2013-07-09: On the bikes, Day Four. Near-Greine to Melk.

This morning we got up and had another amazing breakfast (sense a theme?).  While it was a nice place to stay, we were actually happy to leave this place - lots of smoke...

Goodbye, near-Greine

I don't remember a ton about our ride to Melk, other than it was very scenic :)  We did ride through the vowel-challenged town of Ybbs, which has quite an ancient history.  We didn't stop too long though.

The town of Melk itself, however, was FANTASTIC.  Holy crap, what a beautiful town.  Once we found our hotel (very pleased!) and dropped our stuff off and changed/showered, we walked around town and went up to the Abbey.  It's still a functioning Benedictine abbey, which is kind of cool.  Just an amazing building, with a ton of artifacts and history. 

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I think this tree was chilly, so they knitted a sweater for it.

Melk - sweet town

You thought I was joking about no vegetables?  (other than saurkraut, which as you know, is awesome).

 The menu above is from the place we ended up eating lunch at - really cool place, good food.  We ended up sitting at the same table as a couple of other guys, struck up a conversation with them, and found out that one of them (Steve) was from Grand Marais, but still had a house near Lake Phalen.  His friend escaped Cuba - they were both water and soil engineers, and spent a TON of time working not only in the Everglades of Florida, but also on the Donau.  Both of them long-time NATO scientists as well.  Very interesting conversation with both of them!  We dove pretty much right into the easy subjects first - politics and science policy.  Good times :)

Here is a giant in a funny hat.  Also, a crucifix!  You literally cannot swing a dead cat in old cities in Europe without hitting a crucifix.

Ana!  You've changed!

Abtes Alexander Karl knows what you did last summer and it makes him cry real tears.

Amy, powering up with some espresso! 

They take their breaks SERIOUSLY. 

Looks like they thought this bike was chilly too.  So they knitted it a sweater.

Later in the day, we went to the Melk Abbey.  Just simply an amazingly beautiful place.  Again, the pictures do it NO JUSTICE, but neither will my words, so here goes!

Slight panorama fail, but you get the idea - this is just inside one of the courtyards.

The abbey and two of its most beloved artworks.

O HAI!  MY BOOKS, LET ME SHOW THEM TO YOU!

Outside in the gardens.  Very zen.

Remember what I said earlier?

Somewhere in the world, a chess set has lost a bishop and gained a pawn.

SHE'S A WITCH!  (doesn't it look like such a calm and relaxing affair?)

Good vs. Evil - duh.  I'm sure by now you can pick out who's who :)

More good vs. evil, but it's a bit murkier in this room who is who.

Yep.

After seeing the Abbey, we went back to the hotel for dinner.  Dang!  Another homerun!  A funny sidenote about the meal was that we were super-excited to see that there were salads on the menu.  YAY FOR SALADS!  Unfortunately, as legit as Amy's Germanic language skills are, she does have a few teensy weensy gaps.  One of them being restaurant foods - when she lived in Austria, she rarely ate out...  So the "swiss salad" we ordered ended up being finely cut (wait for it....) MEATS AND CHEESES (with a nice dressing).  The irony was not lost on us at all, and laughs were had.  Discreetly.  Really.  Because we're *super* well-known for being discreet.

All hail Stiegl!  I swear to you, I can barely remember what a hoppy beer tastes like!

My darlings.

"you know what sounds REALLY good right now?  A salad!".  Excellent, here are some meats and cheeses with salad dressing and a piece of lettuce.  Mission accomplished?  Still very tasty!

Fish curry!  Man was that good.  Look - some non-meats!

Admit it, you want her hair.  WE ALL WANT HER HAIR.  Maya's Glorious Mane seems only to have gotten even more glorious in Europe. 

After dinner, we went walking to a city park that was a bit away from the usual part of the town.  Found some cool rides....

Love the unscripted-ness of this, the motion, and the emotion.  Is it any surprise at all that a random picture would capture Maya LITERALLY with a spring in her step?  She's airborne, yo.

Ella, practicing her Tarzan (although to be fair, it was more of a scream than a ululation).

This reminded all of us of a certain path we walked while in Bellagio 4 years prior.

Very highly recommended.

Tomorrow, we head to Traismauer, through Spitz (wine-tasting!) and Krems.  *Should* be a manageable 55 km day (that's what "foreshadowing" looks like, kiddies!)