Day 223: To Lake Bled

Time to move on from Ljubljana! We didn't need to check out of the apartment until midday so we took our time. Quite wet outside as well which was a bit annoying! Eventually got on the road around 11:30 and drove north to the town of Skofja Loka. Nice little town here, lots of elaborately painted houses and a couple of nicely arched stone bridges across the river running through town.

Monday morning and everything was very quiet, and the only places that seemed to be open were bars which didn't serve food. Eventually settled on a bakery selling burek, a fairly common Balkan dish of filling in pastry served in an S-shape (think of a large, s-shaped cheese & spinach triangle). Quite tasty and very filling. Had a brief look around the castle grounds as well but the main area was closed, so back to the car we went.

Drove through the main town of Bled, very pretty on the lake though definitely more touristy than anywhere else we've seen in Slovenia. Detoured via the supermarket for supplies, then arrived at our apartment around 2:30. It's a good sized studio, with a small kitchenette and dining area. Plenty of space for us, and everything is bright, clean and modern which is nice. Also a balcony with a slight view of the lake!

Chilled out for a bit, then decided to walk around the lake! It was overcast but not raining, so off we went with dog in tow. The lake itself isn't huge, roughly rectangular and about 2km long by 1km wide. The lake shore is mostly low down, though in one part there's a tall cliff of a hundred metres or so, and the local castle is perched on top, right on the edge of the cliff. Looks fantastic, especially with the solitary island in the water and its little church sticking up.

It took us two hours to circumnavigate the lake, going fairly slow as Schnitzel wanted to sniff everything and of course we were taking photos along the way. It seemed a lot quieter in town as we walked past than it had earlier in the day - I think a lot of tourists get bussed in from elsewhere. Plus it's shoulder season now, definitely too cold to swim in the lake. Apparently the water is about 16 degrees, though that would make it warmer than the air!

Back to our apartment around 6pm where we cooked pasta for dinner and settled in for the evening.Read more