Down the Danube River

On Tuesday we stopped to see the Melk Abbey which was a Benedictine monastery that was remodeled and expanded in the early 1800s to also serve as a grand hotel for the Habsburg family when they traveled upstream on the Danube. Benedict the monk fled the immorality and corruption of Rome in about 500. He wrote a lengthy rule book for holy living and his motto was “pray, work and study” because he wanted followers to read and learn and teach. There is still a high school in the buildings taught by the monks.

 

Melk Abbey and church- no pictures inside

 

Courtyard of high school classrooms

 

Church and grand hall- opposite library wing

The monks copied Bibles and other documents- and added beautiful illustrations

The main hall of the Baroque remodeled monastery

The library of the Baroque version of the abbey- quite a collection of old documents

The baroque church was very decorative

The organ in the baroque church

 

Large house and vineyard 

 

Krems on the Danube River

Cobblestone street using river rocks

During the afternoon we sailed down a beautiful section of the Danube River and stopped at Krems, with a few old buildings and a cobblestone shopping street. After dinner on the bow terrace- all six of us- we watched a couple of ballet dancers dancing the waltz on a very small floor space in the lounge.

 

Dinner on the Danube- all six of us

Waltz dancing to welcome us to Vienna

On Wednesday we woke up in Vienna and took a bus tour and walking tour in the rain with lunch back on the ship. Most of our group rested on the ship, but Jake and I took the subway back to historic Vienna. Jake went to the fine arts museum established from the Habsburg family collections of paintings and ancient art. I went to the Belvedere palace, because Judy and I had not gone there 10 years ago. The tickets for the palace were sold out for the day but I walked in the botanical garden and had apple strudel at the cafe. After dinner we all went to a Mozart and Strauss concert with opera singers and waltz dancers.

 

Habsburg palace complex

 

Tower erected by king for sparing him from plague

 

Stephens cathedral gothic spires and windows

 

Historic coffee house in Vienna- all together

 

Inside Stephens cathedral

 

Gothic stone pillars- amazing construction 

 

Upper Belvedere palace

 

Botanical garden started as medicinal plants

Concert with dancers and opera singers

On Thursday morning, we took a bus to the Shoenburg palace which was built to resemble Versailles in Paris. We walked around the beautiful gardens, waiting for our tour slot, and then toured 40 of the rooms that are decorated and very extravagant with fancy ceilings, paintings, wallpaper, woodwork, gold painted carvings and woodwork. The bus took us back through downtown and let people off while the rest returned to the ship for lunch. I got off to go see the art museum that Jake had visited the day before and Janet and Jeff got off to walk through the gardens that are along the Ring Road, which follows the original city walls. The art museum that I visited, was built by the Habsburg‘s in the 1880s to allow the public to view their collection of art over 500 years of their rule. I had lunch in the café on the second floor under the grand rotunda dome. I saw some paintings I liked by Peter Broegel the elder in about 1550 that were colorful and filled with people working or playing- he painted a round Tower of Babel that you might recognize.

 

Shroenberg gardens and fountains

 

Cafe in the art museum 

 

Looks like Gandalf the red?

 

Tower of Babel by Peter Broegel

 

Winter scene- look at all the action

Ready for a village feast-just like us three times a day on the Viking ship Bragi