Castles and Dragons

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Today we caught the bus up to Bled, a tourist oriented village on the shores of a pretty little lake of the same name.

The landscape is absolutely stunning: lush green forests all around, a lake of clear blue water, a castle-topped cliff rising dramatically above the town and a church on an island in the midst of it all. We spent a couple of hours wandering round the lake, chatting with ducks and soaking in the sub-alpine splendour. We'd picked up a few ingredients back in town and so had ourselves a picnic on the lake edge, watching the locals and their puppies strutting their way along in the sunshine.

After lunch we made the steep climb up through the trees to the castle. It was unfortunately a little on the pricey side, but the views were well worth it. All around were the magnificent Julian Alps, with green valleys filled with cute houses and wildflowers. Lake Bled sparkled in the sun as the clouds parted and I got all excited about finally making it to Austria tomorrow.

It was a great day and I fell asleep on the way home. Had a wee wander around town after dinner, said farewell to the dragons - we definitely want to get us a pair for when we go home!

Tomorrow we head to Vienna for a few days, then its off to the Czech Republic where Corb will fit in as many brewery tours as he can find, and I'll undoubtedly get up to no good with Kirst. Bring it on!

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