Melk Abbey and Aggstein Castle Ruins

Melk Abbey - first time we were surrounded by loads of other tourists

I read recently that all the gold mined so far in all of history would fill about 2 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Sometimes it seems incongruous that many of these hyper ornate church altars contain probably a kiddie pool's worth of gold gilding, yet there is so much poverty and hunger in the world. 

Pretty impressive though

I always want to know how many people hours went into making these places.

This palace and many others along the river are private and still inhabited by nobility. I think there should be a type of tourism where you work as a servant in one of these places and get free room and board for a week. Would be fascinating, for a very brief amount of time.

When the sign says 20 % grade, they mean it! Impossible to maintain forward motion (unless you are Scott). We ditched the bikes and continued the hike in the woods where I swear, the grade reached 40%! So steep. My body feels weary from 8+ hours of exercising a day, but it's a good tired.

10 years ago, Elizabeth, Ben, and I investigated a very similar castle in Germany. We had such a great day! Well, this was also a blast. Scott was in heaven. I like that we were left to our own devices to investigate all the nooks and crannies.

The only thing I didn't care for were these tacky displays in the dungeon.

Definitely lots of places to fall a thousand feet to rocks below. Not a good place for those afraid of heights.

The old chapel

Aggstein Castle was once ruled by a mean guy who put a big cable across the river and exacted huge tolls. Non payers would be thrown off these cliffs. 

A happy Scotty in the turret. We both prefer these types of places over ornate abbeys.

Walking back down. We saw several tan legless lizards (it pays to travel with a biologist/bike mechanic/weather wizard/photographer/superb athlete/etc. :)

Campsite view - this place is so great we have decided to stay another night and do a day trip across to this city, Durnstein. Richard the Lion-hearted was held captive up in those ruins in 1192.

Such a great idea - little free lock boxes for charging electronics. This campsite has so many little niceties. It's amazing how wonderful a hot shower that doesn't shut off after 10 seconds is, or wifi in our tent. And a picnic table even. It's the little things.