Bled – Eleventh city on our two month tour around Europe

Bled, or Lake Bled as I was commonly calling it on our travels around Europe ended up being one of those places that I won’t ever forget.  I had only looked it up while I was planning our two month trip and found it on the Busabout website as a place to visit.

Not knowing much about Slovenia, I decided the best step forward would be to Google the hell out of it! 🙂  As it turned out, it was stunning.  I kept seeing images of this beautiful lake with crystal clear blue-green water and flowers everywhere.  I’d never seen a more magical fairytale place before in my life.  I knew then and there that I had to make it a priority on our trip.

I found some incredible accommodation options in Bled including this stunning Glamping place right on the water.  Only problem was the price.  I wanted to book it before we even left South Africa, but Luch was logical and told me to wait.  Of course he was right and I ended up finding much much cheaper accommodation at an Airbnb which was literally in the middle of town and perfect for walking to the Lake, Restaurants and Grocery Stores.  There was even the best bakery just down the road where we had to try their famous cream cakes.  Just think of the best custard and cream tart you’ve ever had with flaky pastry that crumbles in your mouth and you’ve got an idea of how good it was.

Actually with all the chocolate, mini swiss rolls, ice cream and pastries we consumed in two months, I was surprised I didn’t put on like 20 kg’s.  I reckon the walking 15 – 20 km’s a day might have had something to do with me keeping it off. 🙂

On the first evening that we got there, we took a sunset walk around Lake Bled and just appreciated the views.  We also decided to jump in and do a bit of swimming.  Not a big fan of swimming with fish of any kind, I struggled to force myself to jump in, but it was so worth it when I did.  The water was ice cold and after a long, sweaty day of traipsing with our bags to and from train stations, we needed to be refreshed.

Our first night in our accommodation we were so happy to have two balconies to sit on and just appreciate the vibe in the main square and in the restaurants surrounding it.  We would regret our central location early the next morning though, when the garbage trucks decided to empty all the bins around town and all we could hear was glass shattering at 4 am.  All I kept thinking was, I didn’t see that many people drinking the night before.

Luckily the noise eventually stopped and we could sleep for a few more hours before starting our day of sightseeing.  Bled is kind of a tiny place, so it was relatively easy to get to all the sights for a change and we loved that.  We rented a boat and Luch rowed us across to Bled Island where to got to walk up the 99 stairs to the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria.  I loved the fact that the 99 stairs are actually a wedding tradition whereby the groom has to carry his new bride all the way to the top without ever putting her down.  Supposedly if he does this, they will have a happy life together.  Apparently grooms even train for months before their wedding to do this.  We weren’t going to go into the church because we had to pay, but then a really nice American tourist said “They aren’t really checking tickets in the church, so take mine.”  We are so glad that we did.  Ornate golden statues, stunning chandeliers and a wishing bell along with about a 20 other tourists were inside, but we all got our chance to ring the bell and make our wish come true.

It started to rain on our journey back to the boat rental place, but we didn’t mind because it was once again boiling hot.  We walked around the lake some more, got some ice cream and a beer – a great combination I know – and then decided to do something stupid.  And by stupid I mean scary.  Luch was super keen to go on these toboggans that he had seen online, but I wasn’t sure seeing as how I’m scared of heights and all.

Turns out, the toboggan itself wasn’t so scary.  The chairlift up however was terrifying.  I felt like I was going to fall out at any moment and every time Luch moved to try and get a better video, I started to panic even more.  I even told him to stop moving entirely.  I never thought we’d make it to the top.  Coming from a country where snow is not a common commodity, I’d always dreamed of going on a ski holiday in Europe somewhere.  I know now that that is never going to happen.  I wouldn’t even be able to take the ski lift up to the top of the mountain without fearing for my life.  Doesn’t sound like a fun way to holiday!  Luch was so nonchalant about the whole thing, he even took a video with his phone while he was coming down the toboggan track.  All I did was break the whole time.  It felt so incredibly fast to me, but in the video it looks like I’m crawling along like a snail.

After that, I needed sugar to recover, so we walked to the best ice cream place in Bled – according to some reviews we’d seen online and ordered an exotic flavour that I’d never heard of before the name of which I can’t for the life of me remember.  Then we took the long way around (not on purpose) the Lake and back to our accommodation.

Early the next morning we were up and out because we wanted to walk up to the Bled Castle, but didn’t want to die from heat exhaustion.  Thinking back on all the stairs we had to climb, we definitely would have had we gone any later in the day.  What an experience though.  The castle was very medieval looking, perched on a hill above the Lake and their were views for miles.  There was a lovely old chapel where they performed weddings on occasion, a museum with all the history of Bled, jewellery, weapons, a Blacksmith, a printing press, Knight’s hall and my favourite was the old wine cellar.

We got some stunning aerial views of the Lake from above and found ourselves reluctant to leave knowing that we would have to grab our suitcases and head to the train station and on to our next destination.  Even though there were a few tourists at every spot, it never really felt crowded.  It was one of those rare occasions on our travels where we actually just got to be quiet and appreciate the view.  Let’s hope that never changes.