Lake Bled: Take 2

February 19-February 21, 2011

Another three-day weekend came around, so we took another getaway to Lake Bled. The first time we visited Bled, we stayed at Lake Bohinj. This time we wanted a relaxing weekend and to be able to walk around the lake at our leisure, shop, have a coffee, and enjoy our time with the boys. We had a great weekend.

When we arrived we took a walk around the lake, looked at the ducks/swans, shopped a little, drank a little, and finally went back to the hotel to let the boys nap and feed them dinner. Our improvised high chairs, their car-seats, they were initially less than pleased until they realized food was involved.
Porter was not satisfied sitting in the stroller during dinner so I took him out. He worked his Porter charm on the people sitting behind us for at least 20 minutes. He just stood on my lap and bounced and laughed and smiled and bounced and laughed. It was really cute and it allowed us both to eat our dinner. Eli was happy getting pieces of bread in the stroller and playing with his green frog.
The boys slept in two pack-n-plays provided by the hotel and slept great! The next morning after breakfast, we loaded up the boys in the Ergos and started on our hike up to the castle. The boys enjoyed their ride sleeping and watching intermittently.

After our serious hike on the main road, the forest path was closed during winter, we reached the castle.
Porter woke up as we reached the top of the hill.
The spire of the castle.
Overlooking Lake Bled. The drop-off to the cliffs below is right on the other side of that concrete barrier by Porter--a little scary when I'm carrying him.
Family picture with the little island in the distance. The path we hiked the last time we were here was on the mountain behind the island.
Evan and Eli. Eli chewed on the strap of the Ergo for quite a while. It was really cold when we started out in the morning, and it was windy once we reached the castle.
Our hotel, Hotel Kompas, is right in the middle of the picture with the triangle roof (of the 2 triangles, it's the one towards the left middle).
The island with the sweet little church on it and the boat carrying passengers to visit.
The Castle: The Residence of the Lord. Writing about the castle.
Evan and Eli in the bathroom.
The upper courtyard.
We met an American family, stationed at Vicenza Army base in Italy, with four kids: 2 older single children and twins (1 boy, 1 girl). The little girl was very interested in us, and the mom told her they used to be carried around just like our boys. We took their picture and they took ours.
After our tour of the castle, and making our way back down to lake level, we ate some lunch at Chillli's. Slovenia is a where a lot of Americans go on the weekend or even day-trips, for Mexican food--or any other type of food non-Italian. We ate some delicious Mexican food at Chillli's. Evan had a spicy soup and then we both had enchiladas; his was chicken and mine beef. It had loads of vegetables inside that I would never associate with an enchilada and we both ate every bite. The boys did great and ate their first bites of tortilla.

After lunch, we hurried back to the hotel as it was nap-time and I mean for Evan and me too! We all passed out for about 2.5 hours. Evan took some time after his nap to go to the hotel pool/hot tub/sauna and I took my turn when he got back. It was heaven to sit in a hot tub and look out at this. All the hard work at hiking to the castle, and enjoying the reward of a nap and time alone to relax in a hot tub. I never wanted to leave!
I have to talk about the food at the hotel connected to ours where our breakfast and dinner were included in our stay. Dinner the first night was buffet-style with fresh, steamed cauliflower, 2 soups, scorpion fish (unaware this existed), fried chicken, and fresh fruit for dessert. The next night was off the menu: we shared beef carpaccio, I had pumpkin soup, Evan had a local soup and main entree of meat and potato dish, I had the best fried calamari, and then a local chocolate dessert. The assistant chef home makes bread daily, and that night was Rosemary bread, which we ate way too much of!

The next day, it was still snowing so we drove around the lake and headed home, but not before getting some pictures of the island. Everything was so beautiful with fresh snow.
We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Not a lot to do--just relax, eat, drink, walk a bit, and enjoy our family time.