Lake Bled, 3 Ways

How might one advertise an authentic farm house breakfast? This morning's offering met every expectation I might have had. We enjoyed fresh eggs, crusty homemade brown bread, home-cured ham and salami, fresh apple juice, and various other treats. Keeping with our plan, we loaded up at breakfast, then packed a clif bar and apple each for our days activities, but we didn't even need the clif bar. Breakfast eating - we're good at it. Anyway here's what we did:

First, the very traditional boat ride out to the island with its church in the middle of the lake. For 12 euro, we got paddled along with a boat full of others by a very skilled oarsmen. These boats have been made and used the same way for hundreds of years.


Once on the island, we checked out the famous 100 steps that Slovene grooms must carry their brides up to get married in the church. It's not joke - later that day we saw a wedding party setting off for the island and wished we could have seen the carrying attempt - apparently about 80% of them make it all the way. Here we are on the steps:


Once at the top, more legend awaits: apparently if you can ring the church bell in 3 pulls, your wish will be granted. Here were the instructions:

OK, got it. I made my attempt, but I was kind of nervous I wouldn't so in the process forgot to make a wish. :(


Erin, on the other hand, was more entertaining:



We walked around the tiny island for a bit, and even asked someone to take our picture:

After about 30 minutes, we headed back to where our boat guy was waiting patiently. On our boat were two Portuguese families, a Spanish couple from Barcelona, and older English couple, us, and a few couples whose nationalities we just couldn't figure out. We're always listening and trying to guess these things, though...good thing we both enjoy doing that.


Hopping off the boat, we decided it was definitely time to stop for Lake Bled cream cake. It was very good - creamy but with the puff pastry layers for texture. Erin I. said it would have been perfect with a little fruit - I agree. But still - very tasty.


Now, not content with being rowed about on the lake, I was very set on renting a wooden row boat to go back out there. Erin was game, but while I rowed:

Erin I. did this:


Let's just say she was better at doing that than I was at rowing. (Really - it takes a lot of coordination...um, and strength). But I did get us out to the island and back in our allotted hour or so, and it was fun.

We came back to the farm, said hello to the farm creatures:

and then, since we were dusty and hot, we changed and headed back to the lake, yet again, this time to swim. It was perfectly refreshing.

Some of you have requested dinner pictures, so we took some tonight. On the menu was the best spinach soup either of us have ever had:


Followed by buckwheat with mushrooms and some extremely tasty roast chicken:


more of our favorite lettuce:

and a marble cake for dessert - didn't get a picture.

We're pretty sun-baked and sleepy tonight. Tomorrow we head into the Croatia part of the trip, which should be interesting. We've heard good things from other travelers, but that it's definitely different from Slovenia. Not sure what our internet situation will be for the next few days, but see you soon!

E&E

Lake Bled

This morning we paid up at the B&B, walked to the train station to pick up our little black rental car, and in 45 minutes we were here...staying at a farm surrounded by alpine meadows and a 5 minute drive from Lake Bled.

The Mulej family's farm is definitely a working farm; tractors, cows, some Bearnese Mountain farm dogs, stray cats here and there, and lush vegetable patches.


We headed straight out to Bled Castle, which towers about 1 kilometer above the lake and has been there is some form since at least 1044.


At the castle there was lots of history to learn. We hung in there for a while, learnin' some stuff, and then just enjoyed the photo opportunities:

Tiny little glimpse of the island in Lake Bled in this pretty bad self portrait. But doesn't Erin I. have a fabulous hat?

After the castle, we parked our car back down by the lake and embarked on a 3.5 mile stroll around the perimeter. I'm a slow walker, and Erin has short legs (her words, not mine), so our stroll ended up taking about 2.5 hours. We walked past Tito's villa from the glory days of the former Yugoslavia. (We tried to order the famous Lake Bled cake at the restaurant there, but for some reason it wasn't available; we'll try somewhere else tomorrow).

But in any case, the lake, and it's island (the only island in Slovenia!) is quite the definition of picturesque. For instance:

More on the island, and its church, tomorrow, since that's definitely on our agenda, aside from the cake, of course.

We got a little tired towards the end, even after a stop for a cold Cockta, and were dragging a bit. In fact, here's how we both felt when we got back to our room:


I immediately fell asleep for two hours. Erin had to wake me up in time for our farmhouse dinner and we both dragged ourselves downstairs. Part of the deal staying here is having an option to pay a little extra to have home-cooked farmhouse dinner. It was really, really delicious. First course was fresh green beans, then soft polenta with beef stew and a bowl of lightly dressed fresh lettuce, and the dessert...well, I don't know what to call it. It had a first layer kind of like a lemon bar, then a berry (lingonberry, maybe?) compote, topped with a layer of baked meringue. Happy sigh.

After diner we walked around the farm a bit, and an Australian couple stopped us, asked where we were from, and we had a long chat. Turns out she is a teacher too, and he's the principal at the same school, and they're visiting several of the same places we are - plus many more, as they're on a 5 week paid leave, escaping their winter weather, and making the most of the 2o hour flight it takes to get to Europe. We both felt sheepish for complaining about the 10 hours we had. We also had something else in common, starting with Rick and ending in Steves....so funny. We traded tips and agreed that his recommendations are pretty spot on. Of course, it was a Rick Steves recommendation that led us both to this farm in the first place.

Now I'm blogging, and Erin was reading peacefully until the largest bee we've both ever seen came buzzing in the room. I suppose that bugs are part of farm life, but still - yeesh. Erin's doing a great job of bug management while I finish up this post. She's squealing a little, but still a good sport as usual!

Around town

As I am wont to do with various travel partners, I dragged Erin on a two-hour walking tour of Old Ljubljana this morning. Arne, our tour guide, was full of facts, charming, and had serious bed head. Here he is, explaining all of Slovenian history with the help of this giant door on the cathedral, made to honor Pope John Paul when he visited here a while back.


We climbed up to the top of a tower at Ljubljana castle to take a look at the city. Somehow I look less impressed than I was:


But Erin I. was cheerful and looks much more normal:


This is a view of a giant, forested park in the middle of the town. A few years back, a brown bear wandered into this park and then into the center of town. Apparently, all that ensued was the biggest news in Slovenia for the next 5 days.


We then hiked down from the castle along steep little paths and cobbles. Erin and I are big eavesdroppers; we loved listening to the conversations that a group of young teachers in our group from various European countries were having. We also keep trying to overhear any American accented English, and finally tonight we heard some Americans for the first time.


The graffiti here is pretty interesting. Maybe because it's just different from the usual gang stuff I see at home. Quite different:

Best graffiti of all, hands down:

We took a break at a sidewalk cafe and ordered "Cockta", which is a communist-era version of Coca-Cola, advertised to have "berries, fruits, and 8 herbs". It was actually super delicious.


Not content with having walked on the tour for two hours, we navigated our way out to the free Botanical Gardens outside the center of town. Here I am, quite excited that I managed to find it:


The hydrangeas were beautiful and even had a light scent:


Loved these, whatever they are....

Now, despite not understanding a lick of Slovene, it's been quite easy to navigate around, make ourselves understood, and so on. But there are definitely moments where we realize we just don't get it, like this:


They're everywhere. Cardboard birds and fake birdhouses. Art installation, perhaps? OH wait, maybe meant to scare away littler nuisance birds?

After a 2 hour nap, we headed out to dinner. Instead of cocktails we had smoothies. Delicious.

I'm getting sleepy, but here are a few little videos for your viewing pleasure!

Lyoo-blee-yana

Hi folks! We've arrived safely and without incident; in fact, aside from having forgotten how crazy-making the 10 hour flight can be, our travel was perfectly smooth. 19 hours from door to door.

We flew in a 747 on the way here, which was my first time in a plane with an actual upstairs. This was made less exciting when we realized that it seemed the airline had strategically placed all families with young children in our smallish upper seating area. Erin I. managed to make friends with a small blond boy named Raul who walked into our row to say hello and inspect our water bottles. I was more in a raised-eyebrow kind of relationship with him. Speaking of our water bottles, here they are:

Erin I. bought them for us a few weeks back, but we both labeled them in this way INDEPENDENTLY of each other.

We had a brief layover at the airport in Paris, which was a welcome break from the plane. Time to check e-mail, and notice how perfectly I blended in with the furniture:

Then, a few hours later, arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Flying into this small country's only airport quite reminded me of flying into Kauai, actually...except instead of tropical forest it was mountains and pine forests, scattered with little villages whose church steeples we could see from the plane. And instead of friendly local Hawaiians speaking English there was a large Arabic-speaking tourist group and definitely no Americans to be seen. (We still don't think we've seen any - definitely haven't heard them.) The airport was tiny - we walked off the plane onto the tarmac and were picked up in a tram and driven a few hundred yards to the arrival hall. No customs, a quick stop at the baggage claim carousel, and then we were out on the street. I was particularly charmed by the earnest tone of the advertisements at the airport:



Our room here at Slamic B&B is perfect. It reminds me of my freshman year dorm at UC Davis, at least the way the beds are. Our view includes charming old roofs AND geraniums:

We got some advice about where to catch the World Cup semifinal and headed out to dinner after a 2 hour (much needed) nap. Despite how I roll my eyes when other people take excited pictures of their food while at restaurants, here's our meal:

Erin ordered traditional Slovenian buckwheat porridge with mushrooms. It was good, but, um, it was a LOT of buckwheat. Mine is pork medallions, mushrooms, potatoes and peppers. Also pictured is the worst glass of rose I've ever had. For reals. At least it was only $1.50.

Our view of the match, until a rude man came and stood right where that beer is. We couldn't figure out who the crowd was cheering for - I think in the end they were just cheering when anything exciting happened.

We strolled home after dinner along the river through the town center. Groups of people were gathered everywhere watching the game as it neared its end. One of the main bridges had the game projected right underneath so we stopped there to watch the end and then hear the jubilant cries of the Spanish fans on both sides of the river.

We're back in our room now; it's been a long day. I'm blogging, of course, but I thought I'd also share what Erin I. is doing. See you tomorrow!

Quirks

We all have quirks - some more than others. Certainly I have my fair share. As I was packing tonight, I took a picture of a few small details. Stay tuned to the end of the post for an introduction to an important new travel partner!

Each bag has exactly 27 vitamins and q-tips, respectively. It's my own little way of counting down the days of vacation. I love the tidiness of having no extra at the end of the trip.

The spreadsheet. Love it. Can't wait to see the places I've been reading about.

My new reading companion. It's an eclectic and optimistic list, I'll admit.

No need to stop at the ATM right away! I uncovered some Euros from last summer that will come in handy.

The story of this candle is a perfect example of how I can turn a simple thing into one that's quite complex. When we went to Greece, Sharon gave Lo and I some little travel candles to take. One in particular is called "Fig", and we would take it up to the roof patio of our hotel in Athens, enjoy the view of the brightly-lit Parthenon, and play cribbage in the late evenings when things finally cooled down. Smelling this candle brings me right back to that lovely rooftop, and I wanted one to bring on this trip. Unfortunately, it's very very hard to find this candle ANYWHERE around here (believe me, I tried), but I finally found a company in Virginia and after one failed shipment process, I finally got my little fig candle in the mail last week. See? Complicated.

And now...introducing a slimmer and more colorful version of Big Mama:


I call him Popeye.