Beautiful Bled

We had checked the weather forecast for Bled last night before we went to bed and it was supposed to rain all day today but we have woken to just an overcast sky and we can still see the Julian Alps that surround the town of Bled.So perhaps the weatherman is going to be wrong again.
However we decided not to chance it and got up for a relatively early breakfast so that we could walk around the lake before the expected rain.We think it will probably take us about 2 hours with stops for photos.
For the first time in weeks we are putting on our sneakers as we are not sure how well formed the path around the lake edge is and we are both tired of getting small stones in our sandals and having to stop to shake them out.Now we understand why Europeans wear socks with their sandals!!!!We wouldn't dare as we could hear our daughters yelling at us from New Zealand!!!
It seemed to us that we were the first people up in Bled this Sunday morning as there was no one else around as we made our way down to the lake and our planned walk around it.
However as we got closer to the lake edge a few more early risers started to become obvious to us and in fact some of them had already worked up a sweat which lead us to thinking that perhaps they had already been around the lake and weren’t as early as we thought we were.
The cloud overhead was high and there did appear to be a chance that the sun might break through.It certainly didn’t look like it was going to rain as predicted.
The lake and its surroundings are so photogenic that we expect the walk we are hitting out on will take us a couple of hours after we stop here and there for photos.
It soon becomes clear that as you walk the track around the lakes’ edge, that the scene of the picturesque island with the church at the top end of the lake,changes at every turn making it hard not to stop and take another picture just in case the outcome of your view at this stop is better than the next time you stop.And of course ever present in the background is Castle Bled perched on the rock faced hill above the lake reaching out to part of every picture taken of the island.
As we reached the top end we came across 3 guys who looked like they been set up for some time with their fishing lines out into the lake.They had a little bivouac set up presumably to shelter from the rain if it came while they were out there trying to catch the big one.
As we got closer to them an alarm started to ring!!They all jumped to action from their bivouac with the one whose fishing line having the alarm sounding getting to his rod the fastest.We realised at this stage that of course it was the rod giving off the alarm as a fish or something had been hooked.
Now all this seemed a bit too clinical.What chance did the fish have when an alarm was going to alert the fishermen?What has happened to the old days when as a fisherman you stood for hours gazing at the water and hoping that your line and bait might just encourage a fish on to it and then give the fish a chance through your inattention?
It was a short battle with the huge rather fat looking fish loosing out and being landed on the lake edge.It was at this point that Gretchen didn’t want to see the outcome and suggested we move on before the fish met its final end.
However,before we could get past and on our way the fisherman took the hook out and released the fish back to the lake for another chance or was it the sort that you are obliged to catch and release?It certainly didn’t look like a fish that would be tasty when cooked.
A bit further on and we came across a large group of American,Canadians and Australian tourists waiting to be rowed across to the little island with the church in the lake.Two boats with men arrived and loaded up the tourists and rowed them over to the island.The boats are like gondolas with the man rowing standing at the stern and using two oars to propel the boat and passengers.
By now we had taken a heap more photos and video and the number of people out walking around the lake seemed to have risen substantially as it was difficult to get a period long enough to try and video the scene in peace and quiet and not have loud foreign voices ending up on the soundtrack.
The lake is also home to a large rowing establishment with marked lanes that are not obvious from the other end of the lake.Today there was only one crew out practicing,their coach keeping them in his sight from the shore using binoculars.At the rowing centre itself there were standards showing the winning feats of Slovenian rowing crews at recent Olympics.Can’t say we ever recall hearing that they were good rowers like us Kiwis and now we shall just have to keep a closer watch to see how good they really are.
We had been nearly two hours walking and sitting admiring the beautiful lakeside scenes but now we were almost back at the position where we had started and the commercial side of Bled was coming into air shot with pop music blaring unnecessarily from speakers at a lakeside cafe.Why someone had to go and ruin the peaceful scene was beyond us,
Then it became clear.There was to be some organised run around the lake and the music was just the start of the use of loudspeakers that would continue over the next hour or so we were in the area.
The castle was now immediately above us from where we were walking at the lake edge and as the weather had been improving as we had been walking we thought we should go and see what the views from the castle looked like.
There were two alternatives to get to the castle entrance high above the lake.One was the road which started a few hundred metres away from where we were.The other was a zig zag path that started at the point we were currently at.
The path looked like a gentle enough climb and at first it was.Then half way up,whoever had built the path must have decided that they weren’t going to get to where they wanted to be without throwing in more zig’s and zag’s and also a heap of steps and things got much steeper.
Eventually we made it and after a breather went inside to take on the majestic views out across the lake to the little island.It was a different perspective altogether and well worth the €7 admission which also included a small museum with history on the castle and a lovely tiny chapel that has been retained in its original state from the 1500’s.
The only problem up here were the group tourists off the half dozen or so buses.they all wanted to take photos or have their photo taken with the little island in the background that two powerless Kiwis had no chance,so we gave up on the idea!!
Here too the booming voices in broken English telling their tour groups that lunch would be the next stop made it difficult to avoid getting them on the video soundtrack while also wanting to just enjoy the peace and quiet and the view over the lake.
The walk back down the zig zag path was quicker than the walk up but almost as difficult because of the steepness of the path.
We went back to the apartment to rest and have lunch before embarking on the 20km drive to Lake Bohinj reportedly almost as beautiful as Lake Bled.
On the way up to Lake Bohinj we passed through a number of small villages now all part of the tourist trail to the picturesque lake.The Lonely Planet was right it was pretty but not as much as Lake Bled.
The lake is about double the size of Bled and it is perhaps this that doesn’t quite bring it up to match its rival down the road.We took a walk around one side and watched a half dozen paragliders first circle around above us and then come in for a landing on the wide open expanse of the meadow next to the lakeside.We didn’t see where they started from but speculated that they had jumped off(or whatever they do to get started)from a building that looked like a hotel high above the lake.
On our way home the promised rain started to fall and within an hour of being back at the apartment a large thunderstorm broke out that went on for an hour or so.Some of the thunder and flashes of lighening seemed very close and we half expected out lights to go out but they didn’t.
With the rain steadily falling we were pleased we hadn’t left our walk around the lake until tomorrow as the forecast is not good and we would have been very disappointed to have not had the opportunity to see and take pictures of this very scenic and picturesque place in good conditions.

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