Lake Bled

Another major bucket list item of mine was Lake Bled north of Ljubljana. My sister said it was amazing, and Hairy had mentioned that the water is the most beautiful that he's ever been in. I gave myself a decent sleep in to manage my hangover and then headed to the bus station and jumped onto the bus. It was quite busy but I'm getting kind of used to that in Europe. When I got off the bus and made my way to the lake, it was breathtaking when you first looked over the crystal clear water and the surrounding nature. Not to mention the castle that precariously looks over the lake from a steep cliff, adding to the surreal feeling. As you wander around the lake, which is 6km around the perimeter, eventually you reach the bled island. Within the lake is an island that houses a church and stands about 50m tall. I don't understand the reasoning behind going to the effort to build a church on an island, especially in the 17th century, but it looks unreal from the mainland. Of course you can get ferried across for a fee, but it was quite expensive. I figured I'd skip it. You can swim there, and I was keen to try it, but I am once again travelling on my own and didn't want to leave my bag unattended for so long while I swam to the island. As such, I never got onto the island, which is quite unfortunate, but this is one of the disadvantages of solo travelling. I did, however, get to go for a swim, and I couldn't believe how nice it felt to swim in. Some water just feels incredible on the skin. It was nice to escape the salty water of the Mediterranean and actually experience crystal clear water that is fresh water.

I think I will need to come back to Lake Bled, as I was aware of a hike that you can complete that provides the best views of the lake and town. I would love to try that. But the next best place for a photo is the castle that overlooks the lake and island. Although it was a great photo op, it was not worth the 15 euros that I paid for entry. I tried to get a student discount, but when she said I needed an ID, it was too late to back out of payment. The view was really all that was on offer. The castle itself was cool, but there wasn't much else there. As such, I didn't spend too much time in there before heading down the hill to get to my bus. Given how busy the bus on the way here was, I figured I should get in line for my bus as soon as possible. I stopped at the church on my way down, and that was quite cool, but other than that, I briefly explored the town of Bled. It was a really cute little ski town with some interesting architecture and very cute roads. After this, I headed home and got ready for a big travel day tomorrow. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit the photos of the town in the 20 photos, so I will have to share them when I'm home.Læs mere