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Blogs from Bled, Upper Carniola, Slovenia, Europe - page 5
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Eastern Europe - Day 24 - Triglavski National Park
Published: May 26th 2009Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled
May 26th 2009
Today I decided to take of the pension bikes and head out to Triglavski National Park to take a look at Vingtar Gorge. The lady at the front desk had said that the bike ride out there was easy, but slightly uphill. I decided that she was a little mistaken about the slightly uphill park when I came to a hill that I had to go down into the second lowest gear to climb. However the ride out to the gorge was just lovely. I managed to get some great panoramas on the way there. You have to pay to enter the gorge, but the money is totally worth it. The Triglavski National Park and the Vingtar Gorge are just beautiful. Once you enter the gorge you walk 1600m down from the entrance along the ... read more
May 25th 2009
Today was heaven and hell. The hell was the fact that I got on a train yesterday (after a full day of sightseeing) and spent the next 12 hours awake on trains travelling to get to Slovenia. The first train was a lovely train that took me from Berlin to Munich. This train was the epitome of German cleanliness and efficiency. Although it was a frightfully busy train, the route must be very popular. After an hour's stopover at Munich (from 22:50 to 23:40) I hopped on board a not so nice train to complete my journey from Munich to Bled, Slovenia. The train wasn't all that bad (especially after some of the ones in India) however it was certainly a step down from the other train. The biggest problem with the train was the fact ... read more
April 12th 2009
(Excerpted from my book OUR SUMMER IN SLOVENIA. AMAZON.COM) Big Ben is England, the Eiffel Tower is France, the Statue of Liberty is the United States, and so on for other countries. What about Slovenia? It is the Kazolec, Slovenia's unique hayrack. Seen everywhere Slovenian hayracks, Kazolecs, were taken for granted as a necessary part of farming life that occupied most of the country until recent years. It was only when artists began to paint pictures of them, that today they are seen as a national icon. They come in several varieties: single or double stacked, with or without small roofs, all wood or later versions of concrete pillars and wood slats. Some are hung with hay, others with hay and corn. They were developed over time and out of necessity. The damp Alpine regions are ... read more
December 29th 2008
(excerpted from my book: Our Summer in Slovenia, amazon.com) The golfing experience at the Bled Golf and Country Club is highly complemented by the facilities and service. Weather permitting Elysee and I had no finer Sunday than a round of golf beginning at noon followed by drinks and an early dinner on the patio. The menu is extensive, the service attentive but not obsequious. The cost was moderate compared with Western Europe and the wine, beer and after dinner cigars (Elysee passing on the cigar but enjoying the $5 Chivas.) and the dinner laid out in the patio cost us about $75 for the two of us. Half liter of fresh beer to wash away the "oririble tirst" from the round just played. A shared appetizer of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, with a chilled glass ... read more
November 22nd 2008
When Elysee and I contemplate where in the world we might spend the summer, golf is consideration. Not that we are accomplished golfer, far from that. But we enjoy the pastime, and travel with our clubs. We look for a playable course at a reasonable price, and were delighted to find just such a combination minutes outside the village of Bled, that we were strongly considering for a summer-long stay. Bled Golf and Country Club is the oldest course in Slovenia, est. 1937, and the home of several annual tournaments.Even though it is surrounded by the Karavanke portion of the Alps, it is not a mountain course. There are several climbs of 100 feet to elevated greens, but mostly the fairways are undulating with only a few blind tee shots. The men's tees from the tips ... read more
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November 13th 2008
It was an adventure getting to Bled. There was only one direct train leaving from Venice and it wasn't until 11 at night (as it was a Sunday) so we opted for the more confusing route. We took a train to Gorizia on the Italian border then took a bus to the edge of town and walked across a road to Nova Gorica in Slovenia. We'd crossed borders by bus, car, train, plane but this was the first time we'd walked over the line. We waited another few hours for the next train and finally arrived in Bled by 6 pm. The train station was on the opposite side of Lake Bled from the city so we hiked around the lake and checked into a hostel. Bled is our kind of town: small (around 5,000), quiet ... read more
October 28th 2008
Greetings from Slovenia! We have just spent four days here: two in Ljubljana and two in Bled. We arrived in Ljubljana in the early evening after our time in Villach and found our hostel without incident. The hostel was really cute, with only 14 beds and a very intimate, friendly feel. It was already dark, but we decided to wander down to the river and see what there was to see. It turns out the river is the place to be in the early evening, because the restaurants lining it all lit up their patios with candles and they were all packed with locals. We crossed the landmark Triple Bridge and found a cute cafe for a glass of wine/beer. The next morning we got up early and walked back to the bridge to get some ... read more
October 24th 2008
waking easliy for a change i started the day lazily at 9am..time to get off my arse to do a day trip i thought..so Bled it was. It is surprisingly close to Ljubljana where im based, only 1hr 20mins includeing the traffic we hit downtown. the first thing that hit me was the temperature. it was bloody freezing! i had a polafleece shirt, a jacket, scalf and beanie on and yet i was really contimplating jumping straight back on that bus and heading back to civilisation namely a hot cappucino by the river in Ljubljana, which was cloked in sunshine when i left. no such luck in Bled, there was low cloud obscuring the mountains that apparenly form an amazing backdrop to Bled Lake. that was after all the main reason i had decided to head ... read more
October 16th 2008
We arrived in Bled midday and started searching for our hostel. Once we found it we understood why it was so cheap. There was no receptionist on duty, no towels, and the showers flooded the bathroom. Not to mention the occasional broken bed. I was pretty pooped so I took a nap, as did Chelsea and Daniel, but Julia and Madeline went for a run around the lake. When they got back and I woke up they said they’d ran into Matt and that around 6 we were going to go over there and have a feast. We went to the grocery store and I got some gnocchi and pesto and the girls got stuff to make stir-fry and we went over to Matt’s hostel for the feast. Neil from Edinburgh was making spaghetti and Ryan ... read more
October 15th 2008
14th october Mum and Dad had organised a day where we could hire good bikes and helmets so we could go mountain biking. The only bad thing was all the down hill had age limits of 14years so me and mason couldn't go on hem (Mum said it was a good thing). At 10 o'clock we got the cable car up to the top of the hill where the trails were. Dad walked up because he wanted to save money, he said he wanted the challange and Mum said he wanted a break from us. Up the top we got our bikes, well i did anyway, Masons came up on the cable car because he was to small for the ones on the top. My bikewas a GT avalanche, massive suspension and good brakes. mason and ... read more
