We arrived in Krems, Austria 7:30am today (Thursday, 27 October). [Remember, time is fluid!] Of course, I was already up and had been for a while, so here is another beautiful sunrise!
I had never really heard of Krems until reading up about the Wachau valley, which runs between Krems and Melk. It is lovely, with the banks of Danube dotted by ruined castles, small villages (medieval villages really), and terraced vineyards. The Wachau was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to UNESCO, "the architecture, the human settlements and the agricultural use of the land in the Wachau vividly illustrate a basically medieval landscape which has evolved organically and harmoniously over time."
My traveling companions had opted not to schedule any excursions on this day, but I had scheduled an option excursion to Gottweig Abbey, which included an opportunity to see how apricot dumplings are made as well as to try some while still warm (apricot trees proliferate in the Wachau).
Gottweig is a Benedictine Abbey constructed in the 11th century. It was nearly destroyed by fire in the late 16th century, and then burned again in 1718. It was reconstructed by Johan Lucas von Hildebrandt, the emperor's architect. One of the few original structures that still remain are parts of the Erentrudis Chapel. There are currently approximately 34 monks who are part of the community, some living there and others spending time out in the surrounding communities. The Abbey was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has produced wine continuously since 1083. Including, by the way, apricot spirits as well as juice, jam and so forth.
I don't even want to admit how many pictures I managed to take on this day of the trip, but here are a few of the Abbey.
This is the apricot dumpling recipe and one picture of the dumpling cooking demonstration:
We had to be back from the Abbey trip by about 11:30am, and the ship departed from Krebs to continue its scenic sailing through the Wachau Valley. Every town we passed was more picturesque than the last one. This is where I took so many pictures. I won't burden you with having to look at them, but here are some of my favorites.
Mid-afternoon on the ship there was a cooking demonstration with our Executive Chef Milos; we learned to make Apple Strudel. After dinner there was a second trivia night, this time called Majority Rules trivia. The questions were not the type with one answer but more opinion or open-ended, and whichever answer to each question was the most popular (the most teams had that answer) determined who got points. If the most popular answer was given by 8 teams, for example, each of those teams received 8 points. It was pretty funny to hear some of the answers!
And so another day ends. We continue on to Passau (into Germany) overnight.
You certainly have a good eye for images! I was particularly impressed by the interplay of light and shadow in this day's ninth picture, the one showing two arches, with a window visible through the left arch.