Today we are still in Austria and we actually have two ports of call, Durnstein. After grabbing some breakfast, we decided to walk into the town of Durnstein. The first thing I noticed was the vineyard that was just outside of where the ship was docked. It is a well known grape growing region.
It took us about ten minutes to get to the main part of town. The streets are made of cobblestone and the buildings are unique.. No cookie cutter houses here. Even though it was not quite 9:30am, some of the cute little tourist shops were open. As I was walking around, I just kept finding photo opportunity after photo opportunity. I wish we had gotten off the ship sooner to be able to explore more of the town. We had to be back onboard for 10:45am so it was time to say goodbye to Durnstein.
The next three hours was spent sailing down the Danube River through the Wachau Valley. It is thirty-six kilometers in length and it has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The scenery was spectacular and from time to time would be broken up with little towns. We passed the time sitting on the couches that are located at the front of the ship. They even provide blankets.
Just after lunch which was around 2:00pm, we arrived at our next stop which was Melk, Austria. We decided to do the ship’s Melk Abbey Tour. The Melk Abbey is a Benedictine monastery that sits above the Danube. To this day, there are monks still living there. The tour included guest rooms, the marble hall, large reception room, library and finally the church. My breath was taken away once I stepped inside. Words can not describe it. Unfortunately photography is not allowed indoors and therefore you will need to Google it. There was no time to walk back to the ship because the tour ran long.
The day ended with a very long dinner and then an early night in.
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