Today we all piled on the buses again and headed off for Melk abbey and the town of Durnstein, which houses some really cool castle ruins. The abbey is amazing and full of interesting historical facts, half of which escape me at the moment. It did contain things more than a thousand years old, which was really neat! The library was breathtaking... books from floor to ceiling, complete with a ladder and a spiral staircase! It also had six doors concealed in the shelves... pretty nifty!
After that we got in the buses again and drove over to Durnstein for a hike up a small mountain to some castle ruins. There were many excellent views and several points where I didn't think I could walk any further. It was very hot, and the Danube looked awfully inviting for a swim. Peter and I discovered a dungeon among the ruins and wished we had some bows and arrows to practice shooting out of the archer slits in the walls. We also wished we had some water, which we had forgotten to bring. Additionally we wished we had exchanged some American money for Euros already so we could buy some water at the bottom of the hike. Fortunately Catherine was kind enough to lend us 2 Euros to get a bottle of water! Thank goodness! Unfortunately my camera died before we got to the top of the ruins and I had given my extra batteries to another girl, so my pictures are lacking from that adventure. It was very fun though, and we made it back to the buses just in time!
On the way home we passed a statue of a little Austrian girl with an American soldier and a Russian soldier. Apparently it has been a matter of many years of dispute whether she is drawing them together after the Cold War or being torn apart by them. At Peter's inspiration we decided that she was actually pushing them away from each other in an attempt to get them to resist the urge to fight. Brilliant!
Without further ado, here are some pictures. The internet is being ridiculous (emphasis on the re) so I couldn't upload them all. I shall attempt again tomorrow! Gruss Gott!
After that we got in the buses again and drove over to Durnstein for a hike up a small mountain to some castle ruins. There were many excellent views and several points where I didn't think I could walk any further. It was very hot, and the Danube looked awfully inviting for a swim. Peter and I discovered a dungeon among the ruins and wished we had some bows and arrows to practice shooting out of the archer slits in the walls. We also wished we had some water, which we had forgotten to bring. Additionally we wished we had exchanged some American money for Euros already so we could buy some water at the bottom of the hike. Fortunately Catherine was kind enough to lend us 2 Euros to get a bottle of water! Thank goodness! Unfortunately my camera died before we got to the top of the ruins and I had given my extra batteries to another girl, so my pictures are lacking from that adventure. It was very fun though, and we made it back to the buses just in time!
On the way home we passed a statue of a little Austrian girl with an American soldier and a Russian soldier. Apparently it has been a matter of many years of dispute whether she is drawing them together after the Cold War or being torn apart by them. At Peter's inspiration we decided that she was actually pushing them away from each other in an attempt to get them to resist the urge to fight. Brilliant!
Without further ado, here are some pictures. The internet is being ridiculous (emphasis on the re) so I couldn't upload them all. I shall attempt again tomorrow! Gruss Gott!
Gregorian Chant for Elizabeth.
Sr. Joan Paule and Cara
Do you see the door?
An almost 1200-year-old book written by the Venerable Bede. This photo is dedicated to Lindsay ;-)
Me in the library, photo courtesy of Sr. Joan Paule
Part of one wall of the Melk library. AMAZING!!! Can I have one just like it?
An awesome staircase in Melk.
The Melk Abbey church... so beautiful! That is our very nice tour guide walking down the aisle.
The organ in the Melk Stiftskirche... this is for you, Elizabeth!
The ruins we climbed a small mountain for
The Danube River valley
The guys climbing the mountain to the ruined castle in Durnstein. According to Peter, a very manly activity ;-D
1 comment:
I can't wait to hike to the castle! But it is January, so I'm wondering if we'll go to Melk on the second day, too?
Post a Comment