Kremsmünster is a scenic monastery town in the north of Austria, not so far from Linz. It’s usually full of busloads of pensioners to see the famous Baroque Benedictine monastery, but it was closed for repairs when I was there, so it was a ghost town. Which was kind of nice, because they let me in to see the gardens for free as much as I liked, and there was never anyone else there but a few monks and builders.
First things first: Austrian train snacks. There are a lot of people with Balkan roots in Austria, so good büreks are plentiful. This was a feta one. The Red Bull organic cola is actually really nice (and doesn’t have as much caffeine as actual Red Bull), and seemingly only available in Austria.
Austrian train toilets.
It’s always the 70s in rural Austrian hotels.
View from my window.
The monastery stands on a hill above the town and dominates all views. “Jimmy’s Pizzeria” is also a kebab shop, that did excellent falafel.
The bookshop, like most in Austria however, had an appalling selection. Think the Works or those high street branches of WH Smiths that are still inexplicably open with no customers.
The climb up to the monastery.
The monastery itself.
I surprisingly didn’t burst into flames when I walked between these two.
There’s also a moat to keep the sinners out.
Because the place was closed to tourists, the courtyard was empty. It would usually have been full of visitors. I don’t know if my photos capture the silent, intense atmosphere of the place.
There was also a little onsite garden centre, I’m not quite sure if the monks grew the plants or not.
Blight and devastation.
Oberösterreich is on the north side of the Alps, and there’s a lot of dry highlands in this area.
The Mathematical Tower. There’s a natural history museum inside, but it was also closed.
Renovated in 1736.
Herb dumplings with parmesan sauce. They roll you out of the pub afterwards.
The school was on the right side of this road, but the gym was in some mysterious dimension on the other side of the dual carriageway, only accessible via a succession of tunnels. I feel this geodesic structure keeps the various dimensions aligned. (There is also an Aldi on the other side of the road).