Durnstein and Melk

After all of the rain from the night before, the river is now 2m higher. A couple of minor schedule modifications and we were off to Durnstein, a small town along the Wachau Valley. Durnstein has a population of about 85 but sees thousands of tourists every day. Their great soil and mountain areas make it a great place to grow some types of grapes. The warm day temperature combined with the cool evening produces grapes that are perfect for mostly white wines. Most vineyards are small family run ones with a capacity of maybe only 80,000 bottles per year. Most vineyards also produce apricots used to make local liqueurs. Today we managed to pull off a scheduled wine tasting and apricot liqueur tasting by noon. After a bit of cruising around, we were back on our boat for an afternoon sail through the valley on our way to Grein where we'll park for the evening.

The castle on the hill is where Richard The Lionheart was imprisoned by Duke Leopold... and later released for a ransom of silver.
Richard the lionheart was imprisoned here. By duke leopold. He was released for a ransom of silver.Read more