Friday, august 12

We just spent the night in the outskirts of Munich this time, since we'll be returning in a week to actually explore the city.  So we got up early and started the drive to Vienna - about a 4.5 hour journey.

It was yet another rainy, dreary day, which was fine for a heavy driving day.  We did manage to find a museum-ish educational sight along the way - the Melk Abbey in Austria.  Located on the banks of the Danube River, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular stop for those Viking River Cruises you see advertised so heavily in the States.  As such, it's overwhelmed with tourists, with guided tours leaving every hour in multiple languages.

​There's a long boring history to the place that doesn't need repeating here.  The most interesting thing about this monastery is that it's still in operation housing monks and providing education to around 900 students.  We were hoping to get a glimpse of the daily life of its current inhabitants, but no such luck.  The tour consisted mostly of an underwhelming museum, but we did get to walk through the impressive monastic library (no photos allowed) and the excessively gaudy Baroque-style cathedral.  It's what Jesus would have wanted?

We both agreed this site wasn't our favorite, but now we know.

On to the carrot at the end of this stick of a long and frustrating drive - Vienna!  We have both been to Vienna before, albeit briefly.  We were excited to return and really get to know this beautiful and elegant city.  We arrived in time to settle into our spacious and centrally located Airbnb apartment, a total steal of a deal.  After freshening up, we headed out for a very local-style and "cheapfully delicious" (Hirsh's phrase, of course) kebab dinner on the waterfront.  While this photo may look like a Coca-Cola advertisement, there's really kebab in there!

And obviously there was gelato from THE gelato place in Vienna.