Day 4

Our day began in the small village of Durnstein, Austria. There was no formal program but our ship was close enough to the town for us to stroll through it and visit the shops and enjoy the views along the way.

It’s an apricot growing region and there were many products of the local produce, some highly alcoholic but also some great jams and preserves. They also roasted the pits and utilized them like almonds. Supposedly the roasting process removes the cyanide (let’s hope!) and I’m still alive after eating some of them so I guess it’s true.

A couple of hours later we were back on the ship and sailing through the picturesque Wachau Valley with its medieval ruins and its many vineyards to Melk to visit the 900 year old Melk Abbey situated on a rocky outcrop high above the Danube.

More distant view of the abbey with the sun on it

It’s a Benedictine abbey famed for its huge medieval library that contains around 80,000 medieval manuscripts.

After the visit to the abbey we meandered down the hill through the town of Melk back to the ship. Dinner was an Austrian themed meal complete with local beers, sausages, pork knuckle and sauerkraut and dark bread and entertainment by an accordionist playing Austrian beer hall music.