Eastern (oops should be Central) Europe - Day Ten

During the night we’ve made our way to a small town called Durnstein in the Wachau Valley a region known for its beauty and wine. There is castle ruin above Durnstein where Richard the Lionhearted was held captive on his return from the Holy Land after the Third Crusade. It was a relatively short steep climb for me and I was able to follow the trail further up where I encountered some Austrian mountain climbers who were getting ready to work their way down and up one of the rock faces as part of their pre-season training to get ready for the Alps later in the summer.

Then it is on through the picturesque Wachau Valley and on to another small town named Melk. There we do a tour of an abbey that is done in the Baroque style – quite grandiose again…I really do need to read about the Hapsburgs of the 18th and 19th century and find out where all this wealth and power was coming from. We had a very short organ concert in the church before we went back on board the boat where I was hosting drinks for a number of our boat mates in our cabin.

This evening our professionals from Cruise One had to impose a bit of discipline. It seems that Mrs. de-I was accusing de-I of filching her evening chocolate - a charge the de-I veamously denied. I order to maintain good will among the couple, Al and Sandy did an independent, post-turn down service inspection of the cabin to verify that indeed both sides of the bed had a piece of chocolate. This is the type of personalized service that you just don't get from other tour reservation sources.

Pictures

Mrs. de-I Radiant in her Euro Fashion Look

The Road to Durnstein Castle

Here is the goal

Starting up the trail in town

On the trail

Getting Closer

Entrance to the Castle Grounds

The Castle Keep

View back down the valley

Looking East

Looking West

The Town of Durnstein

Durnstein Castle seen from above