Thursday, August 30, 2012

Incantato journeys the Blue Danube


The ‘meandering’ Danube river rises in the stunningly beautiful Black Forest mountain range close to the town of Donaueschingen in Germany, from whence it takes its name. It then flows a south-eastward course for a distance of some 1,785 miles, passing through four Central and Eastern European capitals and ten countries before emptying into the Black Sea.
Like no other European river, the Danube has influenced the course of history as the Romans, Thrax, Celts, Illyrics and, of course, the Ottomans have all been here. In the space of a week the echoes of this colorful past will come to the fore as you journey through the very historical beating heart of Europe, to experience the cultural delights of Vienna and Budapest or alternatively to gaze at the gently undulating landscapes of the beautiful Wachau Valley, with its charming riverside villages and vineyard-laced hillsides usually bathed in the most glorious of light. Stops along the curvaceous course of the river include Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Duernstein, Melk, and Passau.
Music and musical heritage obviously accompanies us on our voyage. Before the nineteenth century, musicians such as Mozart and Schubert struggled to make ends meet and relied on patronage. This all changed when Johann Strauss the Younger and Elder both became the equivalent of modern musical stars with their popular waltz music, perhaps forever immortalized in ‘The Blue Danube’ which perhaps neatly completes the circle as regards the name of our vessel and majestic river on which she sails.

Melk Abbey - An Incantato Favorite in Austria



Melk Abbey was originally a palace. Located on the banks of the Danube River between Salzburg and Vienna, Melk Abbey stands crowned by towers and resplendent in a golden hue. The impressive Baroque ensemble at Melk was built in 1702-1736 by architect Jakob Prandtauer. Especially noteworthy is the church with magnificent frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr and the library containing countless medieval manuscripts. The monastic community of Melk is over 900 years old and black-robed Benedictine monks still stroll amidst the marble sculptures and frescoed walls. It is now also a prestigious coed monastery school with more than 700 students. Melk has played an important role in the Danube region since Roman times, when a fortress was built on the promontory overlooking a tiny "arm" of the Danube. Melk also appears in the German epic poem Nibelungenlied, in which it is called "Medelike". The rock-strewn bluff where the abbey now stands was the seat of the Babenbergs, who ruled Austria from 976 until the Hapsburgs took over. In the 11th century, Leopold II of Babenberg presented the palace at Melk to Benedictine monks, who turned it into a fortified abbey. Its influence and reputation as a center of learning and culture spread throughout Austria, as reflected in Umberto Eco's popular novel The Name of the Rose. Eco researched his novel in the abbey's library. Melk Abbey suffered damaged during the Reformation and the 1683 Turkish invasion, but it was spared direct attack when the Ottoman armies were halted outside Vienna. Reconstruction of the abbey began in 1702 in full Baroque style and was completed in 1736. The abbey church was damaged by fire in 1947, but is now completely restored. The design of the present abbey ensemble (1702-36) is primarily the work of architect Jakob Prandtauer. The Marmorsaal (Marble Hall) contains pilasters coated in red marble and an allegorical painted ceiling by Paul Troger. The library rises two floors and also has a Troger ceiling, along with around 80,000 volumes of priceless works. The Kaisergang (Emperors' Gallery) stretches for 198m (650 ft.), and is decorated with portraits of Austrian royalty. The highlight of the abbey, though, is certainly the Stiftskirche (Abbey Church). The church has an astonishing number of windows and is richly embellished with marble and frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr with help from Troger.There are fine views of the river from the abbey's terrace, which Napoleon probably used as a lookout when he used Melk as his headquarters for his campaign against Austria. 


Incantato welcomes you to the musical city of Vienna!



  • Vienna, situated along the Danube River, is the largest city as well as the capital of Austria. Not only that, Vienna is also a Federal province of Austria.
  • It has the 3rd highest quality of living in the European Union.
  • The major religion is Christianity. The major language spoken in Vienna is German. Surprisingly the voting age in Austria is only 16 years old.
  • Vienna is the only city-state in Austria, which is a federal republic.
  • Vienna is divided into 23 districts. The city center in Vienna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • Vienna is known worldwide as the city of music and is home to the great music hall with excellent acoustics.
  • The Museumsquartier, which is one of the largest cultural complexes in the world, is in the heart of Vienna.
  • World famous classical composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert, and Brahms, have all lived and performed in Vienna.
  • Vienna is home to the setting of Graham Greene's novel ‘The Third Man’ that is an actual city casting melancholy and telling the story of the Cold War.
  • Vienna is considered as a city of cultural heritage. It has been home to various great artists such as Gustav Klimt, Sigmund Freud, and Arthur Schnitzler
  • Tiergarten Schönbrunn, which is world’s oldest zoological garden,  was founded in 1752
  • The largest emerald of the world, which is of a whopping 2860 carat, is displayed in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna.
  • The highest waterfall in Europe is Kriml Falls, which is close to Vienna. The water falls 1,250 feet.
  • One of the few of its kind and one of the oldest ferris wheels in the world is in Vienna. It is situated in a large amusement park called the Prater, one of Vienna's most popular attractions. It has 15 gondolas, which offer a scenic view of Vienna, and is probably one of the city's most familiar sights.
  • Europe’s second largest cemetery is situated in Vienna, which is called Zentralfriedhof and has a total size of 2.5 square kilometers/one square mile.
  • Zentralfriedhof also has over 2.5 million tombs, which is almost double than the city’s live population. It also has tombs of some of the most famous personalities of the world such as Beethoven, Brahms, Gluck, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Strauss.