Melk (Aboriginal for slow moving river)

Docked at Melk this morning - home town of our cruise director. Melk is named after its river which runs close to the Danube just here. Two guided tours available today - Melk Abbey or a walk around town with a guide, which is the one we did. The walking groups are about 30 people usually and we each have an earpiece tuned to the guide's mike.
Another interesting place. We started by getting a ride up to the abbey - just as well as the abbeys always seem to be at the town's highest point. The abbey is huge and although there are still some monks here, it is primarily a school these days. The fees are €90 a month. It is basically a Catholic school, but any faith is welcome. But, all students must attend religious instruction - Catholic or Protestant - even if they are Muslim or Jewish or whatever. All students must also study latin and achieve a pass level.
Melk is a nice little town, as they've all been. The guide showed us some sites of interest and a bit of history, and then we wandered around ourselves. Then a fifteen minute stroll took us back to our ship in time for lunch - I wish our calves would put on the daily weight increase that I am on this ship.
After lunch we set sail for Durnstein, 32kms downstream. The ship carries some bicycles and some people cycled along the river and rejoined the ship at Durnstein. This stretch of the river is the Wachau Valley and is spectacular.
Anyone who wanted to could go ashore here and explore on their own. In the lounge, the chef gave a lesson on making 'the best apple strudel in the world' - Janette went to this.
At the same time the bridge was available for group (15 people at a time) tours by the captain - John did this.
Entertainment in the lounge tonight was an Australian singer who lives in Austria - Brett Reid.
This is certainly the best direction to do this cruise - it just gets better the further you go - and we've still got Vienna, Budapest and Prague to come.
Tomorrow Vienna. Tomorrow night our classical concert in Vienna.
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