Melked in Melt or Melted in Melk?

It was an easy walk back to the Metro station in Vienna and equally simple to transfer ourselves to the main station in plenty of time for our train to Melk. We travelled on a second class Weasel to St Poelten where we changed for our Melk train. The trip took us through pleasant countryside and we soon arrived at our destination. Armed with our Google directions we set off on our 1.7 km walk. The only trouble was the heat and the giant hill! It was hard work but our destination, The Hotel Wachau, was well worth it. We had pretty rooms and Tony and I had a corner room which gave us access to the balcony and a beautiful view across the valley. We also had excellent cross ventilation. The food here was superb, the presentation exquisite and the entire experience could only be described as delightful.

The view over the orchard from The Hotel Wachau

The Abbey Church

What an amazing ceiling!

Looking out from the Abbey at the Danube Valley

Downtown Melk

One of the entrees served at the Hotel.
Smoked trout cake? - well it tasted good but
perhaps mousse would have been a better description.
Though it does look a bit like a cake doesn't it.

A beautiful sunset -
eating out on the large balcony downstairs
 at The Hotel Wachau

We went for a late afternoon walk and had our first really good view of the abbey. After a good night we set off to walk to the Benedictine Abbey and an exploration of the buildings, the gardens and then the town. The Abbey was amazing and is a highly recommended place to visit. Lunch at the abbey was good and our walk through the township provided many photo opportunities. Tired feet led us to have a ride on the little train out to the ships on the Danube and back up the hill to the Abbey car park. A quick drink and then uphill the rest of the way. We investigated Aldi (Hofen) along the way and then returned to the hotel. We watched the sun set and the clouds gather. However we had no rain overnight, unlike the previous day. To sum it up – Melk is great!

Saturday morning saw us setting off again (thankfully downhill). This time Salzburg was our destination. We changed trains at St Poelten once more and then whizzed across Austria (oh what wonderful scenery) on the RailJet. Our friendly hostess delivered us free KitKats which we washed down with coffee. We topped that off with a wine and beer and arrived in Salzburg. Here we were slightly misplaced by road and train works which had muddled our pathway but before too long we were installed in the Holiday Inn. Our very late lunch/afternoon tea was inspired by Michael who had trod these paths and tasted the local fare. Salzburg Nockerl or soufflés  - all I can say is YUM and then I roll my eyes! Simply wonderful!!!!!!! Then off to the Mirrabel Gardens for a look at the Pegasus Fountain.

Helen’s friend Carol and her daughter Caroline have also arrived and this has been good. Today they set off by themselves and Tony and I did The Sound of Music Tour. This was excellent value and we visited many of the locations where the film was shot. I think I loved the church in Mondsee where Maria and The Captain were married best of all. (the real Maria and her Captain were married at the Abbey in Salzburg). We saw snow on the mountains, beautiful fields and forest, lakes and pastures, picnickers and hang gliders. This is Austria at its beautiful best! We saw the Pavilion where Liesel and Rolfe sang, the lake where the children and Maria fell in, the Trapp house, the trees and avenues where then children played and sang and the bridge across the Salzach River. 

Special food!

Before

AFTER - OH DEAR!

All cows in Austria look like this

Look at me - I am at the gazebo.

The Church at Mondsee
where Maria and The Captain
 were married in the film.

I stood right where maria stood and loved every minute.
What a dill!

Aren't we sweet?

The lake where everybody fell in and got wet.

Climb every mountain!

Dorky dancing and singing on the bridge
 - perhaps he really should have been wearing a curtain!

We had a very late lunch at an Italian Restaurant in the old town and then went in search of the lift to the cliff top – no luck. Perhaps we will achieve that goal tomorrow. Wandering through Salzburg is a great way to spend some time and eventually we arrived back at the hotel - tomorrow is another day in which to explore this fascinating place.