Wachau Valley

July 22^nd, 2025

There was the great green Danube outside our window this morning. Yay! No other boat was alongside. That was probably because we were sailing down river for a scenic cruise through the Wachau Valley.

We were due to arrive in Melk, the start of our scenic cruising, at 8:30. After a quick breakfast we found a spot on the sun deck and waited for the scenery to start.

Then the captain announced that we were still an hour away from Melk. The late departure from Passau, and extra time getting through locks overnight had caused the delay.

So we continued sitting on the sun deck, and enjoyed what was rather lovely scenery anyway.

At 9:30 we entered the lock at Melk.

And then we were in the Wachau Valley.

This area is not only a very beautiful area, but is well known for the wines that are grown here. I must admit I had never heard of them, but they are apparently world famous.

The Wachau was named  as “Wachau Cultural Landscape” in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its architectural and agricultural history, in December 2000

It is only 22 miles in length, but is full of pretty villages, castles, and vineyards. Just perfect.

The castle at Durnstein is where King Richard the first of England was held captive by Leopold V, the Duke of Austria.

The scenic Wachau Valley ends in Krems, and we stopped there to embark on our tour of Gottweig Abbey.

This is a Benedictine monastery which was founded by Saint Altman, the bishop of Passau, in 1083.

It has been rebuilt several times due to fires, but has managed to remain a very vibrant center of religion, learning, agriculture, and peace and harmony. The monks have done an amazing job managing to keep things thriving there, it was all very impressive.

On arrival at the Abbey we were given a sample of their apricot sparkling wine (to be avoided) and listened to a presentation on the history, present, and future of the Abbey.

Then we toured the grounds

Checked out the wonderful views

And visited the beautiful baroque church.

The most fascinating part of the visit for me was the Altmanni shrine in the southern crypt, which contains a reliquary made in 1668 with beautiful silver filigree decoration and contains the relics of Saint Altman himself.

The imperial staircase in the museum wing is beautiful and it has an amazing ceiling fresco, the Apotheosis of Emperor Charles VI as Apollo.

After fortification with ice cream we returned to the coach and rejoined our boat in Tulln.

There is a beautiful sculpture in Tulln called the Nibelung. Nibelungs are strange mythical creatures, I did not expect to see them here. They reminded me of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle and the Nibelung dwarf Alberich.  I endured the Ring Cycle many years ago in Chicago, but I thought that was more about the Rhine than the Danube. Maybe they are everywhere. I suppose that is OK.

Enough about Nibelungs. There is simply no time to rest on this cruise. Once back on board we were immediately treated to a demonstration on how to make apple strudel.

My pastry could never do that!

The chefs made it look all too easy.

Then we got to eat the strudel. Quite honestly it was the best strudel I have ever tasted.

Next we watched 2 very talented dancers. Here we are sailing down the Danube observing  these two dancing to the Blue Danube. It was a magical moment.

They also talked about the history of dance over the years, and they demonstrated several dances.

Then they said they would like to give waltz lessons and asked for people to join them.

At first no one did.

Then one brave man volunteered. One cannot waltz alone, so he was then joined by a partner.

The dance couple were pleading for more people to join in, so Brian agreed to help out. He is such a good man. Here were this lovely couple trying to engage their audience and failing miserably. We simply could not let that happen. So next thing we were on the dance floor with the other couple.

Then I realized that the man was Mr Barefoot from the first evening, and yes he still wasn’t wearing shoes. Then his partner also removed her shoes, leaving them where our family was sitting. This is an interesting pair.

The dance duo did a good job of instructing us on how to waltz. I don’t think we did a good job, but it provided amusement for the rest of the passengers, so that was something.

I was reminded of when our son David was in Elementary school and the project for Mother’s Day was to say what they thought their mothers did best. David wrote  that the thing I did best was that I could entertain well. Maybe he was right.

Then it was time for Kane to do our port talk, and in no time at all we had to head down to the restaurant for an early dinner.

We were still docked next to another boat and we tried to see what they were getting for dinner.

Dinner on our boat was early because Brian and I and Lynne and David, and a cast of thousands had plans for the evening.

Straight after dinner we joined the masses on a coach and we were whisked away to our Mozart and Strauss concert. Talk about a dream come true. Here I was in the beautiful city of Vienna, about to be attending a Strauss and Mozart concert. I mean, how amazing is that?

The venue was beautiful, and although we were warned that we would have to climb up 5 flights of stairs up an imperial staircase, in reality the flights of stairs were very short and it was no challenge at all. We weren’t allowed to take any photos of the performance, so I just took a couple of the venue.

The music was supplied by a small but enthusiastic orchestra. Sometimes they just played alone, other times they were accompanied by singers or dancers. The music was well chosen, with familiar pieces that were just perfect for a night out in Vienna.

They concluded with the Radetzky march. It was distressing to say that I no longer associate this stirring piece of music with the celebration of the triumph of the Austrian Empire in 1848, but in my mind it is the sound track of the parade of chefs on the final night of a cruise, with all of the napkin waving and clapping, and horrors, the parading baked Alaskas of yesteryear.

Then all too soon it was time to take the coach back to the boat. Wow, has this been an amazing day!

I am still not so sure about river cruising. I am definitely in favor of an itinerary where there is an equal amount of sea days and port days. I need those sea days to rest my brain. But I must say this has been amazing fun. I am loving every moment of it.

Of course, being with my favorite people is such a treat, and I am hanging on to every moment of being together,  the Viking experience really is wonderful. This is turning into a totally fantastic holiday 