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...