Slovenia.

October 11, 2009
Lake Bled to Bohinj

This weekend we drove to Slovenia and see what everyone raves to us about....Lake Bled and the mexican food in Ljubljana. We drove to Lake Bled, parked and got to walking. The loop around Bled is about 3 miles. Below are pics of our afternoon.

From the city-side of Bled looking towards the Bled Castle (far left) and Parish Church of St. Martin. Evan really wanted to make it to the castle but we had a hike tour from a book that was goin to take a while and we didn't want to lose the light. We'll go back though. If you want to book your trip, after looking at the pics, let us know and we'll tag along.

We took a sack lunch and our little friend enjoyed the goldfish we fed. It is the snack that smiles back you know.

And here is our fisherman friend. Not really, but he drew a crowd because of his larger than life fish he caught.

Aforementioned fish meeting his fate.

Bled Island (Otok). You can row yourself out to the island or go with a group for a small fee. Again, losing the light (notice the cloudy day) and we must truck on to have time for our hike.

I forgot to mention that I started a small garden on our roof. This is one of the flowers that bloomed. Or maybe it's just one of the gardens we passed on our walk.

Another view of Otok from the lakeshore. You can see the city on the left where we started our journey.

This picture captures the feeling of the entire day. It was so peaceful and quiet walking around the lake. Not a lot of people, some carriage rides (one with a recently married bride and groom), a few kids on scooters, some bikes, lots of strollers and walkers, but it was so peaceful. The water was cool and calm. Can you tell we really liked Slovenia?

Now we have gone off the beaten path and paved road for our little adventure. Per Laura's recommendation, we found a hiking book for Slovenia. It started at Osojnica and took us to a picturesque view of Bled and the surrounding area. The pictures don't do it justice but Evan is on a pretty steep incline--hence the cabel hooked to the rocks.Here I am. Way up here. This was one of the first views we could see after an almost an hour of hiking. It's like a mini postcard, and yes, the water is that perfect.

Now up to the second view, up some seriously steep, narrow, and slippery steps.

Lake Bled. How many tiny dots do you see on the water? Those are the rowboats I mentioned earlier, and there are three.

Hiking just bit further up and off any path at all is the greatest view--in person. The fence is a bit tall and the tree below blocks Otok, but I'm sure safety is important.

"If that falls, I might not speak to you. Ever. Again." Evan's words to me after balancing our super-nice-not-quite-a-year-old camera on a rock. Thank you 10 second timer and my uncanny balancing skills.

Back down the mountain now finishing the loop around and had to get another great picture of the island.

Not a great one but can you see the shade of gray to the right in the trees? That was our first lookout point. The third mini-branch down is where our tip-top point was.

October 10, 2009
Lake Bohinj to Llubljana

After our hike/walk we drove to Lake Bohinj where we stayed at B&B Gasperin. This was our view from our balcony. It was very cloudy and while Evan checked the score of the A&M game (ugh) I ran upstairs because the sun broke through. Well, I was not fast enough and the clouds had rolled in again by the time I got up there and was camera-ready.

Our room was third down from the top, far left room. Peaceful, quiet, yummy breakfast, and the family who owns it was so nice and informative.

We got an early start and hiked to Slap Savica (Savica waterfall). It had recently rained and was cloudy but ohmygoodness, I could have sat up there all day. The entire weekend was just so different from any Italian weekend. Full of nature and outside and hills and green and have I mentioned peace and quiet? I think it's because we live in the center of Sacile, so compared to that, it was totally opposite.

You can now see the top. It falls 60 meters into a pool of emerald water. The dam at the very bottom of the pic supplies the electricity to the Bohinj valley towns.

After the waterfall and jello legs from yesterday's hike, we drove to a cable car to take us to Vogel ski center. This is Lake Bohinj from the top.

The Julian Alps.

At the top. (Ross, sorry our sunglasses are on but it was bright up there!)

Our cabel car and a view to the bottom.

Evan and the Alps.

The area soon to be covered in snow for your ski vacation.I think this is Studor. We had our zoom lens on the camera on the way down so it was hard to tell.

See our car? Bottom row, far right.Church of St. John the Baptist and the stone bridge. This is also the pic of our souvenir magnet.

Driving away from our weekend getaway in beautiful weather and green mountainsides and fields. Below are the hay racks that were strewn all over the Bohinj valley. Corn and hay were on most of them.

We couldn't help ourselves. Bessie and her bell. See the bell?

We ended by driving back through the capital, Ljubljana (lubiana) and eating some great Mexican food. I know, I know...Mexican food! But we found out Slovenia (especially the capital city) is really western thinking i.e. lots of English, all varieties of food, American songs on the radio, American chain stores (high end of course). And my favorite, which we did not take advantage of after being stuffed from Mexican food...take-away coffee. Sort of like Starbucks.