I love those church steeples that dot the countryside.  And this old, old bridge is just amazing.

The Schloss Schönbühel castle built in the early 12th century. It’s only 130 feet above Danube River.

I believe the Schloss Schonbuhel castle (in the previous photo) on the right is somehow connected to the building on the left (an abbey maybe?)    See a close-up below.

And this is a close-up of that building on the left above. Notice the open room on the right.

Another castle.

And another one of those great village churches. Notice the grapevines on the hillside behind the church. The grapes at the top which are protected with blue material were left on the vines in hopes that they will be appropriate for harvesting to make ice wine later in the season.

And more castle ruins.

There are fewer and fewer bridges along here so more ferries are necessary to enable people to visit friends and businesses across the river.

Another pleasing church.

And LOTS of vineyards everywhere you turn.

And another really old stone church and watch tower.

Another beautiful church surrounded by vineyards.  They’re so pretty when they turn colors in the fall.

Near a tunnel entrance, we noticed this sculpture of a crusading knight on horseback bidding his family goodbye and heading towards Durnstein castle shown in the next photo.

Here’s the Durnstein Castle the knight was headed to.  Apparently there’s an access to the castle ruins from the back side because there’s no visible access on this side yet there are lots of people visible on top.

This shows Durnstein Castle from a different angle. You can see the old wall leading up to the castle.

This is the town of Durnstein, a really famous small village (population: 864) in Lower Austria that I’m sure we’ve all seen photos of in the past.  It’s a tiny place with a church with a beautiful blue tower and apparently even Princess Diana liked to come here for visits.