Lake Bled

I am leaving Ljubljana today and because I like to save money I decide to walk twenty minutes to the bus station to take the four euro bus to the airport instead of taking a taxi that would cost me almost fifty euros. One could call me cheap but I will blow one hundreds and fifty euros on a Michelin restaurant on occasion – in fact I will be visiting a Michelin restaurant when I return to Ljubljana in a week or so.

From the airport I pick up my rental car for the driving portion of Slovenia. I am leased a brand new car with no scratches or dents. I am not thrilled at the thought of having to be extra careful with this rental; so different from Split where we definitely rented someone’s personal car. Luckily the roads in Slovenia are pretty straight forward.

It takes me about fifty minutes or less to get to Lake Bled. Lake Bled is a beautiful area popular for weekend vacations about an hour from Ljubljana. People enjoy trails, water sports and relaxing in the surrounding town. I am too early to check in so I drive a bit to where my wine tasting will be later just to see how far it will be to walk. I stop briefly in a parking lot to google some things and I realize I don’t know how to turn my car off. The car is one of those fancy self starting type cars. After some YouTube videos and trial and error I finally figure it out.

There is no one to check me in yet so I walk to town to eat. Finally my room is ready when I return. I don’t have much time to rest before I need to go to a wine tasting in a couple hours. I am tired and don’t feel like going but since I’ve paid already I’ll force myself to attend. The wine tasting is at a hotel a thirty minute walk away from where I am currently staying.

I am glad I make it to the wine tasting. All of the wines are quite good (forgot to take picture of the bottles). We (other guests from Australia, UK and I) enjoy making fun of USA politics while trying new wines in a wine cellar.

After being successfully filled with wine and very good local cheeses I walk 30 minutes back to the B&B where I enjoy some of the wine I have leftover from my Ljubljana stash and take in the sounds of the birds and the cool air. It is a longer walk than I like into town but I am really enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the area. I really like my porch views.

My energy levels are quite low lately so instead of driving to another lake in the morning I decide to enjoy things in town locally. I’m going to be closer to my pension and can bail out of the day at any moment if I feel like it.

I start the day with Bled castle on top of the iconic hill seen from around the lake. Hopefully a morning visit will let me avoid larger crowds. It is possible to drive up and park towards the top but everything I read says spots are limited and I don’t want to move my car and have to possibly deal with tight parking (brand new car, ugh). I walk thirty-five minutes to the top following a path behind a building. Approximately twenty minutes of the walk is uphill. The hike up isn’t too bad – I am sweating of course but on a hotter day I would probably be cursing the gods.

Bled castle is nice but it is far from being the most impressive castle I have seen during my travels. But what is really nice are the views that you get of Lake Bled below. It is peaceful up here looking down. I visit the museum and walk the walls a bit. Tour groups start arriving as I am leaving. Looks like I timed things correctly.

There is a small history museum inside the castle.

I ride a traditional pletna boat to Bled Island: Pletna boats are traditional wooden boats that are unique to Lake Bled. They take visitors to Bled Island, where you can visit the Church of the Assumption and ring the church bell for good luck.

I head down to the lake side to catch a boat to the island in the middle of Lake Bled (the island in the famous pictures). I see Tito’s former residence now hotel along with other hotels and homes along the water while a guy paddles us slowly out the island. Seems like a real strenuous job.

We only get 40 minutes on the island, I guess it is enough if you are too cheap to pay to visit the church and museum on the island. I get some gelato and walk around and enjoy the views. Nothing life changing here but a nice place to visit for 40 minutes.

After we paddle back I have my eyes on this restaurant for a late lunch but it closes at three so walk swiftly in that direction while admiring the lake from the shore.

I once more order a very rich and heavy truffle pasta. The pasta good but that with the olive oil and bread accompanying has me very full. I feel like I could sleep at this table or at least grab some grass by the water and pass out.

No matter which direction I go I am still at least forty-five minutes from my pension by foot. I make the decision to continue walking the rest of the six kilometer trail around the lake, ignoring my fullness and ignoring my tiredness. I am glad I do because there are so many more nice scenic views around the lake. I now understand how important rowing is to this town (and this country for that matter). There is a large rowing center set up at one point in the lake where competitive rowers come to row. I notice on the schedule there will be rowing here early evenings this week. Perhaps I can come back and watch another day. I did row one year in high school but I have a feeling this rowing is at a completely different level.

I complete the loop around the lake and on the way out of town I finally peek into the large church in town. It has an interesting chandelier and even more interesting artwork on the walls. One of the paintings that is supposed to represent a famous verse looks like a lion giving a guy cpr.

I have a timed reservation tomorrow for the nearby gorge. More on that later.

Part 2: Ljubljana

In the morning I set off for coffee again and decide to visit the Metrolicko art center, a very funky art area. The area seems lively at night from all the beer cans around and bars nearby. I must return in the evening sometime.

I take a quick stop into Ljubljana Cathedral while it is open.

I have a restaurant picked out when I am reminded about the Friday food market very close to my apartment. There are so many food choices to purchase as well as wine and beer. The market is crowded making it hard to find a seat initially. Do people here work on Fridays?

I stop by a popular cafe to try the local dessert called prekmurska gibanica. Made with poppy seeds, walnuts, and cheese among other things this semi-sweet dessert should be something I like but I don’t really care for it too much. I guess I have finally developed a sweet tooth due to eating so many goodies while I am out traveling.

I end my day with visiting a rooftop bar. There is a nice view at Neboticnik but I am actually a little chilly outside and have to move indoors when a table opens up. I am chilly today but not complaining because I like the cold when I can get it. I know it won’t last long.

Back to my room to get ready to leave tomorrow. I am heading to the Ljubljana airport to pick up a rental car. I will explore more of Slovenia on the road. Luckily I’ll be back in town in about a week.

Part 1: Ljubljana, a new found love

I take a FlixBus from Zagreb, Croatia to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Now that I am in the eurozone border crossings are no sweat. During the couple hour bus ride it rains. It also rains my entire 20 minute walk to the apartment I have rented for my first visit to Ljubljana.

Slovenia is a country in the Balkans north of Croatia and south of Austria. While it was part of the former Yugoslavia, it was the first to claim its independence when the former communist nation dissolved. It was also able to leave Yugoslavia relatively easy unlike its neighbor Croatia. It has a very different feel to it then other former Yugoslavia nations since it was always popular for tourism due to its mountains and other resources.

It takes me a little while to find my apartment because while the instructions are detailed I still have a hard time locating it. I am not too far from the elevator that takes you up to Ljubljana castle.

I had planned to use this first day to catch up on some things like travel planning but arrived in town very hungry. I check into my room and go out for an early dinner at a restaurant across the street.

The rain stops and reveals a charming city. I decide the weather is so nice I need to walk around. I window shop and notice all the cafés along river that cuts through town.

Art Installation “Faces” of Locksmith Street

There is a good amount of interesting artwork scattered across the historic city.

Day 2

I wake up early get some coffee and something to eat. I head to a strukli cafe – My Dumplings of Slovenia. They aren’t fully open yet but they do sell me coffee and cold strukli to heat up at my apartment. I purchase two cold strukli thinking I have a microwave back at my apartment but apparently I do not. Because the other methods of heating are too complicated I eat a small amount of cold strukli (not the best) and save the rest for later when I have the patience to heat them up.

Today I am visiting the Ljubljana castle. I had bought tickets in advance and I plan to take the funicular to the top in lieu of the stairs or path.

The medieval castle itself isn’t too impressive in size. It was used for prisoners during various battles. I enjoy the video of the history of the castle. There is a Michelin restaurant on location that I have reservations for in over a week.

I also really enjoy the puppet museum. In the museum is a collection of weird puppets.

There is also a history museum of sorts but it isn’t too impressive because most of the items are just facsimiles of items in other museums. There is a good section on the history of the city in Slovenia during wars.

I walk down the long path to town and visit the central market.

For lunch I decide to try some Slovenia kranjska klobasa at Figovec. I get a very large smoked sausage served with dipping sauces. I order a side of veggies and there is bread accompanied by a butter mixed with some green herb that I can’t stop eating.

After my heavy meal I take a walk around the Tivoli park.

I stop for ice cream at Vigo.

This afternoon I have a Slovenian wine tasting scheduled. Looking forward to trying some local wines. In the tasting group are people from Spain, Mexico, and the UK. Our very enthusiastic host tells us all about the wines he is serving and the regions they come from. Slovenian wines aren’t made in large quantities so it doesn’t make sense to widely export them; although if you are part of the EU it is slightly easier to purchase them. I guess I need to just enjoy them while I am in the country.

There are two “surprise” wines of the tasting (although one I already know of due to advance city research). Slovenian orange wine is made by leaving the white grape skins in to ferment with the juice, like a red wine is made. Cviček is a rose like wine that is made from a mix of white and red wine. It is lower in alcohol and popular on warm days. Kind of like champagne it can only be named so if it comes from this one particular region in Slovenia. I enjoyed most of the wines I tasted but I probably wouldn’t order the Cvicek again. I do arrange to purchase a bottle of orange wine to take with me on my travels the next few days.