4/8/2024 Melk, Austria and Melk Abbey

 This morning we took a tour of Melk Abbey. A beautiful Abbey on teh bankd of the Danube in Austria.  The photos are limited in that you are not allowed to photograph in the main buildings, however the garden pavillion with its frescos on the walls and ceilings give a glimpse at the much mor elegant and ornate church in the heart of the abbey.  The abbey is also an active boarding school with about 200 students (both boys and girls) between the ages of 11 and 18.

The Entrance Courtyard. The wing to the right is the school and dormatories and the wing to the left is a museum. You only see half of each wing from here as it is a big H with each side being 270 meters long.

Courtyard Fountain

Front of church

The artist that did the interior of the Rose Garden Pavillion, also created some fanciful characters for the garden

The Pavillion

The following several pictures are inside the pavillion, I thought this was very reminescent of the frescos at the Wurtzburg Bishop's Residenz

Behind the pavillion you can take a path which has some great views across the Danube to the town of Emmersdorf

There were also some nice areas along the path to sit.  Some of the 

students use these as study areas or to visit away from the dorms.

After leaving Melk, we cruised through the Wachau Valley, a major wine 

region in Austria

In the the town of Krems, there was an excursion for guests to visit a winery.

We stayed on board and the Executive Chef and the pastry chef did a demonstration of how to make Apple Strudel. (they also served us 

some while we were watching).