Trip to Melk and Dürnstein

On Tuesday morning we woke up around 7:00, had breakfast in the mensa (cafeteria). At 8:30 the buses left for Melk and at 10:00 we celebrated a Franciscan mass at the Melk monastery cathedral which as you can see, is absolutely amazing!

On all school planned trips, we always begin our day with mass in the church located in the town/city we are visiting – the mass is celebrated in these churches by our own Franciscan friars, our choir, lectors etc. It really is an amazing experience especially because these churches are some of the oldest and most gorgeous churches in the world! At approx 11 o’clock we were given a tour of the Melk monastery. Our tour guide was fantastic! She was 19 years old and a graduate of the high school at Melk monastery, and she definitely knew her stuff. At 12:30pm we ate lunch paid by the university – in other words, we paid for it, but we have the glory of not having to pay the bill at that moment :P At 2:00 we left Melk and headed to Dürnstein. Some history about Dürnstein: there are approx 1,000 inhabitants, it is considered the most romantic town in the lower valley of Austria and the most visited town along the Danube River. It is also known for its grapes and apricots. It is considered the most romantic town because of its many wine shops and location near the beautiful Danube River. King Richard the Lionheart was also held captive here during... ? First we walked to the ruins of the battle fought there – it was a steep walk up the hill but totally worth it!

On the way down, I was with Sarah and my friend Lydia and we just spent a relaxing time walking in town and exploring the shops :) We soon ran into some more friends who had ice cream! Ah! And the best part was it cost a euro a scoop. I was so happy with my ice cream! Note: I’m more than positive, about 60% of that happiness was from the fact it was such a great price ;) Before the buses left at 5:30, most of the students just played around in the river!