The Bakers Grand European Vacation

The Melk Abbey is likely the most famous abbey in Austria. It was built between 1702 and 1736 as a royal palace with ceremonial courts, guest apartments, grand halls and a library.

In the 11th century, Leopold II of Babenberg presented the palace to the Benedictine monks who turned it into an abbey.

Today 22 monks live and work here. The Abbey can accommodate up to 100 monks. The premises also house a private Catholic school of about 800 students. You could see them heading into the gym and working in art class drawing one of the sculptures. I can’t imagine going to school in a place like that where 500k visitors from all over the world visit annually.

We decided to walk around the gardens a bit before heading back to the bus. We only had about twenty minutes and the bus was a little bit away. Greg took us back into the forest assuring me we would have plenty of time to get back. Hate to admit he was right.

Pictures weren’t allowed inside so these pics are from postcards that we bought.

We were fortunate enough to get a table in Milo’s section for lunch. He saw Carey and Linda walk in and ushered them to his last open table. His wingman Erwin (who is also pretty amazing) added six menus to the table assuming that Jane and Paul was now officially part of our party.

Jane and Paul were a no show though so our hall neighbors Lynda and Gerry sat with us as well as another couple whose names escape me.

We were on the later bus tour to the Melk Abbey so we had almost 40 mins to spare between lunch and heading for the bus. We decided to head off the boat to see what we could see.

We made our way back to the boat in time to grab our crap to head to the bus for the tour to the Abbey.

This morning was scenic sailing through the Wachau Valley which is between Vienna and Melk.

It’s a cold 36 degrees this morning so we are bundling up to head up to the sundeck.

But first we obviously need to eat some more so we met for breakfast at 7:30am. The good scenery was estimated to start around 8:30am.

I ordered French toast from the menu and it was literally the best I’ve ever had. This might be on rotation.

The remainder of this post is basically going to just be a picture book. We saw so much and I’m so far behind I can’t even figure out the details.

Despite my multiple layers I’m freezing. Just then an angel appeared.

Greg called me over to the other side of the boat. I thought he wanted to show me something but it was even better. Hot air was coming up from the side of the boat and felt amazing.

We enjoyed our three hour scenic cruise. Now time for lunch.

Carey and I decided to skip this evening’s port talk in order to ensure we got a table in Milo’s section. I was under the impression that the restaurant doors opened at 6:45pm (15 mins before dinner and at the same time as the port talk)

We grabbed some chairs near the doors and waited. And waited. Around 7 people started coming down from the port talk but the doors hadn’t been opened yet. I jumped up and got in line behind another couple and prepared to stake my claim.

We were successful in getting a table in Milo’s section with Jane and Paul rounding out our table of 6. I decided to get real crazy and try to get the sweetest wine I could get (the only ones I like.) Greg picked this one out for me and it was delicious. Carey said it tasted like the Mountain Dew of wines.

For dessert I had lemoncello sorbet. I ate it too fast to take a pic.

After dinner we headed back up to the lounge for an Austrian history talk that Gavin arranged. I can’t say I listened too much…was too busy catching up on the blog.

Another late night. Have I mentioned I can’t hang with these retired people?

We have had a fun afternoon in Vienna despite the rain, cold and store closures. We have seen all we can see here without venturing fairly far outside city center by Uber or subway so we decide to head back.

I decided to google translate the sign I’d seen earlier to see if I was right about it being something I’d like.

So the word wiener is everywhere but the meaning seems to be different depending on how and what’s it used with. I decided to translate wiener and it translated to wiener.

On August 10, 2008, we took the kids (so tiny then) to a Lipizzaner farm just outside of Chicago for a performance. It was so impressive to watch them perform and the horses were beautiful.

While we were unable to make it to a performance at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna we were able to schedule a tour of their facilities. I felt a little guilty about going without Maddie but clearly that didn’t stop me.

Emperor Maximillian II imported his horses from Spain in 1521 and in 1562 established the court stud. In 1562 the riding school was founded to train young men to be cavaliers. These horses were never used in battle due to their stature and high price tag but it still allowed men to learn how to ride and battle.

In 1580, the Emperor’s brother established a stud farm at Lipizza, which is now in Slovenia. This is where the breed gets its name. Because the borders of these countries have changed so much over time, the stud farm has been moved back to Austria.

The Spanish Riding School is located in the Hapsburg Palace and the horses are owned by the country of Austria.

The school only had an outdoor arena until Charles VI built one between 1729-1736. He wanted to be acknowledged for building this so there is a huge painting of him inside the arena. The riders take their hats off as they get to center ring as a thank you to him to this day.

The Riding School has 111 horses. Not all are currently trained. They are leaving tonight to take 29 horses to London to begin a traveling show.

Rider training takes 8-12 years. To qualify you must be between 16-24 years of age, be no taller than 5’7” with long legs, speak German, be eligible to work in Austria, have basic riding skills and not be too heavy weight wise. Women weren’t allowed to apply until 2008 when the government ruled to allow both women as well as non-Austrians. If a rider is accepted they start as an apprentice which is basically doing stable work for the first year. After that they start as a proper student where they ride different horses over the next three years. They ride for about an hour a day while also working in the stables.

The next step is an assistant rider where they are assigned their own horse to train. Only mares perform and begin training at around 5 years with their assigned rider. Eventually riders are promoted to oversee 5-9 horses and new riders. Riders stay at the school until they retire at age 60.

Each rider gets two saddles that are custom made for them. A practice saddle and a performance saddle. Each horse has two bridles, a practice one and a more ornate one for performances.

Pictures were not allowed in the inside stable but could be taken outside. Horses are named based on the blood line as well as with the mother and father’s name. Each stall had the horses specific food recipe on the doors. Some horses have dust allergies so the hay must be washed before it’s put in their stalls, others get shavings rather than hay. And then some are kept in outside stalls because of their dust allergies.

We also weren’t allowed to pet them. Apparently years ago they allowed people to pet them but someone came with a communicable disease and many horses died as a result of being infected by that guest. Was soooo difficult not to pet them or give them treats but still such a fun day to get to see them up close.

Someday I will be back for an actual performance but in the meantime I’m planning a trip to Chicago to see them next summer.

Despite the fact that we had coffee and desserts around 10:30 we are on the hunt for lunch. We kept thinking we would happen upon a place that was open and looked good but many places are closed and the others we have seen have been mainly coffee houses with just pastries.

The search continues…

There was a giant gaming festival set up in Rathausplatz that was free. Greg acted like he wanted to walk through the large queue to get in but at those point I’m starting the get hangry. And also we don’t game.

We have a tour scheduled at the Spanish Riding school soon so lunch is a priority. We ended up at the most delicious place ever…Five Guys! Not gonna lie, it really hit the spot.

Next stop is the Spanish Riding School!

The amount of people stopping to pose for ridiculous poses is absurd. It’s literally happening everywhere and it’s just stupid.

I made the comment that I just can’t deal with the stupidity and Greg made the comment he should re-enact some. Yes!

Enjoy…

We had to wait for two girls to try and get the perfect pic by propping their camera up and doing multiple poses. We finally just went to the side thinking we had waited long enough. As we were taking these the girls asked if we wanted a pic together so basically we would then take their pic in return. It was a good trade off!

Next to the farmers market type thing was a butterfly house that has over 400 butterflies flying around. We decided to pay to go in. Probably a tourist trap but was fun and pretty nonetheless.

More of my picture book to continue as we walked through town.

We walked into a farmers market sort of thing. It was mostly plants and olive oil type things but fun to walk around.