Wednesday, 21 Dec 2022
The ship arrived in Krems an der Donau (Literally, Krems on the Danube) this morning. This would be a brief day off ship, as we would be touring Göttweig Abbey this morning and then cruising up the Wachau Valley on the way to Passau tomorrow morning. We submitted ourselves to Carmen’s efficient care for breakfast and then got ready for the tour. It was a cold day with lots of fog. It felt like it could snow any moment.
The tour bus wound its way up from the river to the abbey perched on a ridge overlooking the town. As we climbed higher and higher, the fog thickened. The trees were coated in rime ice and there was a thin blanket of snow, making everything looking quite festive. Festive, but cold. We exited the bus and felt the damp chill of impending snow, although it did not quite produce snow while we were there.
We went inside the monastery to a receiving room where we were presented with a sample of the apricot nectar produced at the abbey. We were seated and given a brief introduction to Göttweig, and viewed a short video with a very brief sketch of the history and mission of the abbey. We then exited the building to being our walking tour.
Our guide walked us around the side of the abbey and explained that the monastery had been founded in the year 1083, so was almost 1000 years old now, although the altar of the Chapel was dedicated in 1072, making it the oldest part of the abbey. We walked into the courtyard and saw that the abbey was essentially a rectangular compound with the church in the center, walled in by the buildings. The whole perimeter had not been completed, as there were some planned wings to the compound that had never been built.
We walked through the church and saw the very ornate altar at one end and the large pipe organ at the other end, behind the pews. The intricate woodwork, with inlays of other types of wood and the liberal use of gold leaf to highlight the altar was stunning. There were carved, guilt figures and beautiful murals and eye-popping Baroque architecture. We would be coming back later for an organ recital.
We then walked out into the courtyard again to have a look at the front of the church (we had entered through the side) and then went to the museum part of the abbey. This included mostly, a review of the Paul Troger fresco painted on the ceiling over the large, baroque Imperial Staircase. The staircase itself was magnificent, with wide, shallow steps to accommodate ascendance in baroque costumes. The fresco above was titled, The Apotheosis of Charles VI, depicting Charles VI at the pinnacle of power in a chariot as Apollo. The rest of the fresco is filled with many different vignettes symbolizing many religious aspects of the rule of Charles VI.
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We had a little time to walk around and look things over before making our way back to the church for the organ recital. We shuffled into the knave and round seats on the left side. It was quite cold, and we would be sitting still for half an hour or so. Eventually, everyone was seated and the concert began. It was difficult to place much enjoyment in the event while trying to keep warm – particularly the feet. After an interesting bit of Holiday music (including a segment of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”) played on the very large pipe organ, we were released and gratefully began moving to regain warmth in our extremeties.
Our next event was a wine tasting featuring the wines made by the abbey. The specialty of the abbey vineyard was Grüner Veltliner. This proved to be a nice, fruity wine that was a good bit drier than we had been led to believe. We had been warned that the wines were somewhat sweet, but this one surprised us. We also sampled the apricot spirit distilled there – perhaps brandy or schnapps are aptly descriptive. It was quite strong and was not aged and was therefor colorless. We also perused the gift shop and were given an opportunity to purchase some of the wine. We demurred.
Soon we boarded the bus again and wound our way back down off the ridge. It was still quite foggy up at the abbey, still feeling like imminent snow, but we did have some clear views views down to the river valley. The area was quite beautiful and the little blanket of snow and the ice-trimmed trees made it feel very “Christmassy.” We hoped for better visibility in the afternoon as we traversed the Wachau Valley.
We got back to the river and we re-boarded the ship for lunch. Carmen again made sure we were properly fed and watered, and we discussed our morning with our tablemates. The ship had already got underway and the Program Director was making announcements as we passed pretty towns, castles, churches and abbeys. Occasionally, one of us would get up and go to a good window to have a look. As long as these sights were very near the river, we could see them, but visibility to any distance was limited by fog.
After lunch, I went to the lounge to see if there were any more sights to see, but my eyes were heavy. Lynn, John and Halie had already retired to their staterooms. After having one drink and hoping to see more, I gave in and also retired. We all slept gratefully this afternoon. I woke late in the afternoon in time to see Melk as we passed by. Melk Abbey went by on our port side as we went upriver. We went entered a lock just upriver from Melk, with views of the abbey just off our stern as we stepped up to the next section of river. The sun was just setting and everything was bathed in a warm, filtered light.
It was then time for the port brief. Lynn and I grabbed a drink and attended. After getting the scoop on the next day’s visit to Passau, we went to dinner, where again we were treated to some excellent food and fun at our table. Once again, we exited the dining room for a few drinks in the lounge before going to bed.