Notice how grey and dirty the chandeliers look - that is not because they haven't been cleaned but because of the high lead content in the crystal. They sparkled when on.
COLOGNE, GERMANY
We woke to cloudless skies and got to breakfast at 8. There was enough food to feed an army but we managed to restrain ourselves having a fairly light meal. We went to a briefing at 9:30 and chose the tours for the next part of the voyage. We lunched in the Bistro as they had one of my favourite dishes - Nasi Goring - Indonesian food.
Then it was off on tour. We had a short bus ride and were dropped off at the Cologne Cathedral, a massive structure started in the 1200s and only finished in the 1800s - due to lack of money. Now that it is finished, money is required for its upkeep - 35,000 Euros per day! We saw the solid gold casket made for the bones of the Magi which Constantine's mother removed from Syria. You can choose to believe it or not but according to our guide, modern testing has revealed that the time frame would be correct. Our guide, Wolfram, was excellent - a good sense of humour and a wealth of information.
From there, we went to a ...
MELK, AUSTRIA AND CRUISING THROUGH THE WACHAU VALLEY
We docked early this morning in Melk and are to visit the "Magnificent Baroque Abbey of Melk". We have free time until we depart for a cruise through the Wachau Valley en route to Vienna. The Valley is considered to be one of the most picturesque areas along the Danube and is a prime wine growing area.
At 5:00 pm we are scheduled to leave for Vienna by bus in all our finery for a "Sparkling" Event at the Palais Ferstel for dinner and a show of Viennese Musical Traditions. It is supposed to be the highlight of this trip but we are not too sure about it. The menu doesn't appeal and neither of us likes the feeling of being trapped for 5 hours if we are not enjoying ourselves.
The Abbey Museum tour was a little boring - but we did learn that 30 monks reside there and that a school of 900 pupils occupies much of the building. The exception was the Church - Baroque in the extreme. The amount of g...
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