Mountain Goats, Race Cars, and Heavenly Cake

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We were up with the birds this morning as there was a lot of renovating going on in our building and they begin work at the crack of stupid! After breakfast we made our way to the bus station and bought our ticket to go to Lake Bled, Slovenia's leading mountain resort which is a 75 minute ride by coach bus. At 10 am we boarded the bus and drove through the gorgeous Slovenia countryside. We passed several small towns nestled in the mountains that looked like they had come right out of a fairy tale. After several stops to pick up passengers, we finally arrived at Lake Bled. As we followed the road down to the lake and rounded the bend, we had our first glimpse of this magnificent lake. It reminded us of Lake Louise! We wandered through the small town, much of which was closed as it is not yet their busy season. We found the grocery store where we picked up some snacks for our trek 6km around the lake. After visiting the tourist info booth, we decided to take add on another trail that would have us going up to a viewpoint that was the best in Bled.

We began our walk along the shores of this beautiful lake on the well maintained paved path. We could see the cliff-hanging medieval castle and a small island in the middle. In some areas the path turns to stone dust but it is a wide and picturesque promenade. Taking in the view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance, we began our journey along the path. We passed by a huge villa which was the former residence of Marshal Tito and today is an exclusive hotel. Apparently, before WW ll this villa was the summer home for the Yugoslavian royal family. When Tito ran Yugoslavia he took over this place and had it renovated using the plans of the renowned Ljubljana architect, Joze Plecnik. Tito entertained some very famous people here, such as Indira Ghandi. Now, it is a classy hotel. A bit above our budget!

In Lake Bled, is a beautiful little island called, Blejski Otok. It has a church on it, as well as several small shops and cafes. Apparently this island is a sacred site and on Saturdays in the summer there is a steady procession of brides and grooms who head for the island after their ceremony. There are 99 steps which lead from the dock to the Church on the top and it's tradition for the groom to carry (or attempt to carry) his bride up the steps!

We arrived at the halfway point where we opted to take trail #6 up to the panoramic viewpoint. Well, it was quite a climb to say the least. The path was reminiscent of the road from hell we travelled on in Costa Rica! We huffed and puffed our way until we reached a smaller path. I hate heights and going up this trail I gained respect for mountain goats. We trekked up this switchback goat path, which had a sheer drop on one side. As long as I avoided looking down it was not too bad. But in my head I just kept thinking "what goes up, must come down". When we finally scaled to the top of the mountain we met two young girls sitting on a bench taking in the incredible view. They kindly offered to share the bench with us but I was not going anywhere near the edge (or what I perceived to be the edge). They got adventurous and stood out on a rock, in the wind, having their photo taken and all the while I prayed they did not fall. I looked at Curtis and said, "Don't even think about it!".

After the girls left, we made our way to the bench. Thankfully there was another level below this seat and not the dropoff I had imagined. Curtis had me stand out on the ledge while he attempted to set the camera up on the timer. Of course, since our camera is not working properly, it only took 3 tries before we got an acceptable one! After sitting and enjoying the amazing scene before us, it was time to go down. I had been dreading this moment. We began heading down on the goat path. I spent most of my time going down on my bum all the while going over the terms of my will in my head. Curtis suggested that maybe he should go first. I said, "no way, I am not watching you fall over!". His thought was that at least if he was in front and I slipped, then he could catch me (or we'd both go over). In the end, I shimmied my way down, a bit tearful and praying that I was not coming back in my next life as a mountain goat. We made it down and continued our way on the promenade around the lake. As we neared the end we looked up and we were right below the Bled Castle so decided to make the journey up to the top. What was one more climb? After shedding our first layer we made it to the top where we took in the view from the castle, which is undergoing major renovations. Making our way back down, we took another path to lead us into town so we could check the bus schedule. Of course it was 3:15 and the next bus was 3:30. One of the things we really wanted to do was to enjoy one of the town's specialty desserts called Kremna Rezina, a layer of cream and a thick layer of vanilla custard sandwiched between sheets of thin, crispy crusts. Apparently Slovenes travel here from all over the country just to try this famous dessert. Now we had a decision. Do we head back into town, have the cake, and take the bus an hour later? Do we forego this traditional delicacy altogether? Suddenly we saw a place across the road advertising Rezina. We ran across, all ready to devour a piece of cake in 8 minutes before the bus arrived. Curtis went in and came out with 2 huge pieces of cake, nicely packaged in a plastic container to go! Brilliant! We went back to the bus station to wait when we noticed a van across the street that advertised a taxi to Ljubljana for 7 euros a person in 40 minutes. Now the bus was 75 minutes, several stops and 6.80 euros. We watched as four young people had the same thought as we did. The driver asked us if we wanted to go to Ljubljana too and told us to come over. We all boarded for our next adventure! The driver was a nice, older man who was a born and raised Slovenian and spoke great English. He pointed out wonderful sights to us on the way back and gave us some great history of his country. We talked about traditional food, their clean water, cost of living, etc. As he merged onto the highway we soon understood why the trip took 35 minutes less. As I chatted with an adorable university student from Dublin, my eye strayed to the dashboard. I leaned over to the Irishman and said, "Do you have your seatbelt on, we just hit 160 km/hr." His eyes widened and he said, "I think I'd best put it on," (spoken in an Irish brogue). It was quite trip as we flew down the highway, weaving in and out of cars, with the occasional hard, sudden brake. My heart was in my throat on several occasions but I just kept up the conversation with the young man. He was delightful for sure and when he asked about all the places we were going, he added, "You didn't put Ireland on your list?", (Irish accent again). I told him it was definitetly a destination for a future trip. As we roared our way into the city, the driver pulled up to the curb and let us all out. He gave us a hearty good-bye and we all parted ways.

We stayed in for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed our decadent dessert! Later we went for a final walk through the beautiful squares and along the river. Due to our late arrival Monday night and or early departure in the morning we really did not get to see as much of this unique city. Maybe next time 😊. Off to Rovinj for the next 5 days!

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Photos

Kremna Rezina
Yummy!