Day 4: Lake Bled

After breakfast, we texted the Taylors and found Melly and Brian up and able to see us.   The little ones and Steve and Kris were still recovering from their long flight.  So, we checked out and took the circuitous route to their apartment (while probably only a 15 minute walk south along the river, their apartment was a 10 minute drive out, around then back in to the city center).

We spotted Brian outside..almost as if we caught him escaping from their apartment :-).   They had had a good night’s sleep and as we got a brief tour of their expansive apartment, we quickly caught up.   Our visit was short but good, and we said our goodbyes - we will see them on Friday in Split.

When we got to the car, we noticed metal hydraulic posts had risen from the middle of the street blocking our way out.   We got in the car and headed down an alley/street, coming up to all kinds of streets that ended in newly emerged barricades.  It was kind of funny.   Eventually google got us out...barely.   Later, we talked to Paul and Blair and they ended up approaching one of the barricades and begging for help and it magically went down for them (well, ok, it had a microphone and call function, but it seemed magical).  The whole thing seemed like a great way to encourage pedestrian, not car, traffic in the city!

Lake Bled, our overnight destination, was only about 45 minutes away at the foot of the Julian Alps.  We had read some good things about a destination just past Bled which coincided with some news from one of Beth’s colleagues that they had a cottage there and had grown up nearby.  So when we got to Lake Bled, though we couldn’t look away, we skimmed right through and kept driving towards Bohinj.   The 25 minute drive wound through a beautiful river valley, occasionally passing through towns that only lasted 300 meters on the main road.   Beth kept pointing and shouting out “steeple!” and sure enough we’d spotted another small town.

When we got to the mouth of Lake Bohinj, our mouths literally dropped open.   It was such a beautiful sight to behold - a glacial looking lake of emerald green with lots of campers, cyclists, hikers and kayakers milling about.   There was a beautiful stone bridge with a nice church just on the rise on the other side of the river that drains the lake towards Lake Bled.

We pressed on, deciding to stop there on the way back.   We were headed the 6 or 7 kilometres to the end of the lake at a place called Ukanc.  When we got there, we didn’t see much, other than some camp sites and cottages for rent.  We put in #13 Ukanc and google took us up a goat path that seemed sketchy to drive on but sure enough after 500 meters uphill we found the cottage that looked like the picture Beth’s colleague had sent her.  Check.    The drive, by the way, to Ukanc along the lake, was beautiful.   All you could hear from our car were oohs and aahs.... the lake was framed with some majestic mountain peaks and the glass smooth water was only disrupted by the occasional kayaker or duck.

We took a half hour break walking around back at the bridge and church.  The girls, slowly getting Hangry, still had the energy to do a bit of a photo shoot on the bridge... dear god.

We headed back into the Lake Bled area and made our way to the hotel.  Lake Bled is a beautiful, relatively small lake that is in a picture perfect setting.  There’s a church on an island in the middle of the lake, a huge castle on a cliff high above the lake and a small town at one end.   The entire lake is ringed by a 6 kilometre (why does apple spell it that way?) path that was chock full of walking sightseers.

The hotel looked nice and while we couldn’t quite check in yet, we parked, left our bags and walked to a nearby cafe overlooking the lake for lunch.   Beth was hankering for a walk and the three of us wanted to ride, so she set off on a “lap” while we rented bikes from the hotel and chased her down.   The going was pretty slow at the start on the busy side of the lake, but eventually we were flying - occasionally stopping for a picture of some beautiful view or picturesque chalet.

Around the far side of the lake, we got closer to seeing the church island.  Eventually we ended up at a rocky beach that was full of families swimming and playing water sports.   The whole place seemed like a mix of Muskoka and Niagara Falls, though without much cheesiness.   I definitely think this is a honeymoon destination for locals and it seemed like a place where families would come every so often to relax.

We decided to wait for Beth as we were near an area that rented rowboats to take to the island.  Sure enough, we didn’t have to wait long before Beth stalked around the corner.   We all went over to the boat area and hopped in.  Robin elected to be the rower, and though she had difficulties at the start, she quickly got the hang of the double oars and was speeding us to the island in short order.

On the island, we climbed the many steps to the base of the church.  There was one ticket to get into the clock tower and church (as Paul said later, there’s nothing cheap around Lake Bled), so we climbed to the top of the bell tower and just as quickly ran down the steps...lame (it didn’t help that it was covered with scaffolding).  We headed to the church and found the rope to the semi famous bell.... apparently if you pulled it hard enough to make the bell ring three times then all of your dreams would come true... cool.   We made it happen, so I hope Susan Anton and Elle Macpherson still look like the posters I used to have and that they have my number....  Beth struggled a bit... I think she was attacking the rope like she was going to kill it and it fought back a bit.

Finally, the reason we all knew we’d come to the island for (not really, but had we known there was a gelateria there, the going might have been easier) - gelato!  It’s mandatory, apparently, in Slovenia at least once a day.

Back in the shore, Beth continued on her 1/7th marathon while the kids spotted an archery stop.   We approached the funny looking archery center and found that for a measly 5 euros each, the girls could get the privilege of firing 10 arrows. (Did you hear already that nothing is cheap in Lake Bled?).  The guy was pretty good at instructing the girls and correcting their slight shooting errors, and by the end of it they were slaying deer, rabbit and bear (targets) with ease.   

Of course, when we got back on the bikes the bickersons started arguing about who “won” the “competition”.  I don’t know why they’re so competitive with each other...Ross and I were never like that (probably because we both knew I was better at everything (lol)), and Beth and her brothers were never competitive like that (Beth tells me she was head and toes the best at everything)..... it’s so weird.

Another ten minutes of riding and we found a place to rent paddle boards.   The girls stripped to their bathing suits and were off while I read news of Lebron leaving the Eastern conference (suck it Lebron.... good riddance).  The girls paddled around for half an hour and eventually laid down on their boards in the middle of the lake taking in the late day sun.

We rode back to the hotel, and I ditched the girls there while I decided to ride up to the castle.   It was a quite a slug up the last kilometers (for my strava guys, I’m sure there was a segment there for the last kilo that must have averaged 20%).  The view from the castle was pretty cool, but I didn’t linger as it was already past 7pm and I was sure someone in our party would be getting Hangry soon.

We chose a nice, nearby place for a great dinner.  We of course had the local dessert that was a “must eat” (can’t miss those, lol) which turned out to be a 6 inch high slice of half meringue pie top with very light cheesecake bottom.  Delicious.   

The highlight of the night was when Paul, Blair the girls and I headed over to a bar to watch the end of the Japan Belgium game.   Japan was up 2-0 but Belgium ended up tying then putting in the go ahead goal with 15 second left in injury time at the end of the game.  Wow!  Beth was surprised I was cheering for Belgium, but in this case, cycling, beer, chocolate and diamonds (Robin added that one!) ruled out over our former homeland (Gomen nasai minna, neh!).

What a fun day.  We continued to marvel at the beauty and charm of Slovenia.