[2018]
[Saturday 7 July 2018]
MS William Shakespeare
Dürnstein & Melk
“Your daily programme”
This is the sheet detailing today’s schedule, left in the cabin yesterday evening:
Folder with maps
Maps of Dürmstein and of Melk
According to Janet, “We both slept like logs (at least 8½ hours) — I was ‘off’ almost immediately. There was another boat berthed next to us, so I asked [John] to pull the net over the windows. So, I was up at 7am.” My usual practice is to use the bathroom after
Janet has vacated it; so it was today, for shaving and showering. Janet continued: “We went to breakfast around 8am and finally set out for Dürnstein around 8.30am. It was overcast with a cool breeze. We had no jackets on, but we soon warmed up.” We were moored at the position marked on the map by the lower of the two anchors; so we proceeded more or less northwards along the riverside road.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:47:24
On the road to Dürnstein: Town, castle, and vineyards
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:51:02
On the road to Dürnstein
We got to the first of the ways into Dürnstein marked on the map by a red pecked line. There was a sign, “Zum
Stift”,[i] and another indicating the name of the alley: “Traunergassl”. We proceeded along this, as it turned right and passed through a tunnel in the wall.
- [i] “Stift” is a word that I remembered from the holiday in Austria in 1971 (see
Holiday
in Austria (2): “Stams”), though the word isn’t used in my writing); the monastery at
Stams, across the Inn from Untermieming, was named, perhaps on the back of the postcard that I stuck in the album, “Stift
Stams”. “Stift” means a donation or endowment, and in this context means an ecclesiastical endowment.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:53:36
Entering Dürnstein by Traunergassl
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:54:12
Dürnstein: Traunergassl
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:54:50
Dürnstein: Traunergassl
It brought us to Klosterplaz, in front (to our left) of the entrance to the cloister of Dürnstein Abbey.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:55:28
Dürnstein: Entrance to the Abbey cloister in Klosterplatz
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:56:32
Dürnstein: Entrance to the Abbey cloister in Klosterplatz
We, though, had decided to go up to the castle, and perhaps visit the abbey if we had time afterwards; so we turned right and went in the opposite direction. It was amusingly somewhat reminiscent of Haworth, where everything seemingly is “Brontë” this and “Brontë”, when we passed
Gasthof „Sänger Blondel‟ and Hotel Restaurant Richard Löwenherz!
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:56:42
Dürnstein: (Front to back:) Gasthof „Sänger Blondel‟, Hotel Restaurant Richard Löwenherz,
and the rugged walls of the Poor Clares’ Cloister
We turned next left, and got to Hauptstraße.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:58:32
Dürnstein: Looking back at the Poor Clares’ Cloister
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:58:40
Dürnstein: Looking ahead towards Hauptstraße
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:59:16
Dürnstein: Hauptstraße, looking south-east
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 08:59:28
Dürnstein: Hauptstraße, looking north-west
We turned left, passing the town hall (Rathaus).
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:00:20
Dürnstein: Hauptstraße, farther along north-west — Rathaus
A little farther along, we found a gap in the buildings, with an alley with steps going upwards, which we assumed from the not very clear nor very detailed map to be the way up to the Castle.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:02:14
Dürnstein: The “difficult route” up to the Castle
After turning right (away from the Castle), the path reassuringly turned back on itself, climbing all the while.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:02:48
Dürnstein: The “difficult route” up to the Castle
I was expecting to cross over a main road and a railway, till I realised that these were in tunnels under the mountain. There were mostly uneven steps, but we occasionally had to scramble up bare rough rock. The trees all around masked the fact that there was an almost sheer drop to the valley bottom to our left. “We’d decided to take the ‘difficult route’ up to the castle,”
Janet wrote… “It was hard going and I had to be very careful.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:05:28
The “difficult route” up to Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:14:44
The “difficult route” up to Dürnstein Castle: looking back
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:15:00
The “difficult route” up to Dürnstein Castle: Views over the Danube
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:15:14
The “difficult route” up to Dürnstein Castle: Views over the Danube
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:18:18
The continuation up to Dürnstein Castle
“I decided not to go right to the top… as I felt it might be too risky for me…,”
Janet continued, “and was cross when [John] said he would. I was worried. Also, it was getting late and I wanted to have a wander around the shops. So we parted and I took the so-called ‘easy route’ back.” We parted company at the meeting of the “difficult way” and the “easy way”. The steep, stepped way up to the top of Schlossberg was not even as difficult as the “difficult route” had been hitherto.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:20:30
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:24:28
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:25:44
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:25:50
Dürnstein Castle
There was a room hollowed out of the rock, with a door of iron bars, which I thought might have been a prison cell.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:28:42
Dürnstein Castle: Prison cell?
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:29:10
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:29:42
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:30:00
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:31:30
Dürnstein Castle: Upper room
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:31:46
Dürnstein Castle: Upper room — decoration on the wall
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:34:18
Dürnstein Castle: View of Dürnstein and the Danube
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:34:18 (detail 1)
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:34:18 (detail 2)
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:34:34
Dürnstein Castle: View of Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:35:28
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:35:38
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:35:46
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:37:44
Dürnstein Castle
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:37:54
Dürnstein Castle
When I got back to the meeting of the “difficult way” and the “easy way”, I chose the rather roundabout latter route. This was quite steep, but there was a smooth path. It was gravel-covered, though, and the steep incline made it a bit slippery.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:40:02
Signpost pointing the ways to “Dürnstein Old Town”
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:40:02 (detail 1)
Signpost pointing the ways to “Dürnstein Old Town” — “Difficult variant (donkey trail): good footwear necessary!”
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:40:02 (detail 2)
Signpost pointing the ways to “Dürnstein Old Town” — “Easy variant”
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:49:08
Entering Dürnstein by way of the “easy variant”
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:51:22
Entering Dürnstein by way of the “easy variant”
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:54:46
Dürnstein: Town gate at the southern end of Hauptstraße
I re-entered Hauptstraße through the gate in the city wall, seeking
Janet. I thought I might see her coming out of one of the shops along there, but didn’t.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:55:56
Dürnstein: Hauptstraße
I returned to Klosterplaz, without seeing her.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 09:58:20
Dürnstein: Entrance to the Abbey cloister in Klosterplatz
Then I went back along Traunergassl out of the town, and skirted around the Abbey.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:01:04
Outside Dürnstein: Views of the Abbey
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:01:54
Outside Dürnstein: Views of the Abbey
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:02:06
Outside Dürnstein: Views of the Abbey
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:03:06
Outside Dürnstein: Views of the Abbey
Then spotting a large sign “Zur Stadt” over a second, much longer tunnel through the wall, and below it a smaller sign indicating the name of the alley, “Grüblgassl”, I went that way, up its many steps.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:03:40
Outside Dürnstein: Grüblgassl
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:03:56
Entering Dürnstein by Grüblgassl
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:05:02
Entering Dürnstein by Grüblgassl
I turned left into Hauptstraße, and proceeded the short distance to the northern end of the Old Town.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:09:44
At the northern end of Dürnstein Old Town, looking north
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:10:08
At the northern end of Dürnstein Old Town, looking back along Hauptstraße
Then I turned back,—
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:11:44
Dürnstein: Hauptstraße
—and somewhere on Hauptstraße, Janet’s and my paths crossed. She told me what she’d done. “Back in Dürnstein,” she later wrote, “I looked in shops. I bought Anton.
Friday 20 July 2018 — 09:31:10
Photo of Anton, taken back home
“I went for a… drink in a café. Got chatting to a woman from one of the other boats. It was her last day. I briefly looked in the Rathaus, than looked in at the Blue Church. It was €3.50 to explore that — the Abbey, grounds,
etc. — and since it was way too late to do it all justice I didn’t bother. I met up with [John] and we walked around then started going back. We went down an ancient tunnel and were back on the boat on time: 10.45am. There had been some rain briefly — not a problem. It was quite humid by this time.” After I met
Janet, we went first to Klosterplaz;—
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:18:44
Dürnstein: Klostergassl, on the way to Klosterplatz
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:19:46
Dürnstein: Klosterplatz
—but I suggested that, rather than continue along Traunergassl (I didn’t remember its name at this point), we go “another way that I’ve discovered.” We’d been instructed to be aboard ¼-hour before the departure time (11 o’clock this morning), and since it was only 10.20am, we had time to do it. We went back to Hauptstraße, turned left, and then next left into Grüblgassl.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:21:38
Dürnstein: Hauptstraße
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:24:10
Dürnstein: Grüblgassl
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:25:08
Dürnstein: Grüblgassl
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 10:25:24
Dürnstein: Grüblgassl
There were spots of rain on the way back, and when it became heavier we took refuge for some minutes in a bus shelter (or was it a shelter serving the little ferry terminal jetty?).
Janet recalled: “We returned to the cabin for a ‘wash and brush up’, then went to the lounge and talked to a couple we’d met yesterday afternoon.” I had a 0.4ℓ glass of draught
Veltins, served by Boris, and Janet had a Coca Cola Light (11:43 on the invoice slip). After the ship cast off, I went over to the window and took last photos of Dürnstein.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:07:16
Last views of Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:07:28
Last views of Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:07:42
Last views of Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:08:28
Last views of Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:09:20
Last views of Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:09:44
Last views of Dürnstein
Also, later on, when announcements came over the loudspeaker that we were passing this landmark or that place in the Wachau Valley, I would go up to the sun deck to take photos.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:16:42
Passing a statue of Richard the Lionheart and Blondel the Minstrel in the Wachau Valley near Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:16:54
Statue of Richard the Lionheart and Blondel the Minstrel in the Wachau Valley near Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:17:26
Statue of Richard the Lionheart and Blondel the Minstrel in the Wachau Valley near Dürnstein
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:20:02
Weißenkirchen in der Wachau
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:22:42
Weißenkirchen in der Wachau
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:32:24
Sankt Lorenz, opposite Weißenkirchen
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:33:24
Sankt Lorenz, opposite Weißenkirchen: ferry terminal
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:33:24 (detail 1)
Sankt Lorenz, opposite Weißenkirchen
One such place was “the Nose” at Sankt Lorenz. Sankt Lorenz was also notable for having a car ferry between there and Weißenkirchen powered only by a rudder set against the river current, guided by a cable suspended above the river.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:33:24 (detail 2)
Sankt Lorenz, opposite Weißenkirchen: “die Wachauer Nase”
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:34:26
Weißenkirchen in der Wachau: ferry terminal and Parish Church
Another was the Fortified Church of St. Michael, with seven unconvincing terracotta “hares” on the ridge of the choir roof.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:55:14
Fortified Church of St. Michael
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:55:52
Fortified Church of St. Michael
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:55:52 (detail)
Fortified Church of St. Michael: “The seven hares of St. Michael” on the roof ridge of the choir
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:56:24
Fortified Church of St. Michael: six of the “seven hares of St. Michael” (perhaps actually representing deer or horses)
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 11:57:22
Approaching Spitz
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:04:26
Spitz
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:04:26 (detail)
Spitz: Parish Church of St. Maurice
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:04:48
Spitz and Hinterhaus Castle ruins
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:04:48 (detail)
Hinterhaus Castle ruins
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:05:00
Spitz and Hinterhaus Castle ruins
We passed a second river-powered cable ferry that ran between Spitz and
Arnsdorf.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:06:14
Spitz: ferry terminal
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:07:44
Spitz–Arnsdorf cable ferry
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:08:40
Spitz–Arnsdorf cable ferry
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:09:44
Spitz and Hinterhaus Castle ruins
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:09:44 (detail)
Hinterhaus Castle ruins
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:10:58
Pusher boat Anton pushing two barges
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 12:10:58 (detail)
Pusher boat Anton
We went at 12.30pm for the buffet lunch in the restaurant, where I had a glass of “Spätburgunder”, served by George Rizea. Then we went back to the cabin. Our arrival at Melk went unnoticed by me. About going ashore, this is what “your daily programme” said:
- 14:15 approx.
MS William Shakespeare arrives in Melk.
A shuttle bus ride to Melk Abbey (5 minutes
transfer), where we will have a 50 minutes
guided tour. Please bring your orange Vox
boxes and blue earpieces with you.
| Group 1: |
Depart ship: 14:20 |
|
Guided tour: 15:15 |
|
Return pick up from Abbey: 17:00 |
| Group 2: |
Depart ship: 14:40 |
|
Guided tour: 15:20 |
|
Return pick up from Abbey: 17:20 |
| Group 3: |
Depart ship: 15:00 |
|
Guided tour: 15:25 |
|
Return pick up from Abbey: 17:40 |
We went ashore — correctly today, with our chosen Group 1! — and boarded the coach that would take us to Melk Abbey. (Yesterday, we made a mistake and missed Group 1’s departure.)
Janet wrote: “Fortunately, we were [in Group] №1 — I was due at the hairdresser’s at 5.30pm. A really hot, sunny afternoon.… The Abbey reminded us of St. Francis Basilica in Assisi.” This is what we remarked upon afterwards; for both were constructed on the spur of a hill, and loom above those who are below.
“Stift Melk”
From the parking lot, we proceeded down a monumental staircase and through a gate with, above the arch on the side giving entry, the coat-of-arms of the Abbey (the crossed keys of St. Peter), and above the arch on the other side the Benedictine motto
"UT IN OMNIBUS GLORIFICETUR DEUS" ("That in all things God may be glorified”).
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:24:44
Melk Abbey, seen from the main parking lot
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:24:44 (detail 1)
Melk Abbey, seen from the main parking lot
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:24:44 (detail 2)
Melk Abbey, seen from the main parking lot
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:26:42
Melk Abbey: Gate to the Abbey garden, with the coat-of-arms of the Abbey (the crossed keys of St. Peter)
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:26:42 (detail)
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:28:20
Melk Abbey: Looking back to the gate of the Abbey garden, and the monumental staircase
We went the length of the Abbey Garden, and through another gate (not arched) into the forecourt of the Abbey. Before us were two great, stern, rounded bastions, and between them the (what appeared to me, incongruously styled) statue-adorned, baroque Abbey Portal, with the date “ANNO M DCC XVIII” below the pediment.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:29:50
Melk Abbey: Forecourt, bastions, and Abbey Portal
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:29:50 (detail 1)
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:29:50 (detail 2)
We entered through the Portal into the Gatekeeper’s Courtyard. In the pediment of the building ahead of us were words from Galatians 6:14: “ABSIT GLORIARI NISI IN
CRUCE” (“Far be it to boast except in the cross”). Our guide had to obtain tickets; so she sat us under a canvas awning in the north-west corner on seats with rounded features reminiscent of Henry Moore sculptures.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:31:12
Melk Abbey: Views around the Gatekeeper’s Courtyard
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:31:20
Melk Abbey: Views around the Gatekeeper’s Courtyard
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 14:33:22
Melk Abbey: Views around the Gatekeeper’s Courtyard
There was a WC in the building next to it; and Janet recalls also: “We had a short while to wait for our guide so had a drink.” When the guide came back she issued us each with a ticket, and we proceeded through the arch under “ABSIT GLORIARI NISI IN
CRUCE” into the Prelate’s Courtyard.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:12:34
Melk Abbey: Entering the Prelate’s Courtyard
The central part of the wall on each side was topped by a cornice, and in the centre of each cornice was a scrolled-arch feature within which was a fresco of one of the four cardinal virtues. These appeared modern in style, as indeed they were, for the original baroque frescos had been beyond restoration, and new ones were commissioned in 1988.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:13:24
Melk Abbey: Prelate’s Courtyard
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:13:24 (detail)
Melk Abbey: Prelate’s Courtyard
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:19:00
Melk Abbey: Prelate’s Courtyard
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:19:00 (detail)
Melk Abbey: Fountain in Prelate’s Courtyard
The guide escorted us through the arch in the south-western corner of the Prelate’s Courtyard, and then to the left where there was the Imperial Staircase. From this point till we got to the western terrace, and from the western terrace till the tour ended, photography was not allowed, much to my disappointment.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:19:18
Melk Abbey: Archway in the south-western corner of the Prelate’s Courtyard
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:20:02
Melk Abbey: Alley between the Abbey Church and the Imperial Rooms
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:20:08
Melk Abbey: Imperial Staircase
The staircase led to the former Imperial Rooms, where the Habsburgs and other royal or noble guests used to stay when they visited. The succession of room after room is now a museum. The rooms had ceramic heaters in the corner, reminiscent of similar ones we saw in Catherine Palace in Pushkin on
14
September 2012 (though white, not Blue-Delft tiled). The first few rooms were illuminated in different colours. The first, blue, had the word “Höre” (“Listen”) in white light projected on the wall. There was an illuminated manuscript codex of the teachings of St. Benedict in it. There was also a long table with the key principles of the Benedictine order carved into it. Successive rooms followed the history of the Abbey from its Benedictine origins, through mediaeval times, baroque,
etc. — to the present, where there was a 360° video projection on all four walls showing scenes around the Abbey and students of the Abbey gymnasium. There were gold vessels and crosses, monstrances and jewelled chalices; there were mitres and brocaded vestments (some of them still in use), even leather vestments. One item, which made us chuckle, was a wooden coffin with a trapdoor in the bottom, so it could be reused. In one of the rooms was a large model of the Abbey. From the museum we went through the Marble Hall. The “marble” on the walls was in fact stucco marble. The curved ceiling was adorned with a fresco showing Graeco-Roman mythological scenes, symbolising worldly power, surrounded by
trompe l’oeil architectural effects.
Melk Abbey: Marble Hall
(Ellegast, Bruckmüller, Rotheneder et al, Melk Abbey (Stift Melk, 2008), page 66)
From there we emerged onto the western Balcony or Terrace, where there was some free time for photographs.
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:52:22
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: Marble Hall
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:52:32
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: Abbey Church
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:52:52
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: Library
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:55:22
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: Confluence of Rivers Melk and Danube
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:53:24
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: River Melk and city of Melk
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:53:34
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: River Melk and city of Melk
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 15:53:50
Views from the western Terrace of Melk Abbey: City of Melk
The Terrace is semicircular, and leads from the Marble Hall on the south to the Library on the north, two rooms of which we visited. The first, like the Marble Hall, had a ceiling fresco, this time with religious and moral symbolism. The outer part of this, too, had
trompe l’oeil architectural effects. There were many thousands of leather-bound volumes, centuries old for the most part, and many, I think, hand-written.
Melk Abbey: Library
(Ellegast, Bruckmüller, Rotheneder et al, Melk Abbey (Stift Melk, 2008), page 69)
From there, there was a spiral staircase down to the Abbey Church.
Melk Abbey: Abbey Church, looking eastwards (high altar)
(Ellegast, Bruckmüller, Rotheneder et al, Melk Abbey (Stift Melk, 2008), page 72)
Melk Abbey: Abbey Church, looking westwards (organ)
(Ellegast, Bruckmüller, Rotheneder et al, Melk Abbey (Stift Melk, 2008), page 77)
After visiting the Church, we found ourselves out in the alley shown in “15:20:02”. We visited the bookshop in the northern bastion, where we bought a
softcover, colour-illustrated book, 16.5cm x 23cm, 96 pages, on Melk Abbey, before we went out to the Abbey Garden.
Front cover of the book
Emblem of Stift Melk on the paper bag into which the book was put
Just before the restaurant there was a bar surrounded by tables under canvas shelters, and we had a drink there;
Janet had a Pepsi Max and I a Weißbier. On the Dutch-owned ship I’d been drinking German beer; in Slovakia I drank Czech beer; would this be Austrian? No, it was brewed in
Traunstein, south-eastern Bavaria, Germany!
Sunday 8 July 2018 — 16:34:00
Melk Abbey: Refreshments
We boarded the coach for the scheduled 5pm departure; and were taken the short distance around and down, through the town, over the River
Melk, and across to our mooring on the Danube. We boarded the ship ca.5.15pm.
Janet went for her wash and blow-dry appointment at the hairdresser’s. In the cabin,…
I transferred 107 photos from my camera to the WD Elements HDD (18:16–18:23). Viewed them all in
Windows Photo Viewer and rotated nine that needed it (18:25–18:29). After that, we went to the bar for a
drink,[ii] then to dinner. We sat again at the table for four at the rear of the restaurant near the starboard side, and again no-one joined us. “A good menu again,”
Janet commented. I too had no difficulty selecting something from every course. I had a glass of “Zweigelt
Gmeiner” and Janet had a Coca Cola Light, served by “Bernadet”.[iii] Afterwards, we went to the lounge for coffee from the machine, and I stayed for the briefing on Salzburg, but
Janet returned to the cabin. “Before we left for dinner,” Janet wrote, “I’d put a bag of laundry… on the bed — and it was returned by
ca.9.15pm, two hours later. Wow!”
- 21:00
Your Riviera Team invites you for a
presentation on Salzburg.
21:15
Mystery Entertainer in the Lounge,
please prepare your dancing shoes!
I intended to leave straight after the presentation, but the “mystery entertainer” appeared immediately afterwards: it was none other than Hotel Manager Milenko Zubanović, quitting himself well singing 60s pop songs and accompanying himself on guitar, with a recorded or electronically generated backing track. I was sitting nearby, so not wanting to appear rude I stayed for the first few numbers; then as unobtrusively as possible I slipped away. We were in bed,
ca.9.50pm.
- [ii] The invoice slip is missing, and I’m writing this up several days later; would I have had a sparkling white wine and
Janet a Coca Cola Light?
[iii] Was she the one who reminded me of Frau Farbissina, Dr. Evil’s henchwoman in the
Austin Powers movies?
[Monday 9 July 2018]
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