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It was grey and misty today in Melk, but nonetheless we enjoyed our tour of the Imperial guest wing and church of magnificent Melk Abbey (photos only allowed of the exterior). The new fact we learned today was that the magnificent “palace abbeys” along the Danube were products of the contra-reformation in the early to mid 1700’s; a conscious design choice of the staunchly Catholic Hapsburgs intended to demonstrate to the burgeoning Protestant population that Catholic was the only true (glorious, wealthy) religion.

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The abbey is still home to 24 Benedictine monks, many of whom spend time travelling to other dioceses, and a school for 900 male and female students aged 10 to 18.

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Inside, the guest wing built to host the Hapsburgs is now a museum of history, art, and ecclesiastical treasures, with ceilings adorned by frescoes and trompe l’oeil effects. The “marble” imperial dining room is especially impressive when you realize that most of the marble is really scagliola, an Italian technique for colouring and veining stucco to look like polished stone.

We had the opportunity to tour one of the 14 library rooms, which in total hold more than 100,000 Baroque and older leather-bound gilt-edged books. The shelves are arranged with general knowledge on the lower shelves, science on the second level, and religious texts at the top, demonstrating the hierarchy of importance. (In secular libraries of the time, science was highest.)

The gorgeous Baroque church is unique in part for its colours; earth tones in the frescoes instead of blues. There is an incredible amount of gold leaf throughout, which must be especially beautifully glimmering in candlelight during special services. I’d love someday to be in Melk to see that, and listen to a choir perform in the church’s famous acoustics.

It was still drizzling when we left the abbey, but we chose nonetheless to walk into town and enjoy cake and coffee at Café Corrado. Their delicately crumbed apricot cake, and creamy tender topfstrudel (cheese strudel made with a sweet fresh cheese similar to fresh ricotta) were absolutely delicious.

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I always say I’m not going to shop, but…. I’ve long yearned to buy an authentic dirndl. They can be very expensive, but a “trachten” (traditional regional costume) store in Melk was changing over to become an Italian clothing boutique, and clearing their traditional costumes. Ted did nothing to discourage me, so…

Our afternoon on the ship was spent sailing the gorgeous Wachau Valley, a wine-growing region for 2 of my favourite wines: Grüner Veltliner (white) and Blauer Zweigelt (light red).

As we sailed, the pastry chef demonstrated (and offered samples of) the Austrian version of apple strudel, and our friend Karin made one too!

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Although our second stop of the day was in Krems, where a couple of optional wine-related excursions were offered, it was cold and rainy, so Ted and I decided to stay on board and enjoy Ilya’s piano playing and a terrific Austrian-themed dinner of Winzersalat (green salad with goat cheese and walnuts), Krustenbraten (crispy roast pork with beer sauce) and Linzer torte.

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At 9 p.m., with all those who’d been on excursions back on the ship, we were treated to a waltz demonstration and class by two professional Viennese dancers. They performed a stately minuet and a spirited Austrian ländler and showed us how those 2 dances morphed into the Viennese waltz, before teaching basic waltz steps to interested passengers.

It was a lovely end to our day, and a perfect precursor to our next two days in Vienna.