This morning was another early day. We were off to Lake bled. It’s one of the few things I’ve really heard about in this area. I was excited to see it. Unfortunately it was raining and overcast. This prevented the lake to have the emerald green color that it hasn’t so many pictures. However we made the best of it.
Only 12 of us decide to go on this trip today. We boarded the bus and away we went. As it was early everybody was quiet except for the tour guide who I wish I had been quiet. It took about an hour to get there. The first thing we did was to walk and climb steps up to a castle on the hill which overlooks the lake. The castle was nicely restored and they have different areas in the castle showing the different types of work that was done on a daily basis on the castle grounds. The most interesting was a print shop. They had a replica of the Gutenberg printer and the young man that was working it gave us a demonstration of how they printed in those days. That certainly would make getting textbooks and other things so much more difficult today.
After a short time with castle and taking in the views, we boarded the bus again and went over to the banks of the lake where we were going to get a boat to take us over to the island in the lake. The island had a small church and I and little else. We got to the shore and to the boat house but we’re told we needed to walk down to a different departure point. We did that and we boarded hey both that would needed to be rode over to the island. The lake a lot of swimming but it does not allow motorboats. I guess you might say it was similar to a gondola in Venice but this boat had two ores and moved us fairly quickly over to the island.
Once on the island they were 100 steps to go up to the church. The church was very pretty and you could ring the bell from inside the church. Everybody was ringing the bell. There were some original frescoes that have been left on part of the wall. Other than that the church been completely rebuilt over the years. There was a clock tower Where are you could climb up and get a beautiful view. I chose the view from in front of the church. From this view you could see the summer home in separate tea house of Tito the former ruler of Yugoslavia. We had about 30 minutes free time at the church which was really enough. We got back on the same boat and were safely deposited upon the shores of the lake.
We boarded the bus and said goodbye to the lake, and made our way to a small village for lunch. If nothing else overseas adventure travel feeds us well. They just keep you stuffed. The town was Radovljica. It was a quaint little town with several cafés and restaurants. The main street was cobbled and the buildings were certainly original. When we got there it was pretty quiet and we went right into our restaurant which was also a gingerbread factory. We were taken right to the basement so that we could get the pitch on why we should be buying their gingerbread figures. They were not really meant for eating, they were meant for giving and for keepsakes. Some of the ones they had on display where is much is 70 years old. Pretty good without molding!
We then were brought upstairs and taken to our table. It was really a very pretty dining room and it had a view of the mountains. What I didn’t realize is that Slovenia has part of the Alps running through the northern part. The scenery of the Alps is stunning. The lunch was quite hearty and included locally made sausages, beef rolls with plums, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. It also included soup which was the consummate with noodles and a little beef and a salad with pumpkin seed oil dressing. It was quite good. After lunch we walked around the village a little bit and then we were back on the bus and on our way back to Ljubljana.
Back in town we are on our own. I’ve been up early so I took a little rest and then went back out and walked around the city. It was dark and overcast but the cool temperatures felt wonderful. It was most enjoyable. I met the group from Chicago for dinner at the burger bar. The burgers were delicious and the company was delightful. After dinner I walked around and took some photos of the city at night. It’s a beautiful city but has little history a significance in the big picture of the area.
Time for bed and to get ready for our last full day together. The group will be dispersing on Thursday morning. So we’re all going to have dinner tomorrow night for a farewell moment. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. As time is going on there is certain people on the tour That I have become very fond of. There are others, oh well! Like I said it’s time for bed.
Only 12 of us decide to go on this trip today. We boarded the bus and away we went. As it was early everybody was quiet except for the tour guide who I wish I had been quiet. It took about an hour to get there. The first thing we did was to walk and climb steps up to a castle on the hill which overlooks the lake. The castle was nicely restored and they have different areas in the castle showing the different types of work that was done on a daily basis on the castle grounds. The most interesting was a print shop. They had a replica of the Gutenberg printer and the young man that was working it gave us a demonstration of how they printed in those days. That certainly would make getting textbooks and other things so much more difficult today.
After a short time with castle and taking in the views, we boarded the bus again and went over to the banks of the lake where we were going to get a boat to take us over to the island in the lake. The island had a small church and I and little else. We got to the shore and to the boat house but we’re told we needed to walk down to a different departure point. We did that and we boarded hey both that would needed to be rode over to the island. The lake a lot of swimming but it does not allow motorboats. I guess you might say it was similar to a gondola in Venice but this boat had two ores and moved us fairly quickly over to the island.
Once on the island they were 100 steps to go up to the church. The church was very pretty and you could ring the bell from inside the church. Everybody was ringing the bell. There were some original frescoes that have been left on part of the wall. Other than that the church been completely rebuilt over the years. There was a clock tower Where are you could climb up and get a beautiful view. I chose the view from in front of the church. From this view you could see the summer home in separate tea house of Tito the former ruler of Yugoslavia. We had about 30 minutes free time at the church which was really enough. We got back on the same boat and were safely deposited upon the shores of the lake.
We boarded the bus and said goodbye to the lake, and made our way to a small village for lunch. If nothing else overseas adventure travel feeds us well. They just keep you stuffed. The town was Radovljica. It was a quaint little town with several cafés and restaurants. The main street was cobbled and the buildings were certainly original. When we got there it was pretty quiet and we went right into our restaurant which was also a gingerbread factory. We were taken right to the basement so that we could get the pitch on why we should be buying their gingerbread figures. They were not really meant for eating, they were meant for giving and for keepsakes. Some of the ones they had on display where is much is 70 years old. Pretty good without molding!
We then were brought upstairs and taken to our table. It was really a very pretty dining room and it had a view of the mountains. What I didn’t realize is that Slovenia has part of the Alps running through the northern part. The scenery of the Alps is stunning. The lunch was quite hearty and included locally made sausages, beef rolls with plums, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. It also included soup which was the consummate with noodles and a little beef and a salad with pumpkin seed oil dressing. It was quite good. After lunch we walked around the village a little bit and then we were back on the bus and on our way back to Ljubljana.
Back in town we are on our own. I’ve been up early so I took a little rest and then went back out and walked around the city. It was dark and overcast but the cool temperatures felt wonderful. It was most enjoyable. I met the group from Chicago for dinner at the burger bar. The burgers were delicious and the company was delightful. After dinner I walked around and took some photos of the city at night. It’s a beautiful city but has little history a significance in the big picture of the area.
Time for bed and to get ready for our last full day together. The group will be dispersing on Thursday morning. So we’re all going to have dinner tomorrow night for a farewell moment. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. As time is going on there is certain people on the tour That I have become very fond of. There are others, oh well! Like I said it’s time for bed.
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