Day 15 of 35: Lake Bled

We woke today to the sound of church bells tolling, & the sight of skullers on the lake. After breakfast we drove to Bled Castle, where our tour director Blaž showed us around then gifted us with coffee & the traditional Slovenian cream cake. The castle terraces provide magnificent vistas of the area, & house museums. One of them has a working printing press in the Gutenberg style & a handsome gentleman provides demos & custom-printed souvenirs. Another has examples of hand-made archery bows & video demonstrations of how they were made.

We then drove to Villa Bled, a favorite of Tito, the former communist leader of the Yugoslav Republic. He entertained many famous people here, including Sophia Loren who cooked pasta for him here. It’s now an elegant hotel. From there we took a traditional hand-rowed pletna boat to the island where we visited the Church of the Mother of God On The Lake (that’s a mouthful) & rang the “Bell of Wishes.” The lake waters are incredibly clear & beautiful

We then drove into the Julian Alps & had a short hike around neighboring Lake Bohinj. It’s shores boast the fastest cable car in Europe; it climbs 1000 meters to the viewpoint atop Vogel, in 3 minutes.

We had lunch at a cafe near the lake then returned to our Park Hotel on Lake Bled. It was another day in the mid-90s so Sir / Bill suffered from the heat. I used the time to catch up on travelogues & to write some postcards.