Saturday June 2

This was a very busy day. It was filled with locks and castles and sights and laughs.
We went to the dining room for breakfast and we happened to meet Ben and Jan. We enjoyed another visit with them. I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They were so very good. The syrup served with them was a blueberry syrup which was great.

We were scenic sailing through the Wachau Valley. It is a serene tapestry of terraced vineyards, forested slopes, charming towns and castles here in Austria. The Wachau Valley is celebrated as the most scenic stretch of the Danube. This UNESCO sight is 18 miles long. The vineyard history stretches back as far as Roman times. There were more than 30 monasteries that served as vineyards in Renaissance days.

We went to the sundeck to view and to here the commentary. Viking staff came around with hot chocolate and later with blankets. It was cool and cloudy so that was a nice touch. We have been lucky with weather until this morning. When it began to spit rain we returned to our room.

Lunch was early because we arrive at Welk around eleven. We had lunch with Paula and George and Frank and Sandy. It is so much fun meeting new people. George and Paula will celebrate 47 years of marriage on Tuesday. It was so pleasant and lots of laughs were had by all.

 Our tour is at 12:30. We were told the busses would be about a 7 minute walk but it was only about 2 mjnutes.
The Abbey was amazing and it did not disappoint..But I was disappointed that we could not take pictures inside the buildings. Our tour guide was very informative but before we knew it the time had come to return to the bus.
They have beautiful gardens but there was no time to check them out.:-(

When we returned from the Abbey we were treated to a pear strudel making demonstration. Sandy volunteered to assist the chef. She really got into it and seemed to be having a good time.Then there was an Austrian tea and unfortunately I sampled too many treats.

Next came a nap of course.
We attended the port lecture before dinner. Then for dinner Sandy and Frank joined us and it had to be the most fun dinner we have had in a long time. We laughed almost the entire time.


We were treated to a beautiful red sky at sunset.

So now I am back in our cabin trying to get this blog sent. The internet is NOT fast tonight so you may not get many pictures of the Wachau Valley or the Welk Abbey. ;_(

I got up at five and was able to include some pictures. We are about to leave Austria and head into Germany. Our first stop is Passau.