Carry On Up The Danube – Part Five

Carrying on with my wonderful river Danube cruise on Emerald Star, Monday evening saw us depart from Linz for an overnight sailing to the little town of Melk . Now sailing down the Austrian part of the river and, for me, it was quickly becoming the most interesting part of the cruise.

One of the beauties of river cruising is that you can do as much, or as little, as you want with out worrying that you have missed out on any part of the journey. Yes the excursions are included but no one is forcing you to get up and go at unearthly hours every morning, the ships moor close to the towns and villages along the way, so if you fancy a lie in one day you can still get up at leisure and wander into the town.

I think everyone had settled in to the cruise beautifully by now which meant that Monday night was quite a late one with lost of people still in the bar in the early hours of the morning, destroying the myth that river cruising is quiet in the evening! So time for a little lie in as well as chance to sample breakfast in the main restaurant was excellent! Everything you could possibly want to start the day off.

The town of Melk is famous for its Benedictine Abbey set above the town of  on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube river, adjoining the beautiful Wachau valley. As we were a little bit ” church and abbeyed ” out by now, we decided to take the gentle walk along to the town which has lovely cobbled streets and little shops – perfect for a morning stroll ! Then it was back to our Star for lunch and the afternoons sailing along the valley – pronounced “Wack How” !

The Wachau Valley is a stunningly beautiful part of the river between Melk and Krems, it was listed by UNESCO as “Wachau Cultural Landscape” in recognition of its architectural and agricultural history, in December 2000. It is a region or pretty villages, vineyards and lush agricultural land and makes a wonderful backdrop for the afternoon sailing along the Danube towards the little village of Durnstein.

Durnstein  was the place where, in the castle above the town, Richard The Lionheart was held captive by Leopold Duke of Austria during the 3rd Crusade! His mother paid a huge ransom equivalent to three years income of the entirety of England for his release, almost bankrupting the country. It is also the place where Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed stayed at the beginning of their relationship, still trying to keep a low profile.

A steep climb up through the tiny cobbled  streets leads to an enchanting little town also famous for its Apricot liquor or Marille which is delicious! If you like Bellinis hear is my apricot version:

Take a champagne glass and add about 1/2 inch Marille liquor, then add a third of apricot juice – a squeeze of lemon and top up with Prosecco – delicious !

The town has lots of lovely little shops and oddities – including the little Leprechaun or two!! We all had  a lovely day as we headed back to the ship and onwards to Vienna – the best was still yet to come!