Slovenia 2 - we have arrived and it's stopped raining

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Today we finally arrived at Lake Bled and Suzy is sitting on Camping Bled in Slovenia. We arrived at Bled town after driving down some very narrow and potholed roads along the way . The road looked more like patchwork with patches of black tarmac repairs filling in all the holes. We couldn’t believe we were on a main road and wondered what the B roads looked like if this was the equivalent of an A road. Not much European money being spent in this part of the world. The twisty road was wide enough for Suzy and it made for an interesting route. We passed through the picturesque national park which is popular with walkers and serious hikers and passed by tiny villages along the way. Strange drying racks lined the fields and large bright blue forget me nots lined the roadside. It was an extremely pretty part of the world and one that we travelled through last year . Or more to the point we drove through on our way to Croatia . So this year the plan was to stop and take it in.

And then we saw Lake Bled nestling in the bowl of the Julian Alps still covered with snow. The sky has cleared, sun was shining and finally we had outrun the rain. What a difference a day makes and what a change to see everywhere bathed in wall to wall sunshine.

We skirted the lake and saw the island in the middle with its church and the town in the distance. We parked up on a car park and were told the campsite was next door. It was hidden away amongst the hills and the woods. Quite hard to find.

Reception was excellent and well organised and were issued with keys to open gates and toilet facilities. The cost per night 15 euro 80 cents slightly less than the ACSI rate. And better value than Madames in Bergues. The pitches were large but very open. It seemed a particularly busy site. We picked a plot and hooked up to the electrics of which there were ample boxes and found ourselves next to a couple of Polish vans and just down from the herd of Polish Easy Riders with their large growling machines. Trees shaded the plots and the site was awash with pretty pink and white cherry trees in full bloom. It was as if escaping from Winter Spring was making a real statement.

We checked out the shower blocks which were clean and tidy as were the pot washing facilities. Kathrein wouldn’t work but then the hills surrounded the site and it was too much to ask her to find Astra. There was a shop on site which had a good collection of food and we did a quick shop for basics. There was also a café/restaurant/bar which we earmarked for a drink later that night and a meal tomorrow . For a while we sat and enjoyed the first part of our real holiday soaking in the atmosphere. After 24 hours of driving we had arrived. Not non stop of course - 4 x 6 hour days .

The kettle came out, the gas went on and we had a cup of tea before we headed off to the lake. A walkway goes around the lake so we headed off in the direction of Bled Town. Fishermen hugged the bank their rods dipped into the water in the vain hope of catching the brown fish swam in the shallows. Snow glistened off the tops of the mountains. Pletna boats plyed their trade disgorging visitors on the island in the middle of the lake. It was a lovely place and we had outrun the rain.

Lake Bled is a pretty lake with alpine style houses around its edge. You need a lot of money to live here. The lake is just over 2 kms long in a straight line and 2 kms wide. It is about 30 metres deep. It is possible to swim in it. And it is roughly four miles to walk all round it. Something we plan to do tomorrow. The church on Bled island is a focus apparently for Catholic pilgrimage and it is associated with the cult of the Virgin Mary. There are 99 steps up to the church from the harbour . We may go across depending on how we feel and what else there is to do.

Our last port of call of the day was to the bar overlooking the lake where we drank two red wines before night fell and it was off to bed.

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Photos

Near to Bled
Not sure you would want to do 70kph here