Birthday Melk & Cake!
Our morning view was not especially lovely, but in truth, Melk is a tiny town with one claim to fame: the Melk Abbey , which was why we docked. Equally in truth, this day had one claim to fame: it was Harper's birthday! Our tradition is that each year, I decorate the kids' doors with some objects in the same number as their age. I've cut stars from magazine subscription cards, letters from newspapers, found Lego and flower clip art, and more. So, in our luggage, I packed 14 small bows. Ta-da! We boarded our bus to make the drive up the hill to the abbey and caught sight of this sign. We agreed this was a cruise we were glad NOT to be taking! Blech! Even the grey start to the day couldn't take away from this view! This diorama from the abbey gives a good sense of its role in Melk: it rules! And, sure enough, as it did day after day, the sun started to break through. In the time it took our tour leader to find u...