We did not have a chance to explore our next stop, Krems, a pretty little university town which sits on the Danube at the eastern end of the Wachau Valley in Austria. Krems is surrounded by many terraced vineyards, and the area is known for its Riesling and Veltliner wines.
Our morning was spent touring the nearby Gottweig Abbey, with the afternoon slated for a leisurely trip up the Danube through the Wachau Valley towards Thursday's stop at Passau (from which we would take an all-day bus excursion to Salzburg).
Gottweig Abbey is a working Benedictine abbey situated on a hill high above and to the south of Krems and the Wachau Valley. A short bus trip took us from the ship to the Abbey. We had a wonderful tour, which was included as part of our Viking package, and which included sampling apricot and other wines produced at the Abbey. The grounds and buildings were beautiful, and it is easy to see why the 40+ monks who run the Abbey and work the vineyards could find a peaceful and contemplative happiness here.
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Viking runs its own fleet of buses at each stop on the voyage. Very comfortable.
These are apricot trees -- locally known as Wachauer Marillen -- on the grounds of the Abbey. The Austrians are protective of these "special" apricots in the same way that south Georgians are protective of the Vidalia brand of onions.
On each of the tours we took at each of the stops on the cruise, we were accompanied by a guide with a hand-held placard designating the tour group by the ship we were traveling on, as well as an additional number/letter designation if there was more than one tour group from the same Viking ship. In addition, the tour guide had a microphone that each tour member could tune in to on a receiver and earphone, so the tour guide's words wouldn't be lost in the sometimes noisy environment of multiple tour groups. Our placard was the Viking JARL, although the actual ship we were on was the ATLA. Not sure why they didn't match.
Our tour guide assembling her troops for our foray into the Abbey grounds. Note the earpiece in Patty's ear.
The stairs at the front of the church. Note the large window. It's not a real window, but one that has been painted on. There are multiple painted-on windows like that on the church, a result of the Abbey running out of money for windows when the church was rebuilt after a fire destroyed most of the Abbey in the early 18th century.
Painted by Paul Troger in 1739 on the ceiling in the Abbey museum, this fresco depicts the apotheosis of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo surrounded by various mythical figures.
