Mozart's Worlds!!: Day 14 (Sat.) Melk und Krems

No class today, so a bunch of us traveled to Melk, a 40 minute train ride to the west. We bought what they call a "combi-ticket" which included roundtrip train and a boat ride down the Danube. The train took us from Vienna to Melk. Then we took a boat to Krems, stopping along the way down the Danube, and finally took the train from Krems back to Vienna. It was beautiful. Melk is known for its very old and very beautiful Abbey. It was built around 1089, so we're talking old! Part of the monastery was a museum housing many artifacts from religious and political leaders through the years including a vast array of devotional objects. These were mainly elaborate jewels on a podium that encases something priceless such as part of the shin bone of a priest or their most precious, part of the Cross of Christ! The Abbey was amazing. My favorite part was the spiral staircase that connected the upper floors. The building looked over the town of Melk and had a glorious view of the Danube.

Melk's Parish

A neat looking tower

The main entrance to the monastery

The courtyard

A window covering depicting early musical neumes.

The ceiling of the Marble Hall

My favorite part-the staircase!

In the Abbey Church. There was a special display of flowers throughout the church! This one was a cascade of flowers on wire that circled the dome.

Flowers were displayed as large wreaths.

Looking up through the staircase!

They had a mirror at the bottom so you could look straight up

This is an actual musical manuscript written in 1462 in two parts using neumes.

The outside courtyard

The view

The ceiling in the garden house

There was a display of wedding bouquets in the garden house

Cruising down the Danube we stopped at a few small towns along the way. Each one had its own character and also an old castle or ruin you could see from the shore. Krems is a quaint little town with a university. It has little shops and cute little streets. We had time to stop for ice cream before catching the train back "home."