B came back to the cabin last night full of praise for the classical concert so really pleased that the girls enjoyed it. Those of our gang who didn't go, went up to the lounge after dinner. There was on,y one other group there so we practically had the place to ourselves. Gabor the resident pianist plays the piano well, but initially we thought it was karaoke as he struggled to keep a tune, but it was all good. We played a music knowledge quiz which resulted in lots of laughter, especially when M kept providing an answer 5 seconds after someone else had already given the right answer and he couldn't understand why we all had the giggles. Bless him. LOL! Anyway, a very pleasant night spent in good company.
During the night it got very warm in our room, the air conditioning has been a regular problem so I opened our cabin sliding window/door. We were in a lock along with another ship. So at 3.30 in the morning B and I lay in our beds watching the lock fill and then our respective ships motoring on. It was really interesting and still peaceful.
Up about 7.30 for breakfast. 14 forecast and cloud cover, but no rain forecast. We have berthed at Durnstein, however there are two other ships already alongside us so when we want to go on shore we have to walk through the other two ships which is a bit of an adventure.
Durnstein is a delightful little town of about 1,000 population. There are vineyards and apparently they are prolific apricot growers so apricot brandies and schnapps for sale everywhere! There are the ruins of a medieval castle atop a high hill. The castle was built around 1130 and it was here that Leopold V held Richard the Lionheart of England as a prisoner in 1192. I even have a story about this, so will regale you with it now while I have the time.
It seems that Dickie insulted Leo during the Crusades and when Dickie's ship wrecked off the Adriatic and he tried to sneak through Austria as a peasant, someone dobbed him in and he got himself arrested and locked up by Leo.
Apparently no one knew where he was but the loyal minstrel "companion" Blondel went from castle to castle playing his lute and singing Dickie's favourite songs, listening for Dickie to sing along. Blondel found Dickie in the Durnstein castle. Eventually a ransom was paid and Dickie was returned to the old Dart.
Some of the gang have gone ashore straight after breakfast to climb to the castle ruins but I take a much more leisurely approach and set off about 9.15ish and just wander along a path along the Danube that take me past beautiful old buildings, a lovely monastery which has a tower that looks like it is made of blue and white Wedgwood. There are narrow, winding cobblestone streets that are just lovely to meander along,although in places it is quit busy as there are about 5 ships all berthed here. The Wachau Valley is known fir dry white wines so there are vineyards nearby, plus the area is well known for apricots, so there is no shortage of apricot schnapps or brandy for tasting.
Here's another snippet for you. The Austrian wine industry had a large scandal during the mid 1980s the Austrian wine became high volume but low taste. The brokers discovered that if you added a little bit of diethylene glycol, more commonly found in antifreeze, the wines became sweet and had more body. They did this until one of the brokers tried to claim the d.g. on his tax and the scandal was revealed. The export of Austrian wine collapsed and in many countries Austrian wine was banned. They now have very strict regulations. I'm a bit concerned now about the miniature brandies and schnapps I've bought!!!
Back on the ship in time to see the first two boats we are berthed next to sail off. The precision used to move our ship sideways and then back against the gangway was unbelievable and sooooo smooth. Time for lunch as we sail away from Durstein towards Melk. Then up onto the sun deck where the sun is coming through the clouds and we sit back for the next three hours as we sail through the magnificent Wachau Valley. It is absolutely breathtaking scenery, so picturesque. My photos will not do it justice. While B and I have plonked ourselves on deck chairs against the starboard railings we are offered large glasses of elderberry wine spritzers (D has 2 glasses) and tiny onion tarts which are delicious (I have 2 of them). Wonder what the peasants are doing?
Hey peasants... What ya'doing???
Q
The sun is shining so much that I have to go back to the cabin to get my sunglasses. It is just perfect. Life cannot get much better than this. Sigh ...
But then we are arriving at Melk so time to head to our cabin to grab our gear for our tour of Melk Abbey. We get on our coach which takes us to the Abbey. We then have an hour long guided tour of the Benadictine monastery (since 1078 and founded by Leopold II). There are 2 Abbotts, about 100 monks and 900 students attending the high school. The library house over 100,000 books and the church itself looks like it has more gold in it than the Royal Mint!!! It near on takes your breath away, it is so over the top with gold. The two sarcophosagus (or should that be sarcophosagi?)are not to my taste at all. Not sure that bejewelled skeletons in clear glass cases would add to my spiritual experience in church, but I suppose that it takes all kinds.
Time to get back on the coach for the ten minute ride back to our ship. Only a short time till dinner. Our dinner staff are just lovely and Katie has us in stitches when M is trying to tell us that he knows where she is from and it starts with an M. I had initially said the Czech Republic or Slovakia, but he was insistent that it was between Poland and somewhere else we had been on our coach tour, starting with an M. Finally Katie came back to our table and put us out of our misery and told us she was from Slovakia. Moral of the story, don't ever play 'I spy' with M!
Then we headed upstairs to the lounge to hear some fellow called Giorgio play an electric violin. I'm sure he was a reasonable violin player but the kamikaze style headband he wore across his forehead, plus the black t shirt over his pot belly and his smart arse attitude left me cold, so I snuck out after 15 minutes and left the others to it. I've had a super day, but it is well and truly time for bed as we have another big day ahead tomorrow.
Up about 7.30 for breakfast. 14 forecast and cloud cover, but no rain forecast. We have berthed at Durnstein, however there are two other ships already alongside us so when we want to go on shore we have to walk through the other two ships which is a bit of an adventure.
Durnstein is a delightful little town of about 1,000 population. There are vineyards and apparently they are prolific apricot growers so apricot brandies and schnapps for sale everywhere! There are the ruins of a medieval castle atop a high hill. The castle was built around 1130 and it was here that Leopold V held Richard the Lionheart of England as a prisoner in 1192. I even have a story about this, so will regale you with it now while I have the time.
It seems that Dickie insulted Leo during the Crusades and when Dickie's ship wrecked off the Adriatic and he tried to sneak through Austria as a peasant, someone dobbed him in and he got himself arrested and locked up by Leo.
Apparently no one knew where he was but the loyal minstrel "companion" Blondel went from castle to castle playing his lute and singing Dickie's favourite songs, listening for Dickie to sing along. Blondel found Dickie in the Durnstein castle. Eventually a ransom was paid and Dickie was returned to the old Dart.
Some of the gang have gone ashore straight after breakfast to climb to the castle ruins but I take a much more leisurely approach and set off about 9.15ish and just wander along a path along the Danube that take me past beautiful old buildings, a lovely monastery which has a tower that looks like it is made of blue and white Wedgwood. There are narrow, winding cobblestone streets that are just lovely to meander along,although in places it is quit busy as there are about 5 ships all berthed here. The Wachau Valley is known fir dry white wines so there are vineyards nearby, plus the area is well known for apricots, so there is no shortage of apricot schnapps or brandy for tasting.
Here's another snippet for you. The Austrian wine industry had a large scandal during the mid 1980s the Austrian wine became high volume but low taste. The brokers discovered that if you added a little bit of diethylene glycol, more commonly found in antifreeze, the wines became sweet and had more body. They did this until one of the brokers tried to claim the d.g. on his tax and the scandal was revealed. The export of Austrian wine collapsed and in many countries Austrian wine was banned. They now have very strict regulations. I'm a bit concerned now about the miniature brandies and schnapps I've bought!!!
Back on the ship in time to see the first two boats we are berthed next to sail off. The precision used to move our ship sideways and then back against the gangway was unbelievable and sooooo smooth. Time for lunch as we sail away from Durstein towards Melk. Then up onto the sun deck where the sun is coming through the clouds and we sit back for the next three hours as we sail through the magnificent Wachau Valley. It is absolutely breathtaking scenery, so picturesque. My photos will not do it justice. While B and I have plonked ourselves on deck chairs against the starboard railings we are offered large glasses of elderberry wine spritzers (D has 2 glasses) and tiny onion tarts which are delicious (I have 2 of them). Wonder what the peasants are doing?
Hey peasants... What ya'doing???
Q
The sun is shining so much that I have to go back to the cabin to get my sunglasses. It is just perfect. Life cannot get much better than this. Sigh ...
But then we are arriving at Melk so time to head to our cabin to grab our gear for our tour of Melk Abbey. We get on our coach which takes us to the Abbey. We then have an hour long guided tour of the Benadictine monastery (since 1078 and founded by Leopold II). There are 2 Abbotts, about 100 monks and 900 students attending the high school. The library house over 100,000 books and the church itself looks like it has more gold in it than the Royal Mint!!! It near on takes your breath away, it is so over the top with gold. The two sarcophosagus (or should that be sarcophosagi?)are not to my taste at all. Not sure that bejewelled skeletons in clear glass cases would add to my spiritual experience in church, but I suppose that it takes all kinds.
Time to get back on the coach for the ten minute ride back to our ship. Only a short time till dinner. Our dinner staff are just lovely and Katie has us in stitches when M is trying to tell us that he knows where she is from and it starts with an M. I had initially said the Czech Republic or Slovakia, but he was insistent that it was between Poland and somewhere else we had been on our coach tour, starting with an M. Finally Katie came back to our table and put us out of our misery and told us she was from Slovakia. Moral of the story, don't ever play 'I spy' with M!
Then we headed upstairs to the lounge to hear some fellow called Giorgio play an electric violin. I'm sure he was a reasonable violin player but the kamikaze style headband he wore across his forehead, plus the black t shirt over his pot belly and his smart arse attitude left me cold, so I snuck out after 15 minutes and left the others to it. I've had a super day, but it is well and truly time for bed as we have another big day ahead tomorrow.
Firstly gotta say that you've upped the ante with pictures dispersed amongst the commentary. Love it!
ReplyDeleteSo...Durnstein: Joe is some kind of history savant so I quizzed him on your Dickie/Leo story. He did not know that BUT he adds he knew Dickie was captured because Dickie left the Crusades because he had a lovers spat with the King of France which was on the eve of the crusaders retaking Jerusalem. BTW, awesome pictures! Also good to see that WalMart arent the only ones with Christmas decorations out in October!!!
Next...Elderberry wine and onion tarts. So the peasants are eating salad and on their 2nd rum and diet pepsi since you asked. Gotta admit the mere idea of an onion tart has me salivating!
Melk sounds just amazing. I wonder what their oldest books were and did you see anything really old and hand written?
Finally...no picture of the kamikazee electro-violinist???Come on now :(
I'll leave you with my regret at having asked the Husbeast about Dickie and Leo. Now he is sprouting all kinds of boring shite about the Crusades and lamenting the loss of his favourite book when the upstairs toilet flooded and destroyed our bathroom directly centered over his book!