Lake Bled - Day 16
I’m happy to report my knees are recovering nicely - I got up this morning and was ready to ROCK! Hopefully one day out of commission won’t cause my “expert excursionist” title from Cinque Terre to be revoked. We had half a day still in Ljubljana before we needed to catch our bus to Lake Bled, so headed out on another beautiful day to catch a bit more of the Ljubljana Festival that just started and make our way to the Ljubljana Cathedral named after St Nicholas. The cathedral was gorgeous. Italian Baroque interior and amazing outside front doors that were created for the visit of John Paul II’s visit in 1996.
That’s John Paul II on the middle picture of the doors.
Another walk through the amazing Central Market which was even bigger and better because it’s Saturday! So many homemade bakery items, cheeses, flowers, produce, sausages etc.
Beautiful arrangements handmade with dried flowers.
Slovenia has a strong German feel to it evident from all the beer and sausages available and consumed, so we decided for lunch we would give it a try.
It was delicious! Served with brown mustard and fresh horseradish. A beer seemed an appropriate accompaniment. My Dad would have loved it!
A full bus heading to Lake Bled. It only took 40 minutes to get there but we could see the snow covered Alps almost immediately.
Wow! Lake Bled is where Slovenians vacation and the travel books give it a big thumbs up for beauty, relaxation along with hiking, biking and boating.
Lake Bled! On the right is Bled Castle. We’re heading there tomorrow!
We found our awesome Alpine B&B and changed into shorts to do the 3 and a half mile walk around the lake.
Bled Island sits in the middle of the lake and you can take a boat out there and explore the island which we will also do tomorrow. Apparently they also allow nude sunbathing!
Along the way on our hike we walked up to what is now called Vila Bled high on a hill overlooking the lake. It was originally built for Tito as one of his summer homes, but is now a fancy hotel with a beautiful restaurant. We weren’t in the right attire to have a drink there, so instead headed up the hill a little higher to what used to be Tito’s Teahouse where he entertained diplomats.
Vila Bled has a beautiful drive leading to the entrance lined with flowers that were in full bloom.
Tito’s Teahouse is now called Cafe Belvedere and they serve drinks and snacks with a beautiful view.
We had a great view of Bled Island while we enjoyed our late afternoon wine while deciding where to have dinner.
Unfortunately I have no pictures of dinner because we finally had a bad meal on this trip. It was a great location right on the water, and I think we just ordered the wrong thing. We felt like a burger so decided to split what in their defense they called a meat burger with potatoes on flatbread. We were expecting a good old American hamburger but instead got what appeared to be a mixed meat patty of which there was clearly no beef. Our first response was “where’s the beef?” This after Julie ordered a vodka on the rocks and was delivered a tray with 3 glasses - one with ice, one with water and one with a teaspoon of vodka! Her response was “where’s the vodka?” So he brought her another teaspoon of vodka! On the bright side the potatoes were actually french fries and they were good. Then we ordered the famous kremna rezina cake which we had the night before in Ljubljana and was delicious. Not nearly as good here so that was a bust as well. Our poor waiter felt bad so he actually gave us the dessert free. He did his best so we tipped him which is not super common here - not like in the states at all. Some of the grilled fish and sausages going by looked pretty good so I think we just made a bad choice. Oh well. Not every meal can me great.
We did get to see an example of the famous Slovenian roofed hayrack called a toplar. Because of the frequent rainfall in the mountainous northwest the hay racks are covered by a roof that allows the hay to dry thoroughly.
The toplar. That should help you if you’re ever on Jeopardy!
All in all a fun day. I can’t say enough good about the beautiful country of Slovenia! Can’t wait for tomorrow!