Got Melk?

Melk, Austria
May 7, 2022

Today we awoke to a gentle rain, an English rain, we couldn’t hear it but we could see the rain drops fall upon the river. The Danube river is so smooth and glasslike at times you could water ski on it.

Yesterday’s excursion to Melk was a pleasant surprise after a couple of bland city tours. The bus took us up to the top of the hill and we walked down through a formal gardens the the abbey which Melk is known for.

Our local guide met us in the courtyard and told us the history of the abbey and that it’s still in use as a school. The tour included an updated museum inside showcasing some golden crowns and religious artifacts over the years however no photos were allowed inside the building.

We did manage to sneak a photo of the long hall that runs down a wing of the abbey. The abbey is also known for its library with thousands of well preserved books with many hundreds of years old.

As we walked through the library our guide pointed out hidden panels that had shelves of books masking as doors to reveal private rooms for the monks to study in. Again we couldn’t take any photos and will poach some off the internet.

Afterwards we had a map of the town and brief directions to find our way back to the boat which consisted of “ keep walking downhill until you hit the river and you will see the boat, you have to really try to get lost”. And off we went down a series of stairs and walkways until we hit the small town and the Main Street.

There were the usual shops and thankfully a giant ice cream cone for Marla to take another “I Love Ice Cream” photo. The thing is that we didn’t see anyone from our tour as most decided to take the bus back or were way behind us probably letting us lead the way back.

So we kept heading downhill through the town until there wasn’t anymore town left and we were looking at a bridge that crossed a river leading into a forest that vaguely looked like one on the map.

Or did it? What time was it? When did the boat leave again? There was no more downhill left!

With no bread crumbs to mark our direction we walked into the forest along the bike path and questioned our decision every 100 yards or so until we saw the river, but no boat. It’s all fun and games until you are lost in a strange country with a map “ not to scale”.