Bled/Ljubljana, Slovenia

June 22-24, 2007

We left Friday after I got home from work for a weekend trip to Slovenia. We had been told about a city about an hour from Ljubljana called Bled. The lake in Bled (Lake Bled) is BEAUTIFUL. In the center of the lake is a small island just large enough to hold a 17th Century cathedral (St. Mary Magdaline's), still in use today (we came across a wedding that was taking place while we visited). Sitting on a mountain top just above the lake is a 11th century castle (Bled castle) about 100 meters above the lake with a wonderful view of the lake, the island, and the surrounding countryside. Like many European fortresses, although first mentioned in the 11th century, it has had its many revisions throughout the years, the most recent refurbishments happening in the 1950s.
We drove about 3 hours on Friday night, stopping at the same off the highway hotel we stopped at on our way to Italy a few months ago, about an hour from Graz, Austria. We made our way the rest of the way through Southern Austria, crossing into Slovenia around Klagenfurt, through the Karawanken Tunnel(an 8 Km long tunnel that runs under the Julian mountains and connects Austria and Slovenia). It began to rain earlier in the morning, which made us nervous, especially since we had just been boasting the night before that of all of the trips we have taken only one did we have to suffer through any rain (Salzburg last summer)! Fortunately by the time we actually arrived to the city the rain had passed and the sun was shining. We made our way immediately to the towering fortress overlooking the lake and had a perfect view. We tried to eat at the restaurant up at the castle but they claimed they did not have any open seating (I think they saw Katie and Ashley running around and with running noses…both have colds that we can’t control…that they used that as an excuse). But that was OK, because after roaming the castle grounds and taking in the wonderful scenery we drove back down the mountain and stopped at a Pizzeria which was perfect for all of us, and the pizza was as good as any we’ve ever had.
We drove back down to the lake, parked the car and began a stroll around the lake. We came across the boatmen who ferry the folks to the island church and decided to get on board and cross to the island. We had a ½ hour to roam the island before our ferryman required us ot reboard and head back to the shore. This is when we ran into the wedding and enjoyed the island setting in the middle of the lake. The island has 99 steps and it is tradition for the groom to carry the bride up these steps, during which time the bride must remain silent.
Once back to the shore we continued walking around the lake when we came across an alpine slide (summer time is a metal winding track, assume it utilizes sleds in the winter), which we decided to take advantage of. We took a lift up to the top of the hill and with one child each in tow, we secured ourselves into a car and rode down on a metal track, zigzagging back and forth. We made two runs each (the girls could have done it over and over again, even though it actually was sort of scary) before we headed back to the car, calling it a day in Bled.
We drove Saturday night to Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, where we found a hotel to stay for the night. We walked around the old town for a couple of hours then found a quick place to eat before heading back to the hotel for the night. We wandered across a few of the bridges and strolled along the plaza where we spent a little while last September when we were there last with my parents. It was little quieter this time, as in September there was some sort of festival/party going on with some Goal kicking contests and music blaring.
The next morning we went up the funicular to the hovering castle that this city, like many other European cities, claims. We sat for 10 minutes of a 25 minute 3-D movie of the history of Ljubljana before Ashley became too worked up to allow us to continue. We hiked up to the top of the clock tower where we took in the view of the city from above. It is a beautiful city, dissected by the river Ljubljanica (very narrow in the city), with a number of small bridges connecting each side. We bought a large painting of Prešeren Square with the pink Franciscan Church of the Annunciation and the Tromostovje Bridge (Triple Bridge).
Slovenia has to be one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, and the great thing about it is still relatively unknown and has not yet attracted the crowds that you see in Western Austria and Switzerland.