Tues., 7.17.18 Krems, Austria
- Jul 17, 2018
- 3 min read
Breakfast at 7:30 this morning, board bus at 8:15 to go to the Gottweig Abbey. The Abbey houses about 50 Benedictine monks currently. In addition to providing tours to make money, the monks and staff grow apricots for preserves, juice, and liquor, and also make wine. The property is beautiful, well maintained, with breath-taking views of the Wachau Valley. Guests can reserve rooms or book retreats. The restaurant looked pretty nice, too!
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Our guide was very enthusiastic and showed us all around with interesting commentary. Walking through one of the peaceful courtyards, we saw a group of guests practicing yoga, who seemed to have been staged there for our enjoyment. Later I saw them in a circle with a dance instructor in the middle, following her directions and example to the beat of live drums. I wanted to defect from the staid seniors in my group and join in the fun!
The church was elegant in its simplicity. The museum was beautiful with a giant staircase with very deep steps, but short four inch rise. Very regal.
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When we returned to the ship, we had our first lunch onboard in the restaurant. We then set sail for scenic cruising through the Wauchau Valley. Oliver toured us through and we watched on the top deck. Quite lovely. The Viking longship is the smoothest vessel I have ever had the pleasure of cruising on. There is hardly any motion or vibration when sailing. I wouldn't know whether we were docked or moving unless I looked out to the shore. Also, the Egil is sooooo quiet! The staterooms must be well insulated, because I can hardly hear any voices or movement.
The rooms are small (perhaps 200 sq. ft. plus a small balcony), but well designed, crisp and clean. The housekeeper is in at least twice a day but I have yet to see her/him. The bed is always made and the bathroom spotless. The air conditioning keeps the air dry and almost too cool. The bathroom floor is heated.
Dinner was excellent again- I had a German beef specialty called Zwiebelrostbraten served with mashed potatoes and topped with fried onions.
After dinner, we attended the "Music Trivia" night. I attempted to channel G Pfitz's competitive spirit, but alas, lacked his competent knowledge base. I did, however, team up with my talented travel companions and together we came up with some impressive answers. I put myself in charge of writing the answers, most of which came immediately and confidently from John. The one question that he was less sure of was the year Casablanca was filmed. He thought 1942 or 1943, choosing to stick with 1943 (the correct answer was 1942, so we lost four points).
But, not to worry! We won the contest anyway! The prize was a bottle of wine from the Gottweig Vineyards. Way to go!
We found out just before dinner that our cruise needs to be re-routed as the river is too shallow to pass through past Passau. This was a concern which was passed on to us by email last week, but we did not find out until today that it needs to be addressed.
We'll learn more tomorrow.
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