour, we arrived at the church just in time to hear the midday prayers at noon. I didn’t understand a word, but it was only about 15 minutes long and accompanied by beautiful organ music.
I headed to the Abbey gardens next, which the woman at the tourist office said I had to visit. There is a tiny café in the pavilion, and I grabbed a table outside to enjoy another eiskaffee (iced coffee).
I took some time to walk around the gardens for a while after my snack.
On the way back to Dürnstein, I made a stop at Spar to get another soda, a packaged vanilla latte in a cup (we’ll see how that is tomorrow morning), a package of Knorr pasta with prosciutto, and a packaged kaiserschmarrn mix to bring home. Then it was back to my hotel, where I edited pictures, drank a hard cider I had gotten at Spar the other day, and read on the balcony for a while.
I decided to go back to Alter Klosterkeller for dinner tonight, mostly because I enjoyed it so much when I ate there on Monday. It wasn’t the same as my visit the other day, when everything was new and I was in awe of my surroundings, but I had another excellent meal of Wiener Schnitzel and apricot strudel in the vineyard with a kaiserspritzer.
There is a sign in Dürnstein describing the Danube Promenade and the “Malerwinkel” (Painter’s Corner) as “places where the soul can breathe”. It’s one of those sentiments where you know exactly what it means when you feel it… and I felt that tonight walking back to my hotel along the Danube River and just enjoying the sense of place here.
Traveling with Laura 