Note: The blog was originally published on my old blog.
This trip to Lake Bled started as a small nightmare. When I woke up, I realised that made a mistake in my planning, and I was supposed to be on the way to the airport already. Having sat in Uber for 5 minutes, the driver told me he needed to pick up his son and take him to school. Huh? No way, this was a bad dream! Fortunately, his older son was still home, so he took the younger one to school. This wasn’t the end of bad news. My flight to Vienna was delayed by 30 minutes. I had only 45 minutes for the transfer, so I started having doubts about catching the flight. When the flight attendant announced all flights where they had already re-booked the passengers, she didn’t mention my flight. Was it a good sign or not?
We landed 5 minutes before my next flight departure. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who needed to catch the same flight, so they waited for us. We took off 30 minutes later while waiting for other passengers from another flight. I didn’t realise that my luggage was still on the previous flight, and there was no way it could make it to this one with me.
I was waiting for it at the airport until the very end with many others. When I finally realised it wasn’t coming, I filled in the form at Lost and Found, gave them my hotel address and took a bus to the Zagreb bus station. We had spent 1 hour at the border waiting for I don’t know what. I was tired and hungry when I got to the Ljubljana bus station. Having bought the final ticket of the day, I had only a few minutes to buy something to eat and then finally off to my final destination – Lake Bled.
I woke up fully rested and ready for a beautiful sunny day. The plan for today was to walk around the lake Bled and take as many photos as possible. As it was early in the morning, I found only one place open that served breakfast and coffee. First coffee, of course.
I reached Bled Castle at the second stop, where I encountered the first tourists. This ancient Slovenian castle, constructed before 1011, rests atop a 130-meter cliff overlooking the lake, offering a breathtaking view. In addition to its spectacular vista, the castle boasts an excellent wine cellar where visitors can purchase top-quality wine.
It is a tiny castle, and it won’t take long to see everything. As I was leaving, I noticed two big groups of tourists had entered the castle, which became crowded.
I was glad I visited this lovely place in autumn. It wasn’t too hot for a long walk, and I could see how nature had been changing colours from green to yellow. I wonder if there are many flowers and if everything would be colourful or green. Spring may be a good time to come too.
The walk by the lake was excellent as I had time to admire colourful local houses that looked like weekend cottages. I could see the church in the middle of the lake from almost every place. Everybody I met was friendly, smiling and wishing me a good morning.
On the other side of the lake lied an Olympic Rowling Centre where athletes train amidst a beautiful environment. Despite the pleasant weather, the building was closed and not in perfect shape. Although I assumed they trained daily, I sat on the pier and enjoyed the breathtaking view.
I had planned to spend at this fantastic location only 1,5 day. On the second day, I hiked on the top of the hill to Straza Bled. As it was September, this place was closed down. As I was the only one there, I could enjoy the bird concert they were performing only for me. On the way back to the lake, I spotted a few young deers who were brave enough not to run away when I took a photo of them.
Getting to the tiny island in the middle of the lake is so easy. Many wooden boats, called pletna, offer transport to the island and back. I jumped on one with a group of American tourists already waiting. While waiting for more passengers to join us, we started talking, and they told me what they had already seen and where they wanted to go next.
Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria, built in the 16th century, is a picturesque church in the middle of this tiny island. There are three masses on Sunday (two in the morning and one in the evening), one on Friday and one on Saturday. Otherwise, the church is open to tourists.
Unfortunately, this was the last stop of my visit, and it was time to go to Belgrade. I was sad to leave this place, but maybe I would return one day.