Date

Monday 7th October 2019

Holy Places Visited

  • Stadtpfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt [“Town Parish Church of Mary’s Assumption”], Melk
  • Benediktinerstift Melk [“Melk Benedictine Abbey”], Melk

Distance Travelled

Approximately 27½ km (17 miles) by boat and approximately 3 km (2 miles) on foot.

Route

I revisited the local Parish Church and the Abbey, where a kind tourist called Mr. Cha took a photo of me outside the main entrance.

After visiting the Abbey Church again, I headed towards the local ferry pontoons on an inlet of the Danube, passing a sculpture commemorating the Jerusalemweg [“Jerusalem Way”], which is a recently-established route from Cape Finisterre, near Santiago de Compostela in Spain, to Jerusalem. It is described as “The World’s Longest Peace and Cultural Route”.

I was both surprised and comforted by the fact that other people had passed this place on the way to Jerusalem, and that they too had promoted peace while doing so.

That afternoon I boarded a busy boat that took me downstream to the town of Dürnstein, passing many riverside villages and the town of Spitz along the way.

Carbon emissions from the boat trip have been offset.