Mar 11, 2010 - Bled, Slovenia

Prior to meeting with the Emporia group in Zagreb, we spent two wonderful days in Bled Slovenia, one of the most beautiful villages in all of Europe. A massage, a pedicure, a boat trip to the island to climb 99 steps to the church and a trip to the castle overlooking the city. Tradition is that the groom carry the bride to the top of the 99 steps on the island. The boats that take you to the island drop you off at the foot of the steps, so you are not going to get to the church atop the island without climbing the steps. Once you reach the...

Jun 6, 2009 - Bled and Vintgar Gorge

This morning we were up early, and made a quick stop at the Mercator supermarket across the road for some snacks before catching the bus out to Spodje so we could get out to Vintgar Gorge. Naturally, as this was our big outdoor day, it was pouring rain. I mean POURING. We saw several of the Slovenian roofed hayracks out in the fields, which are quite charming, and in weather like this one can understand the need for a roof to keep the hay a little drier. The walk from the Spodje bus stop took about half an hour, and was mostly uphill, so...

Jun 5, 2009 - Salzburg to Bled

Up bright and early this morning to start our journey to Bled. We took a taxi to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof and hung out at the station until our train arrived. We found a seat, but the conductor directed us to move to the last three cars of the train, as the train would be splitting in Villach and only the last 3 cars would be continuing on to Bled and then Beograd. So, it is always worthwhile to ask, or to check the signs on the doors of each car, upon boarding to make sure you don't end up somewhere unexpected! The ride was fine until we were...

May 7, 2009 - Bled

This morning we checked out of our hostel, walked to the train station and stowed our gear in a locker. Then we went across the road to the bus station and caught the bus to Bled. The bus ride took about one hour 15 mins. Bled's location is very beautiful. It's main feature is a large emerald green mountain lake. Located in the middle of the lake is a small island which has a church on it. The church is very popular for weddings. There are 99 steps up from the lake to the church and the tradition is for a groom to carry his bride up these...

Apr 26, 2009 - Beautiful Bled

4/26/09 Don't let the odd name put you off. The tiny alpine town of Bled is yet another storybook land, with a castle perched on a high rock overlooking a lake. Christopher loved learning about the old printing and stamping techniques, and chose an unusual picture of a knight to make his own. Swans nest on a picturesque island with steps leading up to a church. Christopher had great fun feeding a friendly swan and quietly watching another sitting on her nest. Fran got to do some rowing and loved toodling around the lake. Inside the church,...

Sep 23, 2008 - Lake Bled, Slovenia

Well, I made it through the 2nd tour and am spending my last day in Europe relaxing in Bled, before flying home tomrorow. Not much to say, other than that I am feeling pretty worn out and look forward to going home. Its nice to be here again, very beautiful, but a bit gray and rainy. I spent the day walking down by the lake, eating cream cake and reading a good book (White Thorn, by Bryce Courtenay). Its the end of the season and the place feels pretty deserted. It's nice being here without all the tourists, but I wish it were a bit warmer...

Sep 4, 2008 - Lake Bled

We have arrived in beautiful Slovenia. The flight was uneventful and then we picked up our car which is amazing - a Peugeot Partner Totem, sort of a small minivan. Tons of room and big windows. The roads are great so far and I even took my turn at the wheel! Last night was spent at a pretty town, Matrei, in the Austrian Alps and we had a good wiener schnizel dinner and then crashed at the Sport Hotel. Today we drove about two hours to Lake Bled (please google it to see a picture, it is gorgeous!) We will be here camping for a few days....

Aug 26, 2008 - Lake Bled

Today we left Ljubljana and stopped at Lake Bled on our way to Kobarid, where we are spending one night. I wish we were staying a night or two at Bled, but we only had a few hours. Just long enough to tour the castle and give people some time to wander around. This lake is even more beautiful than I remember (Candi and I stayed here a few years ago). It's about 4 miles around with a path that goes all the way, sort of like Greenlake without the millfoil. The water is the most amazing aquamarine color and it's pretty warm and clean. I walked...

Jun 12, 2008 - Thursday 12 June Bled to Venice

Bid goodbye to the Bridgetown Stevos Wanted to hire a boat and row out to the island but it was raining so went for a walk drove around the lake to the castle too chaotic to park so drove down again. Went for coffee and Kremna snezna rezina Walked around the shops but couldn’t find anything good. Drove around the lake to the boat hire place and hired a rowboat in the rain. Rowed out to the island in about 10min walked around looked at the church. Then Emma rowed back. It stopped raining just as we got back. Had some lunch and looked...

Jun 11, 2008 - Wednesday 11 June - Ljubljana - Bled

Had a good sleep and didn’t get up until 9. Went for run. Went to the aquatic centre in the resort. Very nice with lots of pools different temperatures. No rectangular pools all curved different sections, spas. They had concrete tiled lounge chairs with a speaker each side of your head to listen to relaxing music. All very nice and we anted to stay but things to do and supposed to check out by 12noon. Continued our quest for gaz. Wen to the Slovenian gas refinery they directed us to the distributor across the road. We carried in our...

Jun 11, 2008 - Bloody Beautiful Bled

Bled In our last post I wrote about how sad we were to be leaving Rovinj and heading home. Well you know when a toddler is crying because they’ve bumped their knee, or something, and all you have to do to stop them crying is dangle something sparkly in front of them? Well that’s us. We have forgotten all about Rovinj and have a renewed enthusiasm for travelling because something spectacular has been dangled in front of us. That special thing is Bled. A crystal clear lake with an island. An island with a medieval church. A Castle that clings...

Jun 8, 2008 - Lake Bled in Slovenia

So here we are, sitting in an Internet cafe in Zagreb, Croatia, having just arrived from Bled, Slovenia, where we crossed off the last country on our list. Bled was beautiful, consisting mainly of a small lake (can be circled on foot in two hours), the country's only island, and some shopping and residential areas surrounding. There is also a castle and a church up on a cliff. Paul and I stayed a short walk from the lake, in the home of a German couple who knew such little English that we were never quite sure of how every conversation...