Day 5.

 This was the balcony Hitler gave the speech mentioned in my previous posting. Not the one shown. They kind of all look alike after a while. Whoops.

     We got underway from Vienna about midnight. We don't know the time for sure because we were asleep. We were advised to be out on deck around 0815 because that would be the start of some very scenic areas on the river. I thought the passage from Budapest to Vienna was very beautiful but the cruise director pooh poohed that notion. We shall see. 

     At about 0450 we were awoken by a large bump. We thought we had bumped the bottom of the river (we have heard that sound before 🤫) but we had entered a lock. We tried to go back to sleep but the noise and curiosity led us on deck. The noise was the slightly smaller river cruise boat next to us in the lock with its thrusters pushing against us pretty much at our cabin area. A loud swishing sound. We had bumped the lock wall at some point while entering. Very narrow with two ships but wider than our previous lock which could not have had two vessels side by side. It was beautiful on deck but only one other guest joined us. A fellow boater. By the time we got out there we were at max water level, the exit gate was open and we were waiting for the okay to depart. 

The other ship left first. Some high, thin clouds above us but it was mostly clear. Except for the lock area it was very dark with plenty of stars. Orion was high in the heavens with Jupiter near by. Did not spend much time identifying other stars or constellations. Out of practice. Although there were hints of the coming false dawn, we went back to bed. First breakfast was 90 minutes away. I say first breakfast not because there are multiple seatings (only one) but because today we will have multiple breakfasts 😁 🤫 🤐. 

     We fell back asleep and got up a bit late, 0740, but still got some breakfast in before the scenery jumped up to the level of amazingly beautiful. They say being on the Rhine is going to be even more beautiful but it is hard to believe it is nicer than the Wachau gorge (or valley). We will be coming into the ABC area. ABC translates into Another Beautiful Church or Another Bloody Castle. They say we will get bored with the views. We'll see. 

    Terraced vineyards 2 photos above. Famous for their dry, flinty reislings. We're told. 

     Above 2: Weisenkirchen. Remember, W is pronounced 'vee' so it's 'Veese' church.

    Those are rabbits on the roof of the church. Frozen there because of a blizzard ages ago. They will be unfrozen when the snow reaches that level again and they can hop away. Hasn't happened again. Yet. Above the zoom-in is the whole view of the church. Middle-ages battles here. 

    ABC... can't remember all the names of the castles or churches. 

     We tied up at Melk just before lunch and had a tour scheduled for 1245. We were rafted with 2 other Viking ships so it was quite a hike to get to shore. Up two extra levels (above our normal exit), across our ship then across to the next ship. Then down to the level of their exit across to the next ship which was actually tied to shore. We had to go up to their top level then go ashore but down to the dock level. After that was a climb to the top of the dike to the busses. We had travelled maybe 45 meters in a straight line but double that in actual walking. We were 30 meters from the boat and already exhausted. 🥱. It was a very short bus ride back to the Melk Abbey. We had passed it just before we had tied up. The Abbey was amazing. It was founded about 1500 years ago but did have more recent additions. Recent: about 500 years ago. This doesn't include ongoing maintenance and remodeling. No photos were allowed to be taken inside but I have a few pics of the exterior. The interior of the church was breathtaking. Had to sit down after our initial gasp. We bought a souvenir book to have photos of the interior. Will give that away to someone who will appreciate it. If you are not M&C, it's not you. Sorry. 

     After the tour we reboarded a bus and travelled about 30 minutes upriver. While we were gone the ship moved about 2 1/2 hours upriver to be where we drove to in 30 minutes. Ybbs an der Donau. Ybbs on the Danube. 

     We boarded and got underway quickly. Another lock with a hydroelectric dam was very close upriver and clearing that took some time. It took almost 30 minutes before we saw another castle. 

     This hills come right down to the water and a curve to port just beyond the other cruise ship. 

     After a talk about the next days activites and itineraries we had dinner with two new-to-us couples. Interesting conversations. One half of each coule were psychologists. We then entered the first of several overnight locks on this passage to Passau, Germany. We are not getting up for any more. 

     A long walking only tour tomorrow and a cruise on a different boat on a canal off the Danube is on the schedule. Rain is forecast. 😖