Lake Bled, Slovenia

Next we traveled to Lake Bled, a stunningly beautiful body of water in the midst of the Julian Alps of northern Slovenia. There is a tiny island in the middle of the lake on which stands the Pilgrimage church of St. Mary; it was consecrated in 1142, rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 15th century, and then rebuilt again in the 17th century after it was damaged by several earthquakes. Carole really wanted to take a boat out to the island, but sadly we were the only couple willing to spend the hour and a half it would take to do that.

The church is an extremely popular spot for weddings; it is tradition for the groom to carry his bride up the 99 steps from the water to the church and ring the "wishing bell" for good luck. Mike likes was amused at the thought of what a chore that must be for some grooms. For him, it would have been easy of course, but some grooms likely didn't quite make the climb!Read more