Melk castle.
This concert venue canceled. Here are details about the replacement.
Alma Deutscher Plays Mozart & Strauss.
Delight in an enchanting evening of music with a privileged access performance led by the renowned Alma Deutscher. Alma will act as both conductor and violinist in an enthralling concert of old and new music. Born in 2005, Alma is a musical prodigy who has captivated the classical world, selling out her Carnegie Hall debut at age 14 and being hailed as the ``new Mozart.'' Tonight, revel in a stirring presentation of timeless music as she leads the historic Strauss Capelle, the orchestra with a tradition going back nearly 200 years to the iconic composer himself, through renditions of the music of Mozart and the waltzes of Strauss, as well as her own compositions. After, return to your ship, no doubt humming many of the evening's melodies.
The schedule today was different. The field trip started at 11:45 instead of the usual 9 am (or even 8:15 am). Breakfast was earlier, making room for a brunch instead of a lunch. The extra time in the morning could be spent up on the top deck sightseeing.
After a late breakfast, we did some sightseeing from the upper deck of the boat. We were sailing through the scenic Wachau Valley. The valley is known for its wine growing. There were also castles and a huge monastery (Melk Abbey) up on a distant hill. The scenery was very nice.
Melk castle.
Scenery along the Wachau Valley section of the Danube.
A small vinyard.
One castle was very high up and had a commanding view of the river. Sometime during the Medieval period, the resident Duke turned pirate. His thugs would kidnap the family of any boat captain who was sailing near and dangle the family over the rock near his castle so that the captain would pay all he had as a ransom. The nearby villagers eventually disguised themselves to get into the castle and ended the guy's reign.
The Bloody Duke's Castle.
The main field trip was to Göttweig Abbey. We headed out on a bus from the town of Krem.
Göttweig Abbey.
Here are two photos of the Abbey Chapel.
The Abbey Chapel.
The organ pipes in the Abbey Chapel.
After viewing the Abbey, the bus took us to the town of Tulln, where we reunited with the Atla. It then sailed towards Vienna, arriving during dinner. In Tulln, we encountered an intriguing lifesize sculpture.
Intriguing Sculpture.
There was a plaque nearby with a description of the sculpture. It was, of course, in German. But Google Translate and some photo joining (of the translation) gave me this:
Intriguing Sculpture's Description.
Here is a picture of the Viking Atla in full view on the river (without us onboard at the time). Our cabin was the last double-doors on the bottom right (ignoring the small steerage windows at river level)
The Viking Atla on the Danube.
Before dinner there was a brief waltz demonstration. The two dancers performed the Blue Danube Waltz. Then they told us that the Waltz grew from two sources: the aristocratic Minuet, and a rowdy peasant dance named the Ländler. This occurred in the ship's lounge, which is a lousy venue for viewing a dance demonstration (but the best place available).
The Waltz
After dinner we bussed to Vienna (Wien in German; pronounced Veen). There we listened to a wonderful concert.
The venue was the historic House of Strauss (where Strauss actually did perform many of his waltzes). The hall seats about 150 people and we were front row center! (It was a seat-yourself event and all the people that went in before us chose to leave the righthand front row empty. We were less than 10 feet from Alma when she conducted and played violin and less than 15 feet from her when she performed on the piano.
Alma Deutscher.
Here is the program. You may want to leave it open in the new tab while reading what follows.
This is my favorite event (at least so far) of this trip.