Blogs from Bled, Upper Carniola, Slovenia, Europe
May 5th 2012
5th May 2012 Saturday We had to make our way back to Ljubljana as we had noted that our caravan towing mirror clamps were starting to crack. With kind assistance from the staff at Camping Bled we found the nearest Caravan accessories store. New mirrors purchased and back to the caravan for snack lunch. Went to Bled Castle, it is perched atop a cliff overlooking the Lake, the views are spectacular. A bit overcast today, this was a shame! The chapel which is 16th century has some ancient frescoes. The castle itself has been there for over one thousand years. It is a popular wedding venue- we were told there were three today! The Master and Mistress of ceremonies were the lead dancers that we saw last Monday evening at Camping Bled! Back to pack up ... read more
May 3rd 2012
3rd May 2012 Thursday To-day we walked right around Lake Bled a distance of 4.2 miles according to the Garmin. Unfortunately we did not find the Geocashes as we had downloaded 22 miles away!!!!!!!!! Barney enjoyed the walk although it was hot he was able to take a dip as necessary!! At Bled we enjoyed a large Bled Slice and a scrumptious Chocolate/ Caramel Coffee! We saw loads of fish including Pike swimming in the clear water. Afternoon shopping and washing. Dave and Lin joined us for pre dinner drinks. A very warm and good day.... read more
May 2nd 2012
2ndMay 2012 Wednesday Awoke to blue skies, quite a storm last evening echoing around the mountains. Breakfast al fresco – beautiful warm fresh baked rolls. We drove to the end of the road/track to Krma over 3500 foot – though no snow now and the beautiful Crocus and Hellebores we saw last time we were here have finished – they have had a warm spring and an earlier snow melt. However, there are still plenty of wild flowers including Alpine Squill. We also came face to face with one lone sheep!!! Drove down a thousand feet or so and sat out and had lunch in the sun at Radovna- delicious! Visited the medieval town of Radovljica – lots of the buildings have old murals on their walls – all with a religious context. Back for a ... read more
May 1st 2012
1st May 2012 Tuesday Awoken by church bells as today it is a Bank holiday in Slovenia and most of Europe we believe. Breakfasted in the sunshine. Drove into Bled and checked out the shops etc – mostly closed- huge amount of bank holiday traffic Drove down to Jesnice and then up the steep drive to SP Gorge where we had to stop for Cheese and Mushroom strudel and Venison Goulash with dumplings- Brilliant!!! Back to van and sat out in the sunshine- later another walk and a swim for Barney – the lake is alive with fish. Perch we think– Barney is fascinated Thunderstorm early evening.... read more
April 30th 2012
30th Aril 2012 Monday We left Lake Garda by 9am and set off to Bled Travelling through Italy into Austria and then via the Karawanken Tunnel (over 8 kms long) into Slovenia where we stopped and purchased our vignette .The scenery along the way was stunning. Dave and Lin were here and provided a welcome cup of tea on arrival. Once sorted we walked down to the lakeside- a truly beautiful setting – Barney of course had a swim ! This evening there was a display of Slovenian medieval dances, sword fights, flame juggling relating to the times when Bled Castle was under attack from the Turks. The culmination of the display was a bonfire and fireworks display- Excellent. It is good to be back at this superb spot – however it appears much busier than ... read more
October 5th 2011
Woke up at 730 am, to early but i was ready for a long tour day. I usually don't like doing tours but this was small 8 passenger van and the destinations seemed good. We met at 830 in the lobby of the hostel and got in the Van to drive off to the north area. First stop was the an amazing gorge. We had about hour and half there and I got some great photos. It was about a 3 k walk there and 3k back. So beautiful along the river and the water was so blue. I could see the bottom of the river and also fish swimming. Next stop was to Bled Castle. A true fairy tale castle. So Awesome. Got a few touristy gifts for christmas here that I think some people ... read more
Lake Bled and the massacre of the midgets
Published: January 8th 2012Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled
September 6th 2011
Heading to Austria and we stopped at Lake Bled. Now I was really excited about this, it was one of my big ‘looking forward to’s, and from the stories I had heard, I had really high hopes. Admittedly, I was a little let down. Don’t get me wrong it’s incredibly beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale; I guess I just built it up too much in my head. So we’re sitting down by the lake and some Japanese tourists ask me to take a photo for them as I happily did. Then they asked us all to get in the photo with them, such a random moment, the photo looked great, I just wish I’d got one on my camera. So what about the midgets you ask? Well it’s a bit of a personal ... read more
August 30th 2011
This isn't the first time I have been to Slovenia, although the preposition "to" is perhaps misleading. Back in the days of 2007, I travelled through Slovenia en route from Venice to Pula, but never set foot on Slovenian soil - i.e. I never got off the bus. Therefore, as per my own rules about visiting countries, I have never been to Slovenia. Until now. I had always heard that Slovenia was a beautiful place - Bled in particular (I had seen the photos) - and was great for outdoor activities. This holiday would be a little different, as Davies and I wanted to try some of the sporting activities on offer. Getting to Bled was a bit of a mission - flights to the capital Ljubljana are fairly expensive because Ryanair don't fly there, but ... read more
The Julian Alps, Ljubljana and the Slovenian coast
Published: August 29th 2011Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled
August 27th 2011
After four hours on a train from Salzburg, I arrived in the far north of Slovenia. Although the country is quite small (about the same size as Wales), there seems to be a great variety of natural sights, many of which are very reminiscent of neighbouring Italy. In some of the tourist offices they have a leaflet “How to see Slovenia in 3 days” - it may be small, but I don't think 3 days would suffice to see the many wonders of this compact country. I began my week in Slovenia in the picturesque town of Bled, on the outskirts of the country's only national park, Triglav. Bled is truly a beautiful town, built around Lake Bled and overlooked by Bled Castle which sits upon a cliff jutting out into the lake. Bled was packed ... read more
August 15th 2011
I decided to hike the "quick" path up to the Castle rather than take the leisurely walk or the tourist train... yeah... that was an unfortuante choice on my part haha. The 15min walk is essentially 3min of steep gravel path in the woods, and the rest is all stairs. So many stairs. Not cool. I had a good laugh when I got to the castle though - there was a couple who had their (looked like a Lhasa Apso) dog in a rolling suitcase, with the top obv open so the dog could sit/stand. How cute. Anyway. You have to pay 8 euro for the Castle... which I'm never a fan of, but after the kajillion stairs, I wanted the satisfaction of seeing the lake from above haha. The view was quite nice, although the ... read more
