Lake Custard Slice

It wasn’t really a layover in Istanbul, but a cheaper way to obtain our final destination of Ljubljana with hours to kill and Istanbul to cross.

‘Baleful’ a new word I’m applying to the Turkish personnel when I ask for help, followed by a vague gesture to some far unachievable destination as we manoeuvred the labyrinth of large airports, fast moving buggies and dodgy lounge buffets.

Lounge we did, dining on mainly mashed potatoes and 5 types of cheese, one turning out to be butter but still quite as tasty!

Pretty sure we slept the entire last leg but were jolted into consciousness with some strong Slavic tail winds and turbulence and a bumpy landing, awarded with lots of claps and cheering from our youthful co-passengers.

Optimistic estimating being my superpower 💪 I estimated a VW Golf would be the ticket for 5x🧍‍♀️and 5x🧳 and also estimated that 4 engineers would mecano them all in but it was retraced steps back to the rental office with the keys for a bigger car being my fate. Then a good 30 mins of futuristic high tech interpretation ensued to decipher the mystical workings of a sun roofed, back massaging Passat, with seats that slide you around at will.

Manan was given the task of flicking and adjusting to right-hand-side driving and we wound our way through postcard villages to the picture postcard perfection of Lake Bled.

A quintessential fairytale-like scene shimmered before us as the full expanse of Lake Bled lazily unfolded into view. The ‘must-try’ wobbly custard slice and cold pints of Radler were our prize as we managed to a bags an instagram-worthy lakeside umbrellard table in an old-worldly haze of jazz and historic nostalgia.Read more