A Journal, with Pictures

Sat­ur­day morn­ing we arrive at Melk, Aus­tria at the head of the Wachau val­ley. We will spend the morn­ing vis­it­ing the Melk Abbey one of the most famous cul­tur­al sights in Aus­tria. Melk Abbey has been an impor­tant spir­i­tu­al and cul­tur­al cen­ter in Aus­tri­al for over 1000 years. Once the res­i­dence of the Baben­berg fam­i­ly, it became a Bene­dic­tine monastery where for 900 years monks have con­tin­ued to work and teach up to this day. In the after­noon we cruised the Wachau val­ley with pic­tures vine­yards, vil­lages and cas­tles. In the after­noon see the famous Durn­stein blue and white tow­er then dock at Krems, then trav­eled a short dis­tance back to Durstein, with ancient cas­tle ruins over­look­ing the quaint vil­lage known for its wine and apri­cot brandy know as Mar­il­len­schnaps which is a region­al specialty.