Day 14: Melk to Millstatt

Today (Tuesday, September 25^th) we set the alarm clock for 6:00 AM to catch the 7:45 train to the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Millstatt Austria. Breakfast was at 7:00, so we tried to settle our bill before we ate. Unfortunately the matriarch who ran the place (which was really nice, Hotel zur Post) didn't normally get to work until 7:30. The staff person we spoke to apparently called her to come in early, and she wasn't too happy. (I wouldn't be either.)

After breakfast we walked the three blocks to the train station and waited around for the commuter train to Amstatten (about a half-hour away). At Amstatten, we picked up an InterCity Express bound for Klagenfurt in the very south of Austria. It was a beautiful ride, going through the southern part of the Austrian Alps; very, very scenic.

By 2:30 we were at the town of Spittall, where we caught a bus for the ride up to Millstatt (about 20 minutes). In Millstatt we walked through the town and then sat down for a late lunch. Kathy ordered a pepperoni pizza, but apparently here, that means a peppercini pizza. I had the old reliable Bratwurst and fries.

Refreshed, we headed down to the highway rolling our bags the last three Km to Schloss Heroldeck and the Calvary Conference Center. Build as a large vacation home for a wealthy family. In 1938 it was purchased by the Nazis and used as a training center. After WWII, it was briefly used to house high-ranking German prisoners, and then converted to a children's convalescent home. Finally in 1989, Calvary Chapel purchased the property as a retreat center for it's European ministries, and later converted it to a campus of the Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe.

We got to the Castle around 4:00 PM, and were shown to our room by Maxine and greeted by Robin Turner. We walked around the castle for a while, admiring the architecture and the view. (There are no students here this semester, and we're between conferences, so things are kind of quiet.) After we finished walking around, we asked to borrow the computer so I could update my blog.

Dinner is in a half-hour, then we'll probably walk down to the lake. Tomorrow, we'll head back to Munich via Salzburg, on our way to Venice.