Danube Valley

We did make it out into the country during our visit to Vienna. We got up early and spent a day in the Danube Valley, starting out in Herzogenburg to visit an Augustinian Monastery, which was founded in 1112 and features a beautiful baroque church.

The town of Krems features several churches and a Wine Museum, not to mention the numerous actual vineyards that fill the surrounding countryside.

Dürnstein was my favorite stop of the day because of the castle fortress ruin that sits at the top of a steep hill in the center of town. It's where, during the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner by Duke Leopold V until a ransom of six thousand buckets of silver was paid. We hiked to the top and back down again before grabbing a (very!) quick lunch in town.

And our last stop of the day featured the abbey and church in the town of Melk. The Baroque Benedictine abbey is the setting at the beginning and end of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and the church not only features a beautiful organ, but is also the second place that day where we encountered elaborately dressed skeletons in glass coffins (the first was in Herzogenburg). Oooh, that's scary, kids!