Tuesday, 27 May 

Bled, Slovenia 

Hotel Park, Bled 

Weather - Cloudy - Max 20c

We woke to a cloudy day but the views from the hotel were outstanding. The hotel looks out onto the stunning aqua green lake, Bled Castle and St Martin’s Church. Further along the lake is Bled Island.

We toured until 3.00pm and we then had time off until tomorrow morning. We had all sorts of weather today but thankfully it was all well timed so it rained mostly when we were in the bus.

We set out at 9.00am through pretty countryside, forrests and farmland, alongside clear aqua green creeks and rustic buildings to arrive at Lake Bohinj which is the largest permanent lake in Slovenia. We were very close to the Italian and Austrian borders. We had outstanding views of the lake as the clouds cleared and we could see the surrounding mountains. In the distance were the Julian Alps. The water was so clear we could see fish slowing swimming below us from the old stone bridge.

On the shore of the lake is the 700 year old Church of St John the Baptist and is listed as one of the finest examples of Slovenian medieval architecture. 

We spent some time at the lake before heading to the Alpine Dairy Museum at Bohinjsko Jezero a short distance up the road. When we got off the bus none of us could stop taking photos of the rustic working village. 

The cheese museum focussed on the life of the workers involved in cheese making and the movement of the cattle migrating to high alpine pastures in the spring and summer and returning to the lower pastures in autumn and winter. It seemed a tough environment to make a living. One of the small high alpine huts was moved to the museum. 

The herdsmen would climb the mountains with a unique backpack carrying everything they needed for living in the mountains. A small cushion was worn to lower the friction of the backpack on the head.

After the tour we had a cheese tasting which started off with blueberry schnapps. 

This one tasted quite reasonable. We had the cheese tasting inside the house alongside the museum sitting snuggly at tables with red tablecloths. It was all done so well. 

Most of the cheeses were from cow’s milk. There was one tasty sheep cheese. The last cheese brought to the table was called “stinky cheese” by the host. I nearly gagged and had to force it down. It tasted like the bottom of a wet hay cow barn. I don’t think I have ever tasted anything so dreadful. Henk liked it and so did a number of others in our group.

Our next adventure was to take a cable car from Lake Bohinj to the top of Mt Vogel at the height of 1535m. The cable car was very crowded as we stood for the five minute sometimes jerky journey to the top. When we got off we walked on a grate so we could see through to quite a distance down to the rocks and trees. Henk was not happy about that and quickly retreated to the side of the cafe. 

The weather was closing in again so the view wasn’t as clear as on a sunny day but we did manage to see where we stood at the lake and St John the Baptist Church in the distance. 

We spent an hour walking around the ski resort, taking in the views and having a quick coffee and hot chocolate before catching the 1.00pm cable car. 

Our last visit for the day was to Bled Castle which is built on a precipice overlooking Lake Bled. It was a steep climb to the entrance. Inside the castle’s walls was much smaller than I imagined. It was quite commercial with a cafe, souvenir shop, art gallery and a printer’s shop. 

We had good views of Lake Bled, Bled Island and President Tito’s lakeside residence.

When we returned to the hotel we hot-footed it to birthplace of the Bled Cream Cake which is the cafe in front of the hotel. It’s year of birth is 1953 the same birth year as me so how could I resist? We all enjoyed the layered cake of puff pastry, whipped cream, custard. The cafe overlooked the lake and the sun came out so it was a very pleasant afternoon.

We walked around the lake to St Martin’s Church which we can see from our hotel room. It’s a later addition to the lake as it was built in the early 1900’s.

Inside it was ornate and there were a number of frescoes. 

It was a long and enjoyable day. We returned to the hotel at 5.00pm and had a rest before going out to a local restaurant across the road from our hotel. The food was great and we had a terrific local Slovenian wine which cost the earth but hey, we only live once!

Tomorrow we head south east to Ljubljana for two nights.