Today, we had to get up early. It's my personal belief that a person should never have to do this while on holiday, however my husband and travel agent had other ideas :-P
I had no idea where we were going, and what we were going to see - and nor did my husband... All we knew, thanks to his faulty memory and our tour exchange voucher, was that it was going to be a long day... 8 hours long...
We were met at our hotel in the morning, by a tall Austrian man with a hat. Our transfer service consisted of this tall man, with his odd hat, and our own two feet... Not that we minded, it wasn't far to walk, but we must have looked odd - something akin to the Pied Piper minus flute - as our group grew the closer we came to the bus stop... We suggested perhaps a flute was in order to the tall bloke, but he said he didn't need a flute - as he was a tall bloke with a hat!
Anyways, we piled on to the bus and were driven to another location, where we got off the bus, were sorted into tour and language groups... And piled onto another bus! Where we spent the next hour, looking at the vibrant scenery of the autobahn - which, for those of you who haven't been on it, is mainly a huge wall and/or mound of dirt. We're not sure if it's designed to keep us in, or keep something else out - but I did see a sign warning of deer so perhaps roadkill is considered undesirable in Austria...
An hour later, and we were at a small winery town where we caught our boat for our cruise up the Danube...
We spent our time on the boat quaffing wine and eating...
This is the Austrian version of a hotdog... They give you the ingredients, and you put it together yourself - a roll, some shaved cheese, a sausage and some exceedingly hot mustard that I wouldn't recommend even to my worst enemy...
On the way, we saw lots of castles...
This castle, according to the voice on the loudspeaker, was built by some robber barons who were partial to throwing their prisoners off the cliff to their death... It also serves as Evidence that there are blue skies in Austria...
This is Schonbuhel Castle, originally 12th century and rebuilt 1819-21
And this is Jodie after too much red wine!!
We arrived at Melk for our Monastery tour. For the record, anyone who has asthma, hayfever or similar allergies should avoid going here - at least at this time of the year. It's difficult to see from this photo, but the water and the air is thick with white fluff - it's so bad, it is reminiscent of snow coming down in some places!
Now... the Benedictine Monastery of Melk was founded in the 11th century and extended between 1702 and 1747 in the Baroque style that was the fashion at the time. It's still active, with 40-50 monks living there. We noticed some modern looking frescoes outside, and lots of scaffolding - looks like the renovations are still going...
Inside, there are the elaborate arches and features of the period including some gorgeous statues... BUT this monastery has a very modern museum within its walls that - if you're interested in the history of the Benedictine order, religion, or this building itself - is very worthwhile visiting!
Each room is lit in a different colour...
This book is actually handwritten, it's very old and it is a copy of the original rules for the Benedictine order. This book was used by the Abbott of Melk for many years.
This box was one of a few that were in the green room. It's very old and all hand carved...
There were lots of very over the top religious relics...
And a room dedicated to the Abbott who directed the Baroque remodelling of the Monastery. Some of the outfits would have done Barbie proud!!
This is a re-usable coffin that was introduced in funeral practices for a while following the Baroque period in history, when the Abbott decided that he had to scale down excess. Apparently, giving a person their own permanent coffin was considered excessive, and so a re-usable coffin was devised complete with trap door underneath... Nice...
To show just how modern the museum was, here's something we weren't expecting to see in an active Benedictine monastery - a modern lightshow installation complete with sculptures tearing themselves out of the walls...
The first big hall we were shown to was the "Marble Hall".
This hall had some gorgeous frescoes on the ceilings, and they were cleverly painted to give the illusion of additional height and a dome overhead...
We thought it was amusing that the "Marble Hall" actually wasn't all made of marble - they used fake marble. Ironically, this fake marble was more expensive than real marble, but the reason they used it was because it could be heated without cracking...
A view outside the the Monastery on a balcony that joins the Marble Hall with the Library...
This is a view of the township of Melk from the Monastery's balcony.
Next stop was the Library...
There are literally thousands of books from bygone eras in the Monastery's library - many volumes are handwritten and these weren't on display but were kept in temperature controlled rooms for preservation. Jason is having a look at the few examples out on display...
Here is an example of one of the old handwritten texts. This volume is another incomplete set of Benedictine rules and writings used by the church in times now past...
We went down a very elaborate spiral staircase that went up forever... And also gave the appearance of going down forever, because they have cleverly placed a round mirror at the centre of the base, so that the top spirals are reflected on to infinity if you look down the staircase... Quite amazing!
What monastery would be complete without a formal place of worship? Last stop was the Monastery Church, built 1702 - 1736.
There are glorious frescoes all over the curved and domed ceilings of the church, depicting the Glorification of St Benedict...
There really is an excess of gold used in anything Baroque...
We were glad to get outside to some plainer arches (and the toilets!!)
All in all, our day was well spent - we left and took our tour bus back to Vienna where we were dropped a hop skip and jump from our hotel where we now rest with full bellies and prepare for another day!
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