May 1, 2013 - Melk, Austria and Durnstein, Austria

In the city of Melk is "Stift Melk" or Abbey Melk. The abbey is an over 900 year old Benedictine monastery that was originally one of Leopold's castles. It was much larger than I expected and very amazing. Abbey Melk currently has 30 to 40 monks working there. They run a prestigous private secondary school with over 800 students. They also maintain a large library of medieval hand copied manuscripts as well as more current sacred literature. The church has spectacular baroque wall and ceiling frescoes. After the morning of touring the...

May 1, 2013 - Adding Durnstein to the map

In order to see Durnstein on the little Austrian map on this site, I have to make a separate entry so some of the photos will a duplicate of the previous entry. Durnstein has only approx. 900 inhabitants - it is very lovely and quaint. During the early morning hours the ship headed toward Vienna. Our cabin is located on the lower level so we hear the engine noises a bit louder than on upper decks. When I wake up in the middle of the night I try to imagine that the sounds are to lull me back to sleep. Some nights it works better than others.

Dec 23, 2012 - Melk

On the way to Cesky Krumlov, we stopped at Melk to tour Melk Abbey on the Danube River, one of the world's most famous monastic sites. Not only did it have interesting museum rooms, but the most amazing library of 300 year old books and one of the most magnificent chapels we have seen.

Oct 4, 2012 - Melk and the Wachau Valley World Heritage Site

Oct 4 Stift Melk (abbey) We picked up a travel package at the tourist office in Vienna that gave us train tickets (two different routes) to Melk from Vienna and to Vienna from Krems and a boat tour on the Danube from Melk to Krems. Normal timing would have had us leave at 8:30 am but Grammar wanted more time in Melk; so we left, with me sleepy and grumbly, at 6:45am. One of the reasons we went so early was to catch the English tour of the abbey. Rosie and Gary had said it was good - and it was - very, very well done. Melk is a very cute...

Aug 24, 2012 - Austria - Melk & Krems

17th August 2012 (Bed 64) A stop off in Melk on the way to Krems proved to be a very wise move. This very small village had one major attraction which was Melk Abbey. I am not even going to try to describe this place, so look at the photos. See how beautiful they look and then imagine them looking twice as good. As we all know, cameras are not as good as the naked eye. After a walk around Krems we arrived at our Pension and instantly knew why it was given a 9.2 rating on the reviews of booking.com. Our room was absolutely beautiful with a...

Mar 7, 2012 - Day 61 - "Chinese Ice Cream?"

The final stop before we return to base... Two nights here, again in a hotel already familiar with this tour, but not with me. No internet in the rooms again but they were (although small) nice enough rooms. They didn't really live up to the look of the rest of the building - downstairs, the foyer, bar and restaurants along with the sauna and conference rooms were beautiful - the rooms less so. We had a three show day in a beautiful theatre, which housed its own revolve. There was a massive audience for the second show and they were really...

Mar 2, 2012 - Day 56 - "Back to the Future IV - the passing of wind"

Today was "one of those days" as the saying goes!! We arrived in Wiener Neustadt yesterday (Thursday)and gotthe receptionists back up, from the off. The poor lady was trying to tell us where to park the van - but Hannah had other ideas... the arguement seemed to go on for ages... everytime the lady behind the desk suggested something Hannah would go "ermmmmm - hmmmmmm - but we parked here last time!" Me and Luke looked on in disbelief and embarrassment - it probably wasn't the same woman! The journey was just as traumatic, me being told...

Feb 14, 2012 - Day 39 - "It's baaasicallllyyyy a LARD sandwich!"

So.... here we are in Mistelbach. Arrived this afternoon after a weekend in Vienna. We got the on Friday after a long drive back from Austria's deep (Nationalist) south and had to go to Base to check in with everyone. One of the other tours was leaving though, so we all sat around, had a couple of free beers and some snacks before heading to the Phonixhof! Me and Luke had been looking forward to our steaks all day!!! Tosin joined us and they didn't dissapoint... well not me. Luke and Tosin were gutted because they had small steaks, I had...

Jan 12, 2012 - Day 6 - "Cooking on....electric!"

Not happy - I've just typed all of this once and the bloody computer froze on me - so now it will be inevitably brief! First two shows done!! Mucked the lines up in the first show and missed out a crucial plot point but the cast got us back on track. Second show was word perfect and I really enjoyed it. Helene from the V.E.T and Alison both said it was great and the cast have been really supportive in their comments today! Especially Tosin!! We had a big meal on the company today which was nice, and although I was tempted to have the...

Jan 11, 2012 - Day 5 - Hassle free tea!!

Weather: Not too cold slightly overcast. Hotel name:Öhlknechthof Hotel Click to view. Well I did my first and last dress rehearsal today before I open tomorrow.... Still need to clarify the lines in scene one - oddly the scene I've looked at most... it's just so bloody repetitive. it's just so bloody repetitive. It's just so - anyway you get the idea!! Apart from that it went well for my first proper run. Alison's pleased, and commented I was making "more sense of it....the way it should be" so that's good. Matt's gone home today, so now...

Jan 10, 2012 - Day 4 - "It's all a bit.... new!"

Evening, half six over here, so I've bedded down in my room for the night. Hope everyone is well over there. So i've done my first journey in the van to Krems, although I've not driven yet - get the worry of the show out of the way first!!! Seen the show three times now - but it's not really helping, as the actor I'm replacing has a very different take on it than I do... however getting the chance to run the scenes and learn the movements etc is great. It's more like a musical theatre process than a play though - as I'm replacing someone in...

Nov 4, 2011 - Melk

Melk, Durnstein, Weissenkirchen (Wachau Valley). We entered the picturesque countryside of Austria. The Melk abbey, one of the most famous and visited cultural sights in Austria was out of this world - Gold gold and more gold. We arrived in Durnstein after lunch. This quaint village is dominated by the ruins of the castle where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned during the time of the crusades, and is considered as the Pearl of the Wachau Valley. This was another charming village – quiet and like something out of a fairy tale. Amazing.