This weekend we made a day trip out to Dürnstein in the Wachau. I’ve visited before, but wanted to show it to the husband. And anyway, now I have a better camera!
We had a hearty lunch at the Sänger Blondel, named for the minstrel who supposedly rescued Richard the Lion Heart from Dürnstein castle. Afterwards we visited Stift Dürnstein, then hiked up to see the castle ruins.
A little wine and apricot shopping, a small kugel of apricot ice cream, and the day was complete.
(Click any photo to open a slide show with captions.)
Gastgarten at the Sanger Blondel
The Abbey
Entrance to the Abbey courtyard
Totally heterosexual dude guarding the Abbey gate
Friendly reminder at the entrance to the church
Lotta confessin’ going’ on
Top of a confessional
Nice statue
The altar
The choir
Some kind of ceremonial bells with their own pillow
The high altar
Nice angel
A bishop?
Resident saint
Not creepy at all
Unusual folk needlework altar covering
Slovak-style cross-stitch on linen
Donations accepted in this wine barrel
Nicely carved door
Meditation terrace with a beautiful view
Cherub
Cherub overlooking the Donau
The Abbey tower
The Wachau is a web of hiking and biking trails
Heading up to the ruins
A cafe in a courtyard
Grapevines are planted all the way up the hill
Looking up at the ruins
From the ruins
From the ruins
Hikers resting
Street in the town
Alle marille
This beaver guy is found everywhere in Austria
The main street in Duernstein
A tiny shop under the town gate
Weissenkirche, on the way home
Most of the Wachau is devoted to wineries with ancient stone terraces climbing the hills
Well, That Was Different 
Wow. I forgot how epic the churches can be.
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Such beauty. The ‘resident saint’ has be a bit creeped out. I guess there is no guessing if the box really holds something when it is see through.
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That looks great. My wife and I are assigned to Vienna and will get there next year after language training. We’re definitely looking forward to some culture and greenery. Kabul has both, I guess, it is just very hard to experience without being shot at.
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