Melk III

I must talk about food again (and fear not, gentle reader, I will not be filling you in on every meal I eat). I had lunch at the Stift restaurant. The setting was lovely; one could sit outside on this warm summer day and enjoy the sight of the garden and the monastery. There were several meatless choices on the menu. I had potato/cheese fritters. They were deep fried and delectably light and crispy, served with a sour cream sauce. Not only was the food excellent (and the price surprisingly reasonable), but the presentation of the meal was delightful; the plate was imaginatively decorated as in the finest restaurants. That too is part of the Austrian culture: everything is done with elegance and style.
The village of Melk sits at the foot of the hill. I understand that it has been raining in this part of Europe for weeks and that the weather changed only yesterday. I guess I lucked out on that too.

Melk II

Stift Melk

The young man at the front desk asked me where I was headed this morning. I told him I was planning to visit Stift Melk. It's about two hours further north, on the Danube. He suggested I take a scenic route, one that was actually shorter than the route I planned on taking. He then went to his computer and printed out the directions for me. Now that is gracious hospitality! It was a lovely drive indeed.
Stift Melk is one of the most glorious of Baroque structures in all of Europe. It was built in the 17th century in the throes of counter-Reformation zeal. I found it curious that the written history of the events of that century that I read in the monastery acknowledged that the church had become lax (avoiding the term 'corrupt') and glossed over the fact that the Hapsburg realm had actually joined the Reformation for a while before being forcibly re-catholized later on. The monastery, an enormous complex of buildings, perches on a hill overlooking the Danube. It is visible from the train on the Salzburg-Vienna line. I have seen it before, from a distance, and it is a jaw-dropping sight. Today was my chance to finally visit it. The jewel in the crown of Melk is the library which holds over 100,000 volumes. I surreptitiously snapped a pic (flash photography verboten) when the guard was otherwise occupied. The church itself is another jewel. If Mariazell was riotously Baroque, the Melk church can be described as a veritable orgy, a Baroque Bacchanale. Egads! Every single inch of space is decorated in the most flamboyant manner. It's gorgeous, but a bit much for my taste.