Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Lake Bled, Slovenia

In June we took a vacation to Slovenia and Croatia.  We have been planning this trip for several months and I was beyond excited to be on our way.  We knew that Lake Bled was a popular vacation spot for Slovenians and once we arrived it was apparent why they love it. 

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It is a small lake, only 1.5 miles long, but it has a small island with a beautiful church and a castle that sits high up on a cliff overlooking the lake and the town of Bled.  There are plenty of benches along the lake front so you can just sit and relax while enjoying the activity around the water.  Since boats with motors are not permitted on the lake it is quiet and slow.  You can row a boat out to the island or pay to have someone do all the work for you. 

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You can walk around the lake, over 3 miles around, or hike up to the castle.  If all those stairs seem daunting to you, there is a parking lot at the top of the hill and you can just drive up instead!  We made it and Aubrey climbed up the entire way but Lolo got some help from her daddy.  Can you see James carrying her in the photo?

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After we walked back down all those stairs we rewarded ourselves with a piece of cream cake, a Lake Bled specialty.  It was creamy, light and very yummy. 

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The next day we ventured outside Bled and then near the end of the day we went to Vila Bled for a cappuccino and different views of the castle and island.  While we were enjoying our coffee a nice British couple complimented us on our “well-behaved girls”.  Ha!  If they only knew how crazy our kids really are!  Anyways, we walked down to the lake front from the hotel and enjoyed the shade and views.

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Once back to Bled we walked back down to the lake from our hotel and enjoyed an easy stroll as we went to dinner.  The town is really cute and Lolo loved all the ducks and swans we saw.  She was not afraid of some curious swans who were looking for bread even though the birds were as tall as she was.

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Aubrey was happy to sit on the sidelines.

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These are my favorite photos from around the lake.  We also visited Vintgar Gorge which was pretty amazing, Slovenia’s largest lake and a castle built into a cave.  I will share those photos next time since this post is very photo heavy.  As always, thanks for stopping by today. 

1 comment:

DanaMK said...

Absolutely stunning! You got some gorgeous shots! Wow, great vacation already and I haven't seen the other posts yet. I'm so jealous. ;)