The Crystal Mozart spent part of the morning finishing its
journey to Melk, Austria. Had it been at least 40 degrees warmer, it would have
been a nice ride on the top deck viewing the passing countryside. We sat in the
forward lounge with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the view in warm quarters.
Our arrival was just before lunch and our scheduled
excursion was to be just after. We enjoyed another wonderful meal in the
Waterside Restaurant on board and then bundled up for our trip to Melk Abbey.
It was a cloudy, cold and windy day again. Our hope was to get indoors as
quickly as possible.
Our bus made the climb to the Abbey which overlooks the town
of Melk. It was a beautiful view but we didn’t stop long to admire it. Our
group hurried along behind our tour guide to a spot just inside the courtyard
of the Abbey where he explained to us some of the background of the amazing
structure.
The Abbey was built between 1701-1736 upon the foundation of
a medieval monastery. It now houses a private school for boys and girls. Our
guide for the tour inside the Abbey was a young man who had been a student
there and was now studying at a university. He was quite personable and did a
wonderful job giving us background and history and a few personal stories.
The library is one of the most spectacular features of the
Abbey. The main hall we visited has over 16,000 volumes but there are over
100,000 more books in 12 other rooms not open to the public. It is still an
active research library. The ceiling is a fresco by Paul Troger. It was amazing
in that it was painted to appear to be curves and yet it was flat. You had to
really look hard to see where the wall met the ceiling at an angle.
Of course the other spectacular area of the Abbey was the
church. To get to it we walked along a curved terrace that overlooks the town as
well as the Danube below it. Cold as it was, we still lingered a bit for
pictures as well as just admiration for the view.
Inside the church is another breathtaking ceiling by Troger
as well as many other designs by several other artists of note. It is truly
impressive.
There was an option to go into town but we opted to head
back to the boat to get warm. We would learn as we went that churches and
cathedrals are not heated. While Bob went to a lecture on the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, I curled up in a blanket and tried to warm up. Yup, you guessed it. I
napped.
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