Friday, September 7, 2012

Melk, Germany 8 25

 

When we arrived in Melk, we encountered some soft rain.  I think it is the first time for us.  Can you believe it, we have been on the road since May 6th and this is the first rain.  So we dug out the rain gear that we have been carrying forever.  It turns out my clear rain slicker did just fine, Duane on the other hand, found that his yellow slicker was actually just a yellow plastic bag.

Doesn’t he look cute?   I think he always looks cute…..a 8 25 (15) (1024x768)_thumb

Melk is another old town.  It does have a big story.  But first, here are some general pictures

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                 a 8 25 (36) (1024x768)_thumb    You can identify a shop by the icon hung out front.

We went through the palace and the museum

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 OK, the story about this time.  During the crusades, Richard the Lion Hearted got into an argument with the king of this area.  The king captured Richard and imprisoned him in the castle above the town and required a ransom for his release.  He was held for over 3 months.  The story goes that a minstrel of King Richard’s court travel around Europe singing the first verse of the king’s favorite song, listening for a response.  He heard the king sing the second verse, and knew he had found him.  He is said to have returned to England to get the ransom for his release.  Some even say that Robin Hood was collecting money for his release.  Anyway, he was held in this castle.  a 8 25 (69) (1024x547)_thumba 8 25 (100) (1024x768)_thumb

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This is another town where there is not enough room for cemeteries, so they use a bone house.  That means that when you die, you get buried then after you have been reduced to just bones, your bones are removed and put in the bone house, and someone else can then be buried in that spot.

This is what the bones look like.

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On the boat this evening, we had a show put on by the crew.  It was cute, not good, but cute.  One thing that was really funny was when a guy came out lip sinking a  song and then these guys in bathrobes and flashed………….

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                                                                   us with this…………

 

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                    Every time they moved their knees they hit the frying pans with wooden spoons to the music. 

                                                               Good thing they didn’t miss the pans !!!!!

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