July 3 2014 Bled sight seeing

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First up was a short cycle to Bled castle. We arrived at about 0900 am and were the only ones there. The views from the ramparts were amazing as was the view of the small island with the Church of the Mother of God of the Lake. (See photo) and the Parish Church of St Martin. The latter church was built in 1905 on the site of the previous Gothic church which was built in the 15th century but retained some of the original walls from 1100.

Bled castle was originally built in 1011 but took on its final appearance in 1511 (quite old then).
The most interesting of all the preserved buildings was most certainly the Gothic chapel which was built in the 16th century, and was renovated in a different (Baroque) style around 1700. All in all worth a look.

We left the castle and took a road less travelled to the bottom. It was so less travelled that Gus fell off his bike on the way down. Caution was the word of the day following this spill. We then cycled around the lake, meeting an elderly pommie couple on route.

To visit the island in the middle of Lake Bled you have to hire a rowing boat. We rowed out and back after having a quick look around. I went to extraordinary lengths to get a photo of a red water Lilly much to Gus' amusement who was full of advice from the bank of the lake.

The afternoon was highlighted by a phone call to my niece, Milli, to wish her all the best on her 18th birthday.

Gus and I celebrated everybody's birthday then! I was the recipient of a huge amount of "piss take" as a result of ordering what the waitress described as a lady's beer due to its fruitiness. Gus after one taste described it as drinking low alcohol Ribena. This beer was then backed up with a much stronger "man's beer" called Kasteel Rouge @ 8%.
Gus continued to drink shandy in comparison and was merciless in his vocal opinion of my choices. However, when he picked the bill at the end of our tasting session his maths left him helpless when he gave Frau Old Buzzard aka the "trout snogger" a monster tip. She was in all honesty a nice person but I didn't want to leave our readers with the impression that the tip was as a result of her been hot. The indigestion he felt after I explained his error was worth all the grief I had previously been given.

Dinner was at the hotel and wasn't too bad. Gus is still giving me grief about drinking Ribena. However, Ribena or shandy, we both konked out early.

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