A Trip to Lake Bled

Today’s agenda took us to an emerald green lake called Lake Bled. The lake sits in a glacial valley with the shallow lake remaining after the ice melted. The town itself is a favourite of people from all over Slovenia. They make it a destination on weekends. The tourist season is winding down. The town itself is much like Banff Alberta with hotels shops and eateries. The lake reminded me of Lake Louise although on a much small scale.

The “pletna” boat ride to the island where you can ring the bell at St. Mary’s Church for good luck was the first stop. The boat is oared much like a gondola with the ores man manoeuvring 2 large paddles. The boat itself was flat bottomed and held about 20 people. Once on the island we climbed the 99 steps to the church but we did not have time to walk up the bell tower and ring the bell for good luck. We walked around the island. Next we headed to Bled Castle, which stands on a cliff above the lake with spectacular views.

The castle has been there for centuries and held a very nice museum. There was a working Gutenberg printing press. The demonstration was quite interesting. He printed a sample for us and described in detail the procedure. Quite the invention. There is a chapel that is about 1000 years old! We walked around and enjoyed the wonderful view on a cool but sunny day. Back in the town it was time for lunch. We found the Bled Pub and had a nice bowl of soup and a beer. After returning to the hotel we rearranged our suitcases for the last days of the trip. Karst caves tomorrow on our way to Venice for the last 2 days of the trip.