Melk and Krems

I've got to catch you up! It's been radio silence on my end because of a perfect storm of events: tragedy in Japan, trip to Melk and Krems, super increased workload because of nuclear events in Japan, food poisoning, and then lots of folks visiting Vienna/my birthday. Seriously, guys, I've been feeling guilty for *not* updating this thing, which is just sad since it's: a) not great literature and b) not that widely read. But I think it's the Swarthmore curse - forever doomed to feel guilty.

First, the tragedy in Japan has pretty much been all-consuming for me. That first weekend after it happened, I had a tightness in my chest that wouldn't go away, and I couldn't stop obsessively checking the news for updates, even though each new piece of news was worse than the last. In a way, it's good that I went on the day trip to Krems and Melk, if just to forcibly get myself away from a computer. Since the tragedy, much of my time at work has been spent following the nuclear crisis there and trying to figure just what the heck is going on. The Japan mission at the VIC had a concert in the atrium to inspire donations for relief efforts, and they had volunteers accosting people (good for them - I'm glad they didn't just sit there and wait for people to go to them) on their way to lunch, asking for donations. Simultaneously, there has been a committee on narcotics meeting at the VIC, which has meant more protests (this seems to be a bi-weekly thing here) and an artistic yet ghoulish show in the atrium that drove home the point that drugs = death.

Anyway, two weekends ago, I went to Melk and Krems with Val (pictures on facebook). Melk is a beautiful and stunning abbey that houses only 30 Benedictine monks. It used to be a larger order, but, well, I suppose the monk lifestyle is not that appealing these days. I say they should give it time - I know some recent grads who might turn to that profession out of exasperation at the rest of the world's perception of the worth of their degree. When we got to Melk, as usual, we had no idea where we were going but thought we should head toward the huge abbey looming in the distance. It turns out we went the back way, stumbled upon an overgrown cellar that may have been a part of the abbey once-upon-a-time, found a path up to the back of the abbey, and then walked along the service road that snaked back around to the front entrance. Because it was winter time, guests are only allowed on the grounds by purchasing a guided tour. This was fine with me - our tour guide was pretty knowledgeable and friendly. The grounds are enormous, and I was happy to learn that half of them are used as a school. We saw no monks on our tour.

After eating lunch in Melk, we headed back to the train station with the idea we'd make our way to Krems, which is supposed to be a cute town that is a popular summer destination. At the train station, the computer allowed us to buy a ticket to Krems. OK, excellent. Now...which side of the platform do we go to? And which train do we take? No clue. After wandering a bit, we decided to ask a fellow with a bicycle. He said that we should take a bus instead. So we headed out to the bus depot, which was completely deserted, and proceeded to check every bus stall's schedule to find the bus to Krems. I thought I found it, and it said the last bus there had left 3 hours ago. Darn. We headed back to the train station as a bus pulled up, and bicycle man asked if we'd found the bus. We said no, he had a conversation with the bus driver of the bus that just pulled up, and the bus driver walked by us and said, "Yes, you want to take my bus. I leave in 20 minutes." When we got on the bus and showed him our train tickets, he looked at them, confirmed they went to Krems, said, "Bah, it's fine" and waved us on.

The bus ride was about an hour, and I'm really glad we took it. It stopped in a bunch of little towns along the way...as in, drove into the smaller streets of some of them (we had only a few inches clearance on either side). There were all sorts of wineries all over the place, and it was fun to watch the barges go up and down the Danube. When we got to Krems, we sort of freaked out and accidentally got off at the stop just prior to where we wanted to be. This meant that we ended up in the middle of a normal-looking downtown area. Krems is not supposed to be normal looking - it's supposed to be a medieval town. So we followed the signs to Information, which was closed (of course), but thankfully had town maps outside. We open the map and see an artistic rendering of red-roofed medievalness. Yes, this is what we want! Now where the heck are we in relation to this?! Val picked a direction, and lo and behold, the red roofs appeared! Thank goodness.

Krems is a quaint town - lots of small side streets, pretty architecture, and lots of shops. We had a decent time walking around it, but perhaps it's more charming in the summer time. I find all of the places we go here absolutely beautiful and fun, but I am always left thinking, "I bet this place looks gorgeous when it's blooming or summertime." The trip back to Vienna was perfect: on a train, with pastries.

Next time, I'll talk about my birthday week, my fight with a modern shower, and my trip to Laxenburg.