Bled Castle and Island - Day 18

Today is our last day in Bled so we needed to see the two things that everyone does when they visit - climb up to Bled Castle and get over to Bled Island. But first a BIG shout out to the wonderful B&B we are staying at here. It’s called Garni Hotel “Berc” It is a third generation business and the people and place couldn’t be nicer. It is meticulously clean and well decorated in an authentic alpine style. The bed is so comfortable and it’s the biggest and best bathroom we’ve had on the entire trip! And they don’t mind if we take over the main traffic area and do our yoga. And the breakfast is great too!!

Bled Castle is over 1000 years old and sits high on a hill overlooking the lake. There are various ways to get to the top - walk up, drive up, take a bus or even a horse drawn carriage. We did the walk and compared to hiking Cinque Terre it was a piece of cake. The best part of seeing the castle is really the views you have of the lake, Alps and surrounding towns and villages.

Views from the top. We wore our Slovenia shirts again - why not!

Inside the castle they have various displays on the history of the castle and the town. Also there is a working printshop printing from Gutenberg’s time, and a wine cellar where you can bottle and cork your own souvenir bottle of wine. The “monk” working there told us Laura Bush came in 14 years ago and got one. And that she was a lovely person. George was meeting with Putin 30 miles away so she came to see the castle. That was pretty interesting. He was also the first person in all our time in Slovenia that mentioned Melania Trump being from there - and that she never smiles anymore. His words not mine!

Julie and “the monk”, the castle chapel where they still hold weddings, the printing press and entrance to the castle.

Next up Bled Island. There are a couple of ways to get to the island. You can rent a rowboat, swim, bring your own kayak or do what is the tradition - take a Pletna boat - and that’s what we did. We thought about renting a rowboat but I am clueless about steering AND rowing, plus the water was a little rough. Julie would have had her hands full with me so we took the usual way. The history of the boats is interesting. They have been used since the 17th century and are built by hand. They are difficult to steer and the oarsmen are all in a union where they pool their money each day and give a share to the tourism board and split the rest evenly. There are only 21 official pletna boats on the lake.

The island is small. It basically has the Church with the bell tower, a gift shop and a bakery plus some land around the church. It does have a good view and is the only natural island in the entire country of Slovenia. Once the pletna brings you to the island you only have 40 minutes to do and see what you want before they take you back, so you need to make the most of it.

Julie on the island, stairs up to the church from the water and a view of the church.

Most people head right to the church or up the bell tower to ring the bell, but Julie and I had another plan. I had read that the bakery had amazing potica - that’s the wonderful nut bread that is a favorite of ours because we were raised on it by our grandmothers, and it has not been as easy to find in Slovenian as we had hoped. So we made that our first stop - fingers crossed they would have it. Success! So we each bought two pieces - one for today and one for the drive tomorrow and ate piece one on the island immediately. The woman in the bakery proudly told us that their potica was eaten by Pope Francis for Easter dinner and that Melania Trump has had it served at a state dinner. Needless to say it was delicious! And we had our second Melania Trump mention of the day.

We walked around the lake again and looked for a place for our last dinner. A cute local Bavarian place caught our eye so we decided to give it a try. No one is more shocked than I on what we both ordered. Grilled bratwurst, sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. I haven’t had a bratwurst in 10 years but when in Rome or for that matter Slovenia......

I could only eat half the sausage but I especially loved the sauerkraut and potatoes.

Here’s my favorite picture of the day.

The Alps and Bled Castle taken from Bled Island.

I’m a little sad leaving this beautiful country. It has really exceeded my expectations in every way and I feel so fortunate to have had the time here. Next stop Croatia!

#catchmeincroatia!