Peaceful surroundings

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Geo: 46.2781, 13.8593

Mariah, Maeve, Carlos and a new solo traveller- Alex (Mexican) and I walked to the bus station to get our bus. It was a really comfy bus and I fell asleep at once. The other girls couldn't sleep on buses- they were on bus stop lookout.
After an hour we arrived at Lake Bled. It is beautiful, a smallish lake, island in the middle with a church on it and a castle up high overlooking the lake. We were going to get the boat to the island, but it was much cheaper to row ourselves- so we did. We hired a rowboat and I said from the start that I can't row. Mariah and Maeve started rowing. They had a bit of difficulty at the start as we were slowly heading towards the island, but the boat facing backwards. I didn't complain- we were getting there! People in other boats were looking at us as if something was wrong with us. Oh well. The girls finally managed the turn the boat around. Then the boys took over half way. Finally arrived at the island.
Walked up the steps to the church. We rang the church bell and an ice-cream to cool down. Then we rowed back and got the boat back just in time with about 2 minutes to spare. We hired the boat for two hours.
Then went to the 'beach', an area for swimming with bathing boxes. The water was really refreshing and a nice 25 degrees. The current temperature was 36 degrees! By this time we were really hungry. Found a place to eat, had a yummy seafood risotto.
We then decided to walk up to the castle for a great view of the lake. Finally made it to the top after many steep steps, to find that we had to pay €6 to go into the castle which included a museum! We were not interested in the museum, we just wanted a great view of the lake. Disappointed we walked down and walked around the 6km lake. There are lots of people swimming and sunbaking on the lake. We had an ice-cream while we waited for the 8.30 bus back to Ljublana.

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Photos

01 In the middle
The church in the middle of the lake.

02 At the top
The castle at the top of the cliff.

03 And we are off!
It was a slow journey to the island, but the rowers did a great job!

04 The start
This is where we started rowing from.

05 Destination
Between the heads is the island.

06 Castle
The castle surrounded by mountains.

07 Up and up
We walked up these steps and finally arrived at the church.

08 Ding Dong
Visitors are allowed to ring the church bells. It wasn't easy!!

09 Me
Me and Lake Bled.

10 Mountains
Mountains through the trees.

11 Lunch
Our seafood lunch.

12 Church
An interesting looking church.

13 Entrance
Entrance to the castle.

14 Lake
View of the lake from the top, near the castle.

15 Island
The church on the island.

16 Side view
A side view of the island with the church.

17 In the middle
In the middle is the island and the castle to the right.

18 Steps
The steps that lead up to the castle.