Into Austria

Question.....do you know the difference between 'burg' and 'berg'......as in Regensburg and Nuremberg for example.  I didn't before this trip so I will enlighten you!

A 'burg' is a town with a castle in it and a 'berg' is a town on a hill.

Now that I've got that off my chest............

Today we started the day with a half day bus trip......not what we signed on for.....but hey, what can you do? As we head further south the effects of the flooding are becoming more and more apparent.

I tried to stay awake to take in the scenery, as it is very beautiful, and for the most part was successful!

So finally we crossed the border into Austria.

Beautiful Austria!

Due to the extensive flooding still causing problems we were unable to take the main highways so had to make all sorts of detours.......and we finally arrived in time for a late lunch on board another Amadeus ship, that is docked near the town of Melk.

We have now named our bus the 'Fun Bus'! Everyone is coping pretty well with the continued disruption of well laid plans.....a sense of humour sure helps....and our tour directors from the Amadeus line continue to do an outstanding job in making our holiday the very best they can.

We have a few Aussies on board....which adds to the fun.....the jokes and laughs are coming thick and fast.......one guy has carried Gonzo with all round Europe! Aussies eh?

Close by here is a huge Abbey for the monks of St Benedict and this afternoon we took a visit there.........and it proved to be an amazing experience.....well for me anyway!

View of the Abbey from the bus park

This Abbey is privately owned in the fact that it gets no government funding so it relies on the 400,000 - 500,000 guests that come through every year to help with its up keep.

The outer courtyard

It is a working Abbey......lots of activity going on here. Along with regular church services, there is a school on site that is growing, concerts are held in the gardens in the summer months, community work and so forth.

The start of our tour inside

There are 30 monks attached to the Abbey.....15 of them live here full time and the others serve the 15 parishes that belong to the Abbey throughout Austria.

The different rooms were most interesting...

The blue room symbolises prayer and meditation 

The green room symbolises growth

This is a tiny prayer book, the smallest in the Abbey, used by the monks when they travelled 

The room full of gold and mirrors symbolises heaven....to compensate for the darkness of life particularly though the dark ages

There is a spectacular marble dining hall that was only used for the imperial family....which was something else!

The marble dining room 

A close up of part of the ceiling 

One part that we were not allowed to take photos of was the library. There are actually 12 libraries, that hold 100,000 books in 15 languages. The oldest book is about 1100 years old. The people are not allowed to remove the books but they can read them on site.

On the balcony upstairs out from they library....

 

The view of the town of Melk is pretty stunning from this point....

But the real highlight was to come.......the church itself.

This was downstairs....so down a spiral staircase we went.......

I felt myself gasp when I walked into the chapel.......just so overwhelming......and even though it is so very different from what I am used to.....I felt the presence of God and I just simply took a pew and sat down vey quietly to take it all in. So far on this trip, this was one of the times that I felt my 'aloneness' most keenly......not alone or apart from God....but from Tony.  There's something about going into church  that does that to me.

I felt compelled to just sit.....and I was very grateful that I had about 45 minutes before I had to get back to the bus.....because I felt very emotional and tears were near the surface.

Then the most amazing thing happened.

The Bishop walked in with a bunch of dignitaries and other people......probably about 50 all up and they sat in the front section just in front of where I was.

Most of our group had long gone by this point but I noticed there were still about 4 others sitting close to where I was.  The Bishop then came over to our section and said they were just about to have a short concert and we were welcome to stay!  So we did!

Then music started coming from the huge pipe organ that was high up behind us....soft and sweet at first....then gradually swelled to a full and rich sound...filling the place so magnificently.

I almost held my breath because it seemed so magical.  But really for me anyway......it was a God moment. It was God's thumbprint on my heart.....He knew exactly how I was feeling and what music does for me....He knew what I needed at that moment.....and it so blessed me! Hard to describe really.

The piece only lasted for about 10 minutes......but it was enough!  My step was a lot lighter when I walked out of there!

Back on board the boat tonight we enjoyed our last delicious dinner......from tomorrow it will be hotels!

Fellow travellers, Patty from Hawkes Bay, Al ( a dear man - one of the most elderly men on the tour) and moi......enjoying a glass of Austrian Red :-)

Tomorrow we head to Vienna!!

Till next time.......