Driving through the Austrian Countryside

Luckily Andrew has co-workers that have lived all over Europe and were able to recommend the most scenic drives to get between stops. We took a scenic route from Vienna to Salzburg and it was really great to drive along the Danube River (just a few short weeks before Andrew's parents took a river boat cruise down the Danube River!).
Lots of hills, beautiful prestine lakes, and castles perched up on the hillside. My favourite memory of driving through Austria was the beautiful red flowerpots hanging in all the windowsills. You know, what you see on tv? It actually does look like that!
We took a wonderful detour to Stift Melk Abbey in the little town of Melk. We saw a replica of this building at the Mini Europe in Brussels and were interested in seeing the real thing. An amazing 900-year old monastery, with the highlight being the Abbey Church and library. It was a fabulous stop and a beautiful drive towards Salzburg.