Tuesday, January 1, 2019: Melk to St Wolfgang, Austria:

            Happy New Year!  It is 2019!

            After walking around Melk in the daylight, we began a day of driving.

Melk Abbey (Monastery)

Melk Cathedral

 

           We asked Google about driving routes to explore Austria.  We left the A1 autobahn to drive through the countryside. We began by exploring the town of Steyr.  The Christmas Market was over. Only the little shops and ice-skating rink were left in the center of the town.  We were so surprised with Steyr.  Many of the buildings in the center of town had beautiful architecture – Sound of Music style. This town exceeded our expectations. By the time we left Styre we were able to enter the 3 central churches.  This is a contrast to Romania, where churches were closed, to our disappointment.  The interior of each church was different, but each was beautiful in their own way.

Countryside with Large Austrian Farm House-Barn

Steyr City Center

Steyr St Michael cathedral

Steyr Marien Church

            After Styre, we continued in the general direction of Salzburg, but taking the scenic route, stopping at several small village on the way. There is snow in the higher elevations and we have seen several ski slopes with people skiing, as well as areas where they are cross country skiing.  We drove through several towns that were obvious tourist and ski centers, but we decided to continue without stopping.

            We made reservations at a hotel in the small town of St Wolfgang.  Except for the fact that the hotel was reasonably priced, we were not planning to stop in this lake-side town.  However, St Wolfgang surprised us.  The town has turned out to be a wonderful place to stay, with the hotel located on the main street in a very cute town center.  Bus tours stop in St Wolfgang as the buildings are attractively designed with nice shops.  The old town church is unusual as it does not have a center aisle and for a small town it is very ornate.  Yesterday was the last day for their Christmas Market, so all the small booths are closed, and they are beginning the dismantling process.  Another attraction is an extensive set of carved, life-sized figures, depicting people from all walks of life from this area, coming to worship at the manger scene with the Holy Family.  The display includes at least 50 figures. We are glad we stopped here. 

            We made reservations and ate at a nice local restaurant just around the corner from the hotel. After eating we returned to our hotel for the night.

St Wolfgang Church

Life-Size Carved Figures