Melk Abby and Sail to Krems

March 27

Morning come early as we were up late last night. By the time I get ready it's almost 9:30 and time to catch the bus to Melk. At least I get a coffee and some egg squares and a pastry as I leave the boat. 

You are not allowed to take any pictures in the Abby but it's an interesting museum and the church is spectacular.

These pictures are actual in reverse order. My favorite picture is the one below on the right. As I decided to frame picture with the arc, I stepped backwards and to the side to let our group in the courtyard. However, I didn't notice the step going up and promptly tripped and fell on my back. It was strange fall. It was like it was in slow motion. I felt the step on my ankle and kind of went down like I was sitting down and rolled on my butt then back. Fortunately I was hurt and just dirtied the back of my coat.

We return to the boat and are greeted with a drink and snack. I'm too lazy to rotate this picture.

 Lunch is basic salad bar. The special today are the turkey tender and Monte Cristo sandwich.

The hot special is a chicken and a shrimp curry. Based on other opinions I only go with the chicken curry and some naan.

The non-ice cream dessert like cream puff but shaped like a doughnut. Also some amaretto balls.

We sail to Krems. Here we head to a castle that is now a residence and winery.

They have a nice cellar that was built in the 1960s.

 Some special oval casks on wheels for easy movement.

They only add a very small percentage of new barrels ever year as to not impart a lot of new oak flavor in their wines.

We taste wines afterwards. They are pleasant and they age their whites more than we do in the new world. They have a sparkling and a red as well. Reds are limited in Austria as the climate is better for whites. They also harvest multiple times including holding out a few to see if they can get an ice wine.

Back on the ship, we have dinner with the Clubbs and some other guests. The gentlemen across from me had Sister Jean as teacher! Of course l'Ecole wines are served tonight.

 Soup with pancakes. It's light but not terribly interesting.

I have been going with the chefs choice for most of the meals but the appetizer was cauliflower so I go with a salad instead.

   

The salmon is cooked perfectly. The color is good but not overcooked. It's light and fluffy but nice a salmon flavor. I'm positive it's farm raised.

 

The dessert is a nice chocolate.

Entertainment on board is just our piano player so we decide to head out instead and find a bar. Some different beer than the Bitburger on board will be nice. We got to Piano on the recommendation of the crew. We show up at the address but it looks closed. However this door doesn't look like the picture on the internet. We decide to walk around to the other side of the building and we find it. It appears to be a small local joint but the workers speak English though the menus are not in English but we survive.

Some local beers, sausage and a pretzel.