Day 3 - Vienna - Melk and the Melk Abbey

Couldn't get enough of the Wachau Valley yesterday, so we picked up where the tour left off, the beautiful, serene medieval town of Melk and the excessively baroque (if there is such a thing) Melk Abbey.

That is, once we puzzled our way through the Eurail app set up. Now we find it quite handy.

In Melk we enjoyed a liesurely lunch while waiting for the English tour of the Abbey, including a "little" dessert of apricot ice cream with apricot liquor.

Over and above the wines of this region, the local specialty is Marillen liquour. That's apricot, and that's delicious. Silicon Valley really missed out when it removed its orchards.

Melk Abbey is a place of contrasts and history. Austerity of Benedictine Monks is hidden beneath the Baroquest of the Baroque cathedral due to royal patronage from around 980 CE to the last Hapsburg. Only the towers remaining from the middle ages and garden with over 200 types of herbs reflect the monks' humble lifestyle. The newer structures, meaning built in the 16 & 17 hundreds, were designed for queens.

Of course, photography was not allowed inside. I've seen many ornate cathedrals. This one is so over the top. While I was in awe of the architectural masterwork, the total effect was not in the least spiritual.

We topped off our trek through the decadence with our second dessert of the day at Demel, the royal pastry bakery. Their specialty is the multi-layer cake called Dobos Torte. The crust on the apfel strudel was amazingly thin. I don't know how they rolled the strudel without tearing through the dough. None of today's sweet treats tasted super sugary. Maybe we're just getting acclimated.