We arrived in the small village of Krems and drove into nearby Dürnstein. There, we toured the old town and climbed up to the top of Dürnstein Castle, more than 300’ above the town. We had more free time in the town before heading back to the ship. When we got there, I opted to stay on the ship and cruise the Wachau Valley from the luxury of my cabin. Madeline, on the other hand, opted to ride a bike for 24 miles between Krems and Melk. Unfortunately, storms came in and while I was on the ship worried about her, she was in an underpass waiting out the rain. When we arrived in Melk and I knew she was okay, I toured the Melk Abbey and learned about life on the Danube.

Wachau Valley in Austria

07/28/18—08/08/18

We arrived in Krems early and saw a couple of stunning churches from our cabin. We also saw a naked man taking a morning swim right next to the ship. After breakfast, we hopped on a bus for a short trip to Dürnstein, where we strolled through the cobblestone streets of town.

We began the strenuous walk up to the castle ruins. The rock castle was erected in the early 12th Century, and lies more than 300’ above the town. King Richard I of England was once imprisoned in the castle. The climb was hot and the air humid, but the view of the town and Danube was spectacular. We really liked the blue church.

After Dürnstein, we returned to the ship and I walked around the small town of Krems. The town had picturesque streets and old churches.

It was time for the ship to leave Krems. I took the photo above from my balcony, capturing the panorama as the ship moved along the Danube. It’s distorted, but gives a good feeling of what I watched out of our cabin. We passed by (1) the blue Dürnstein church and an hour later saw (2) Pfarrkirche Spitz. A little further upstream were the ruins of (3) Hinterhaus Castle, then (4) Aggstein Castle, and finally (5) Schloss Schönbühel

Meanwhile, Madeline took off from Krems on her bike. They had a little ice cream and stopped at the same blue church in Dürnstein. Continuing on through the Wachau Valley, they passed by vineyards and took a group photo. They continued through small villages with old churches. They saw that the sky was getting really dark, so they took cover in an underpass. The rain let up some, but it wasn’t safe to be on the bikes yet, so they walked to a public pool for a drink. Finally, it let up and they were back on the road. They saw a sign to Melk and knew their destination was close. After 24 miles and 3.5 hours of riding and resting, they finally made it to the ship.

In Melk, I went on a tour of the abbey along with a bunch of folks from the ship. The abbey was founded in 1089 and the view from the grounds was beautiful. The library reportedly had 100,000 books and manuscripts and the church was beautiful on the inside as well.

We continued the tour with a story of the Danube, focusing on historical activities such as fishing, wine-making, the making of marmalade, and dancing.

The Danube was very shallow on our trip, but we kept seeing reminders of times when it was flooded. The latest was in 2013, where it was 30’ deeper than on our trip.