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Published: March 21st 2008
Monday 8th October We awoke to a beautiful, clear but slightly chilly day in Bled. Emma was very impressed with the breakfast on offer at the Garni Hotel Berc - fresh fruit, muesli, bread, yoghurt, coffee...and the waitress was onto it. After checking emails on the free computer, we gladly accepted the loan of Luka's bikes for a pedal around the lake. I could definitely see why it was rated no. 1 in Bled on the Tripadvisor website! Just a couple of minutes roll down the hill brought us to Lake Bled and now that it was daylight we could see the island in the middle of the lake dominated by the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary. On the far side, up on the cliff top, sat the picturesque Bled Castle. In fact, picturesque pretty much describes the whole of Bled, it is an absolutely stunning place.
Riding around the lake to the other side (with one or two photo stops on the way of course) Emma discovered a track leading up to the castle. We'd gotten about a third of the way up before we realised this wasn't exactly a bike track - steep walking track
full of steps would better describe it. Anyway, after carrying BOTH bikes (such a gentleman I am) up the never-ending hill, we emerged from the track and noticed a nice, smooth bitumen road and car park. Oh well, had to work off those pizza's anyway. 😊 The views from the cliff top were very special. We could see the whole lake with the little island, the town on the other side, the imposing Julian Alps in the distance and blue skies all around. What better place to soak up the sun and views and have a coffee or three. We toured around through the castle's many rooms for a bit with nothing really outstanding inside besides ancient coins, antique furniture and a skeleton (which was found on the island).
Riding back down we ended up steering the wrong way and found ourselves in a rural village just out of town. It was very peaceful and quiet with not many people about and I imagined this is what some of Switzerland might look like with all the A framed (so the snow doesn't build up) houses, mountains and greenery. Everyone had their wood piles chopped and stacked neatly next to
each house, ready for the cold winter to come.
There were no shops or anything over on the island so before we rowed over we thought it best to grab some food. We found a nice restaurant by the boat hire where we scored a nice carbonara and a salad. Fuelled up and ready to go now, we hired a wooden row boat from the old guy for €16 for 2 hours. Once I worked out which end of the boat was which, it didn't take too long to get heading in the right direction. Someone mentioned they hold major rowing events on the lake and floats still marked 2 km long lanes, from one end of the lake to the other. 10 minutes or so and we were docking at the island jetty, and Em was more than content to just lie on a grassy knoll and soak up the sun. I wanted to check out the church so up the 99 steps I walked to the ticket booth. A LOT of couples get married on this island and traditionally, the groom is supposed to carry the bride all the way up. I got talking to the young
ticket guy, who'd actually lived in Perth, studying as a marine biologist. He was talking a million mph but the funniest thing he said was "My roof tiler surfing mates, they like the smoke, treat me good, better than my family, one day buy me whore, she was beautiful, and had revolving bed, I not do anything though, am too scared, when I think back now I say YOU IDIOT!! (slaps head)." 😊
He ended up letting me check out the tower-like church for free, so I headed on in and grabbed hold of the bell rope and gave it a few big yanks. You're only supposed to let it ring three times for luck, so I dedicated one for Mum, one for Em, and one for Ben & Kylee (sorry guys you have to share). After relaxing for an hour, Em took control of the oars for the way back and really loved it. Just as we were coming into shore we noticed two familiar figures just about to take off. It was Kyle and Karen from the cruise! Who would've thunk it. We arranged to meet them for dinner as they paddled off (albeit bow first to
start with 😊 ) to the island.
Around 6pm they rocked up to our pad and we had a few drinks before walking down for some Chinese around the corner. Kyle had picked up the horrible flu I'd been carrying (must have been all those tongueys) but it didn't stop us pigging out on a banquet of 7 dishes for €45. After swapping tales and saying our goodbyes (again) we headed back to the Berc-ster.
Tuesday 9th October We got up pretty early today as we had lots to do. We had another nice breakfast, paid the €130 (well worth it) and thanked Luka for his first class hospitality. This morning we were heading west about 25 kms to Lake Bohinj which is surrounded (even more than Lake Bled) by the Julian Alps. The mist and fog was quite thick reducing visibility dramatically but we still caught glimpses of the beautiful milky green Sava Bohinjka river which criss crossed the road all the way to Bohinj. I couldn't believe my eyes when a part of the Alps emerged through the mist. They're bloody huge! I couldn't see the peaks through the car window without ducking right
down.
After passing a couple of little villages we hit Bohinj which was a bit quieter and less touristy than Bled. The fog was still so dense that we couldn't see across to the other side of the lake. We drove part way around the lake before stopping to get out and have a stroll through the forest which surrounded it. Being Autumn, all the colours of the leaf rainbow was found amongst the trees - green, yellow, orange, red and brown. Moss and funji clung to trees everywhere and mushrooms of all shapes and sizes littered the floor. Webs. Lots of webs everywhere too. Strangely though, no spiders. That was a good thing.
Em felt confident enough to drive the backwards car a bit further up, and a "Slap Savica waterfall" sign beckoned us to keep going a bit further. We parked at the foot of the mountains and tailed a hiking group for the 15 minute walk up to the waterfall. The scenery was stunning, one of the highlights of the trip for sure. I've never seen huge mountains like these up so close. The waterfall itself was one of those tall and skinny types (and
noisy) and was quite impressive so we got a few nice snaps, admired the views and headed back down. A little tap by the fast flowing river provided some refreshing, pure alpine water for our water bottles.
Driving back around the lake, it was a lot clearer now so we had a quick walk along the shore and let out a few of the longest coo-ee's I've ever heard. We were counting about 5 or 6 echoes! Time was getting short now so we grabbed some lunch at Bohinj and hit the road sitting on 85mph all the way. If I was going to get horribly lost again I wanted to allow a bit more time. Surprisingly, we didn't get lost this time and made it to Ljubljana Airport with plenty of time to spare. The same fella we'd hired the car from in Opatija was there waiting for us at the airport to collect it from us. Now that's service for you!
Well, we'd come to the end of a great 10 day break and met some fantastic people along the way. The experience made us decide to go on more guided tours in the future, as
it is very relaxing not being in control all the time and is a good way to get a network of friends.
Sunday 14th October Today I fitted my shiny new £90 back wheel to my not-always-so-trusty bike. Hopefully it will stop me getting a broken spoke once a month now. In the arvo I rode with Emma to meet John for lunch (who we'd met on the train to Opatija) in Islington. Em's short cut through the canals was lovely but we ended up on packed out Camden High Road which was chaos, teeming with alternate types. Eventually got there and met some of his mates and had a feed and drinks. Sitting outside we noticed that we'd seen every form of emergency vehicle go by in the last hour - fire engine, ambulance, coppers and some other one. It's something that you sort of get used to over here. There always seems to be an emergency going down somewhere.
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Mumsy
non-member comment
Just like being there
Isnt this one of the most beautiful places, its even prettier with the autumn leaves when you went.