This was the first place on our trip
where my breath was literally taken away! The opulence didn’t do it, nor the
extensive gardens, nor the statues or frescoes or the jewels on the robes of
the monsignors in the museum or the gold, and gold, and gold. No, it was when
we stepped into the library. An involuntary, audible gasp escaped my lips as
though I had been punched in the stomach. The library was two stories high with
a balcony at the top of the first floor. A rickety old ladder on failing wheels
provided access to the second floor and a spiral Rococo staircase led to other rooms
to which we did not have access. This room was only one of twelve – over a
million books. Floor - to-ceiling,
wall-to-wall books garbed in crackling leather, vellum or parchment pages
enclosed within – manuscripts hundreds of years old (and in one case 2,000
years old) nestled side by side like venerable old wise men. The library
smelled of leather, and dust, and centuries. For a bibliophile like me, it was
heaven. I have, also, a great love of globes and here there were six of them!
Huge floor-standing globes in each of the corners and in front of narrow
windows at the side of the room. One was a Baroque globe of the heavens, and
another depicted the dragons and monsters awaiting us at the unexplored ‘ends
of the world’. The ceiling was frescoed with a depiction of Science. I really,
really didn’t want to leave. We weren’t
allowed to take pictures because of the sensitivity of the books to flash so I
have posted here a couple from the web.
When I finally could spend no more time
in the Library we meandered back down some marble stairs. As is typical of most
museums, we could not gain entry to the outside without being propelled through
the gift shop. We bought a couple of small bottles of wine that the monks there
make themselves from their own vineyards. Upon sampling the wine on our return
home, we wished fervently that we had purchased a couple of cases rather than
just two bottles. It was delicious!
The next day we sailed through the
Wachau Valley.
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