Monday 18th July 2022
Made it all the way to Gatwick Airport before taking a wrong turn and nearly ending up in the wrong terminal. This added a further 5-10 minutes to our journey on the hottest day in the UK ever (3rd hottest actually).
Stan got well prepared for getting through security by putting everything in his bag so he wouldn’t set the alarm off for the first time in his travelling history - only to hear the beep as he realised he still had his mobile phone in his pocket.
Arrived in Ljubljana about half an hour late due to a delay at Gatwick, although no-one bothered to tell us why, and discovered Slovenia was cooler than back home although the sun was setting over the mountains. A half hour drive to Bled and we checked in but were told that we had missed the evening meal. We had eaten on the plane, but reception said they could arrange for us to have a “cold plate” if we came down to the dining room in half an hour. So we went to our room, did some unpacking, and headed back down to discover the first people we spoke to didn’t know anything about our cold plate. After a short period of confusion the staff produced 8 plates of cold food! Cheese/meats/pickled mushrooms/breads/fruits/desserts - the full works.
Later we went for a short walk near the lake and sat for a while looking at the lights on the castle and reflecting in the water. Shortly afterwards we saw some drunken youths peeing on a hedge only for the diners on the other side of the hedge to get very upset and start shouting and swearing at them. A member of staff dashed out to intervene and one of the youths was ready to have a proper fight with him before being dragged away by his friends.
Tuesday 19th July 2022
Continental breakfast with a massive choice of everything imaginable - including carrot & apple juice, cereals, meats, cheeses, eggs, sausages, pastries etc. This was followed by our welcome meeting in reception with Doris (not her real name) and a YTS trainee who worked for M Tours.
Then we decided to do a quick walk around Lake Bled - it was very hot, so nothing was quick! We slowly followed the path taking pictures of the church on the island, and the castle on the hilltop from every conceivable angle. We stopped at Bar Plaza at the western end of the lake for the famous Bled Cake and lemonade but were so tormented by wasps we had to gulp everything down as quickly as we could. Further on we found the footpath leading to the castle, ready for tomorrow’s adventures. When we got back to Bled Michelle spent some time trying on sun-hats before we retired to a shaded cafe for iced fantas.
Back in our room we took advantage of the air-conditioning and shower to freshen up for tea. Apparently it was still 8 degrees cooler than back in the UK where all kinds of temperature records were being broken. The special for tea was veal and roasted vegetables, and we both piled couscous onto our plates before Michelle realised it was probably parmesan and scooped some back into the dish. A nice glass of red provided by the waiter helped wash things down.
We had a little stroll near the lake before retiring to our room to cool down.
Wednesday 20th July 2022
More breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles etc. then back to the room to change for an assault on Bled Castle. In the shade of the earlier morning Michelle finally bought a sunhat so we could skirt round the end of the lake, past one of the roped off swimming areas, to the path heading up towards the castle. Shady in the trees, but there were still over 300 steps and it was pretty warm going. On arrival we paid our fee and wandered around the castle learning stuff, admiring the views, and trying to find shady spots whenever we could. We stopped at the castle cafe for cold drinks, but sat in full sun overlooking the lake below. After a while Michelle was once again being tormented by a wasp which seemed fascinated with her lips - so she spat on Stan!
On the way down, we discovered a slightly different route which brought us out by the very visible Saint Martina Parish Church whose tower can be seen from all directions. We went to Market By The Lake for excellent handmade sandwiches and lattes which took quite a while but were worth it in the end.
Then it was off to sea - or at least the lake, and the island which seemed almost as if it had been photoshopped into the scene to make it even more attractive. Hopped aboard a traditional Pletna rowboat and a very strong local rowed 16 passengers over to the island in about 20 minutes from a standing position. This then gave us 45 minutes on the island before he would take us back for €15 each (we hadn’t paid yet). We did a complete circumnavigation of the island on foot in about 10 minutes, declined the additional cost to see inside the church, and enjoyed cream cake ice cream cones (like the Bled cake) before paying and setting off back to Bled. Our captain/rower nearly had a fight with a small rowboat filled with three lads who didn’t know what they were doing and very nearly crashed into us - something they seemed to find amusing. Our captain definitely did not. I think Pletna repairs are very expensive.
Safely back on dry land we stopped for iced cokes in a bar near the hotel, then back into Market By The Lake for a bottle of wine to go. Back in the room we rehydrated and showered before tea. In the dining area we scanned our room cards on the wine dispenser to obtain 2 glasses of shiraz for a €2 saving on the previous night. This was followed up by our bottle of local wine on our huge balcony (bigger than our actual room) in the evening.
Thursday 21st July 2022
Stella (closer) said we could walk to a beautiful gorge which was a major tourist attraction, and that visitor number limits and a one way system had been introduced because of the toll that numbers were taking on the environment. So after breakfast we headed back past the church and through the Bled suburbs heading towards Podhom. Unfortunately, before we even got out of Bled, a badly finished edge to the road surface surprised Michelle and she tripped and went down like a sack of spuds, resulting in a twisted ankle, grazed knee and arm, and a bruised pride.
We followed the hiking trail marked on our tourist map, which looked more like a cycle lane on a single lane road, until we reached a roadside sign reminding us that we needed to purchase online tickets for Vintgar Gorge. Turning roaming data on, scanning a QR code, registering and entering credit card details on a small phone screen in blazing hot sun led to lots of swearing by Stan. Eventually sorted once all the card details had been entered in all the right places. Off we plodded - now needing to make our 11.00AM time-slot. Just about made it and worked our way through car parks and crowds to start the one way walk through the gorge. It started as a very steep sided forested valley, narrowing to a much thinner pass with sheer rocks on either side, then a more open valley, and finally a man-made waterfall with a railway bridge spanning overhead - Spectacular! The route down the gorge was a mix of stony footpaths alongside with wooden walkways and bridges criss-crossing the river below.
As we reached the end there was a small kiosk cafe area before the exit, so we grabbed a Pepsi each to help us on our way and set off through the woods following a well signed trail towards Zasip. On reaching the edge of the woods we encountered a viewpoint and a very small church, but more importantly a Pizzeria. A shared salami pizza and orange juices under a large umbrella with only one or two wasps followed.
The remaining walk down the hill and across the open plain was fairly uneventful, although we did get asked for help with directions twice in Zasip - we couldn’t help. Back in Bled we inhaled peach tea, paused for breath in a bandstand, then made it to our local bar for homemade lemonade/Heineken 0 alcohol before heading back to the hotel.
Friday 22nd July 2022
We had booked an outing with Spela (Shpela is the correct name and pronunciation) at the welcome meeting, so got ready first thing and took our bags down to breakfast. Waiting in reception at 9AM as instructed, Spela suddenly appeared through the front door to say that she had forgotten to tell us to meet at the top of the steps outside. It took the 8 guests and Spela about an hour to reach Postojna Cave in our minibus, and saw quite a few fireman heading the other way en-route to the Slovenia/Italy border to tackle huge wildfires.
Once in, we donned an additional layer - a shirt, as we hadn’t taken any coats or jumpers on holiday - and boarded our train along with about 100 others and off we went. We then walked through the tunnels past chandeliers, stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, columns, vast chambers, spaghetti, a few drips on our heads, and a couple of really annoying noisy children. At the end of the tour there were salamander (we saw one) in a dark glass enclosure which apparently lived in the caves. Another train ride took us back out again and we headed to the cafe for a quick sandwich and coffee before moving on to Predjama Castle about half an hour away.
As we approached the castle there was a boy heading towards us in a Man City shirt, and one of us decided to sing “Manchester la la la” as they got close - absolutely blanked!
The castle is built into a cliff over 5 floors and came with an audio commentary and spectacular views over the valley. Erasmus, the robber baron, became the lord of the castle in the 15th Century, but was betrayed by one of his own men and was killed by a cannon shot whilst on the toilet. By the time we had explored it all and we reappeared into the sunshine with a good 20 minutes left for coffee/toilets we were met by angry Spela who pointed out that we were already 10 minutes late - Oops! I could have sworn she said 3.15 and not 2.45!
On the way back along the Slovenian equivalent of the M25 and we were stuck in very heavy traffic, Spela told us the forest fires were the worst in Slovenian history and we watched convoys of fire trucks heading to the front line.
After tea we strolled to the end of the lake where the weekend festival had begun and watched a brass band play for a while before heading back to our local for Aperol Spritz - Prosseco (3), Aperol (2), Soda (1) - and a beer followed by 2 Pina Coladas.
Saturday 23rd July 2022
Finally got a window seat for breakfast with beautiful views over the lake toward the castle, so made the most of it and enjoyed a leisurely meal.
We were soon off on foot again and bumped into “Mavis” by the lake who had heard us speaking English and collared us for a chat. She told us “this holiday with a bunch of solos rushing around from one thing to another wasn’t really her kind of thing, so she was having a day to herself”. She had found a blackbird with a baby in a nearby bush and told us about it 3 times. Although she was taking a day to herself, she seemed a bit lonely and glad of the chat.
We moved on and found the pathway to the chairlift which took us to Straza Bled for free thanks to a voucher Michelle had found in our hotel. Hopped on to the chair as it swung round and dangled our feet up to the top in a minute, then quickly hopped off again and tried to avoid being hit by the chair as it swung round ready to go back down again. More fantastic views down to the lake as we watched the summer tobogganing, and smart-arse individuals who decided to stop partway, and others bump into the back of them. We selected a footpath through the woods at the top of the hill and the steep path took us down the hill more or less back to where the chairlift started. That wasn’t quite what we had in mind.
Moving a bit further around the lake we grabbed peach tea and breakfast bars from Mercator (mini market) and found a place to sit on the back steps of Vila Bled, which we later discovered was a former royal residence and home to Josip Tito - former communist president of Yugoslavia.
Armed with a tourist map of the area we decided to cross the main road and ventured off into the wilderness. We found ourselves on dusty gravel tracks in the middle of agricultural land and tall wooded hills all round. We were passed by a car which kicked up a cloud of dust, much of which settled all over us.
A friendly local kept us on track by pointing out that we were heading down a dead end and after a hot but peaceful hike we eventually found our way to Selo. Selo was a small village which seemed to have an awful lot of beehives all painted in lots of different bright colours. We rested on a bench above the village while a tour group were told about the local honey industry just below us - but unfortunately we couldn’t hear properly. Continuing on down another gravel road brought us back to civilisation and the lake. More peach tea from the mini market and a further rest overlooking the lake before we headed back to Bled.
Tom Tailor was the name of a fashion shop in the shopping centre opposite our hotel and we managed to acquire a skirt and a t-shirt as our holiday souvenirs, before getting a bottle of wine for the evening. After tea we filled our flasks with merlot from the fridge and headed downtown for the festival. The main event hadn’t started yet so we found a seat on the steps of the festival house and listened to the music being played over the speakers: Bob Marley, Cat Stevens…………
Then the star of the show took to the stage and everything went very Slovenian. Good band, but we didn’t understand a single word, let alone recognise any of the songs. We listened for a while and then wandered round the lake in the dark to watch the 100s of tea lights being sailed in the lake. We were accompanied by lots of flying insects.
Heading back towards the stage we arrived in time for the last song and the encore before heading back to our room, a quick raid on the minibar (€6 for 0.2L of wine), and some MTV nostalgia.
Sunday 24th July 2022
After a bit of debate about what to do on our final full day we decided it was too late to be planning a long trip by bus, so another local hike was probably best. We found mention of Slap Iglica Nature Reserve on a map which was within walking distance. We set off following the road around the lake until it veered away towards Bohinjska Bela. Much of the hiking path was just over the crash barrier at the side of quite a busy road with a very steep drop to the other side of us. One stretch was so dangerous we hopped over the crash barrier and went roadside for about 50 metres - fortunately the traffic was very quiet at this point. As we got closer to the village we were able to cross the road and onto a broad path well away from the road.
Passing the church, we arrived in the sleepy little village and found a cafe for a chance to rehydrate with a quick orange juice. Continuing through the village we were soon climbing a steep winding street past a variety of local homes and holiday lets which could have been in Austria, Switzerland or any alpine region. Reaching Iglica we discovered a rock climbing setup with ropes hanging down the sheer cliff, which we quickly ignored and moved on to the rock climbing for the likes of us. Metal ladders had been installed in a gap in the rocks in 2018 and climbing 3 of these ladders took us up to further steps in the rocks with a wooden handrail and finally the top. Amazing views down the valley kept the cameras clicking away before we retraced our steps down the ladders to watch the real rock climbers for a while. Unfortunately, the waterfall had basically dried up due to the extreme dryness of this year.
Back down to our favourite cafe in the village for al fresco smoked trout, bread, salad and horseradish sauce. Once we had covered the trout’s eyes with our napkins it was absolutely delicious. Had a quick look at the village church, but it was locked up, and then rather than brave the main road again, we found an alternative hiking trail to get us back to Bled.
Ice cream with a view was the name of the business - but they lied! The seating area behind the ice cream shack turned out to belong to the tearoom next door and Stan got thrown out. We had to resort to eating ice cream and evading a wasp in the street. Lemonades in our local, and then a bottle of wine from the Market by the Lake for our evening tipple.
Monday 25th July 2022
Departure day, so after breakfast is packing time and then checkout - fortunately, the hotel was able to store our cases as we didn’t need to leave for several hours.
Walked round the lake to Festival Hall to find the horse and carriage rides, and thanks to a Bled card got the €60 round the lake plus out to a village for €50. Really nice way to spend 45 minutes, although the sun was very hot and Neddy seemed to have the runs as the driver kept catching his poo in a bag on a stick and then depositing it on grass verges whenever he could. It was also a bit smelly!
Just as we were arriving back in Bled a cyclist crashed into a pedestrian on a zebra crossing, but Neddy soon carried us away from the scene.
Now trying to kill time before our pick-up for the airport we found a shady spot outside Art Cafe Bar and ordered lattes whilst updating notes and stories. Then for a change of scenery we moved on to Cafe Park overlooking the lake for Bled cake and latte. A brief visit to the shopping centre followed and then we settled into a shady table at Kult for passion fruit lemonades and a view of our hotel’s rooftop verandah which we didn’t even know existed.
A smooth transfer to the airport and a straightforward check-in procedure. Although Stan didn’t set the security alarm off for a change, he did have his hands and pockets swab tested for drugs. Must have looked the type. Our 8.20PM flight didn’t leave until 10.00PM due to Austrian thunderstorms, and therefore insufficient clear airspace. Landing at 11.00PM local time and setting off for the drive home we discovered that the M25 anticlockwise, then M25 clockwise, then A11 plus some other roads were closed whenever it looked like we were making good progress. Something to do with the road surface melting in the extreme heat. We finally arrived home as it was getting light at 4.30AM.