Day 6: Melk & Dürnstein

The town of Melk sits in the well known Wachau Valley which specializes in wine. Mel Abbey sits atop the highest point in the town and can be seen from just about anywhere. It was, of course, raining again today, but we tried to make the most of it.

Our goal was to get to Melk Abbey, so we took the scenic route through the village and up to the top.

 When we finally made it to the Abbey, and it did not disappoint. Inside there was a museum of church artifacts from the last several hundred years. It was so neat to see them preserved so well, and be able to see them up close. They had paintings, money, robes that they bishops wore, and much more. The views from the Abbey were also spectacular. I imagine on a non-foggy/rainy day you could see for miles. 

still raining, but we had to get our picture from the top of the Abbey

Views from the abbey looking south

Views from the abbey

Even though it was still raining, we decided to brave it to go out to see the gardens. They were very nice, although I imagine they are nicer when the sun is shining :)

Just about a 25 minute drive from Melk is the town of Dürnstein. We didn't know much about the place, other than it also sits along the Wachau Valley in wine country. We ended up liking it even more than Melk. Albeit smaller, it had more character and charm than Melk did. It was also a very walkable town with many quaint shops and restaurants.  Despite the rain, we decided to hike up to the fortress ruins to take advantage of the great views. It is quite a steep hike, and not for the faint of heart as there are some pretty good drop offs along the way. However, the views make it worth the hike.

We walked back into town and browsed through the shops and stores. Stopped into one of the local wine cafe's and had some Gewürztraminer (our favorite). It is a very well laid out town with the "old town" being on the north side, and the newer portion on the southeast. Even the "newer" side still has a lot of character.  

Then we had dinner at a cute little restaurant called Alter Klosterkeller with vineyards in the backyard. The local specialty here is apricot sparkling nectar soda. We had to try some. It tasted almost like sparkling water with apricot juice, but a very thick juice. Delicious!

The sun FINALLY came out for a quick 20 minutes at the end of the day, so we sat on a bench by the river to just enjoy it and get a slightly clearer view of the town.

If you can see through the fog, you can see the striped lines in the landscape where the vineyards are located.

Busy day tomorrow....off to Vienna!