Sunshine this morning! After breakfast this morning we were treated to a lecture on Maria Theresa, the daughter of the Habsburg King Charles VI. She ascended the throne at age 23 when her father died unexpectedly (from poisonous mushrooms that were inadvertently picked and served) without a male heir. The lecture clarified for me several confusing points of European history. Her arch enemy, Frederick (the Great) II of Prussia grudgingly complemented her by saying “For once, the Habsburgs have got a man on the throne. And he is a woman!” She reigned from 1740 to 1780 and presided over both the Austrian War of Succession and the 7 Years war. She also had 16 children whom she married to various royalty throughout Europe to cement allies and loyalties. Marie Antoinette (Louis VI's wife who was beheaded in the French Revolution) was one of her many progeny.
After the lecture we toured the Stift Melk (Melk Abbey). The abbey dominates the town high on a bluff at the entrance to the Wachau Valley. Originally belonging to the Babenberg family, in 1089 it was given to the Benedictine monks by Leopold III. The abbey was renown for its beautiful library containing over 80,000 volumes, its baroque Church, and its winemaking.
The rest of the day was spent traversing the beautiful Wachau Valley, and photographing numerous castles, churches and picturesque Austrian towns along the banks of the Danube on our way to our final destination, Vienna. One of the castle ruins that we saw was above the town of Dürstein. This is the fortress where Richard the Lionheart was held for ransom by Austrians during his return to England after the disastrous Crusade.
The weather held all day, giving us a beautiful cruise to Vienna. By 9 PM we began to see signs of a major city, and by 10pm we were docked. We are planning to see some of Vienna, and Brendan is going to join us on board for dinner tomorrow night. After that, we’ll be on our own in Vienna (with Brendan as our tour guide, of course)
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