Moving On
I left Ljubljana at 11 in the pouring rain, pink raincoat with the hood over my head - squelched to the bus station (not a grand affair) and managed to get on a bus to Bled 10 minutes later. Petra (yesterday's guide) had waxed anti-lyrical (as opposed to lyrical) about the chivalry or lack thereof of Slovenian men. And behold, as I indicated to the driver that my suitcase needed to go in the hold of the bus, he opened said hold and went back to sit in the bus. Croatian bus drivers would always always put the bag into the hold. Interesting.
The rain continued for the duration of the bus trip (1 hr 25) and then, unless it was my imagination, tried to rain a little bit harder as I got off the bus and walked to the hotel. Thank goodness for the pink raincoat and new shoes! The temperature dropped to about 15 degrees to boot.
As soon as the checking in formalities were done with, the pink raincoat and I squelched down towards the town centre, ostensibly in search of a dry cafe with coffee and cheapish food, which I found, along with other weather pilgrims hiding from the rain. I managed to make my lunch last nearly 2 hours at which point, as the rain eased, I, (along with all of the others in safe harbour) quickly paid and started exploring.
The mountains around the lake were cloaked in mist and low clouds, giving an etherial atmosphere to the place - also making photographs difficult, but around 4 the cloud lifted and the weather brightened.
St Martin was open (and filled with weather pilgrims) and by now you will know how much i love to wander into churches. Beautiful chandelier, gorgeous altar. There is something about the smell and the atmosphere - almost makes me wish I WAS religious just to add another layer. (I won't ring the bell in the castle and make that wish, don't worry).
Then a kazillion steps to get to Bled Castle (not the one on the island) - hopefully the photos show how dramatic this place is up on a sheer cliff overlooking the lake. It was initially constructed at the beginning of the 11th century with many modifications since then. I could have paid more money to get an audio commentary but was losing the will to live. These places make you haemorrhage money, and our dollar only just meets the euro half-way.
And then, given I was in Bled, and given that the famous cream cake (Krempeta, or Kremsnita in Croatia) was first made at Hotel Park in Bled, I sat on the terrace at the famous hotel and doubled my daily calorie intake with each spoonful. Sadly, they only come in one size - And that will be the end of cream cakes for me. Not that fond of them, but when in Bled...
The rain continued for the duration of the bus trip (1 hr 25) and then, unless it was my imagination, tried to rain a little bit harder as I got off the bus and walked to the hotel. Thank goodness for the pink raincoat and new shoes! The temperature dropped to about 15 degrees to boot.
As soon as the checking in formalities were done with, the pink raincoat and I squelched down towards the town centre, ostensibly in search of a dry cafe with coffee and cheapish food, which I found, along with other weather pilgrims hiding from the rain. I managed to make my lunch last nearly 2 hours at which point, as the rain eased, I, (along with all of the others in safe harbour) quickly paid and started exploring.
The mountains around the lake were cloaked in mist and low clouds, giving an etherial atmosphere to the place - also making photographs difficult, but around 4 the cloud lifted and the weather brightened.
St Martin was open (and filled with weather pilgrims) and by now you will know how much i love to wander into churches. Beautiful chandelier, gorgeous altar. There is something about the smell and the atmosphere - almost makes me wish I WAS religious just to add another layer. (I won't ring the bell in the castle and make that wish, don't worry).
Then a kazillion steps to get to Bled Castle (not the one on the island) - hopefully the photos show how dramatic this place is up on a sheer cliff overlooking the lake. It was initially constructed at the beginning of the 11th century with many modifications since then. I could have paid more money to get an audio commentary but was losing the will to live. These places make you haemorrhage money, and our dollar only just meets the euro half-way.
And then, given I was in Bled, and given that the famous cream cake (Krempeta, or Kremsnita in Croatia) was first made at Hotel Park in Bled, I sat on the terrace at the famous hotel and doubled my daily calorie intake with each spoonful. Sadly, they only come in one size - And that will be the end of cream cakes for me. Not that fond of them, but when in Bled...
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