We have arrived in Melk which is in Austria. Melk has been and important spiritual and cultural centre in Austria for over 1000 years. It has been a Benedictine monastery since 1089 and it is still a working monastery. In the late 1970's there were extensive restorations of the Baroque buildings and it is not only a major tourist attraction, but also a school and hosts other cultural events.

The gardens around the entrance of the Abbey are manicured and very attractive. Through the entrance gates you arrive in a large courtyard where we are met by our guide for a tour of the museum and library section of the Abbey. The museum contained the usual religious artifacts and jewel encrusted items as well as examples of the religious garments worn at various times of the year. The library was very impressive but no photographs allowed. At the end of the tour we were directed into the rear of the cathedral where a mass was coming to an end. The congregation (I think they may have been a group of 100+ young Catholics from America) had just taken communion and were singing the final hymn. The singing was done without any accompanying music and the acoustics of the room provided a fantastic and moving experience. The cathedral itself was rather gaudy with statues covered in gilt and pink marble pillars and ceiling frescos.

After the service and the obligatory visit to the gift shop, we wandered from the Abbey down to the town and then back to the ship where we had lunch before cruising through the Wachau Valley towards Durnstein. There was a choice of doing a bike ride from Melk to Durnstein (about 30km) which Brad went on but I decided to stay with the cruise as the pace of the bike rides was a little too fast for me - and I had already been on the other 2 rides.