I carefully checked the weather forecast all week, including this morning when I awoke because Lake Bled was on my must-do list. It was beautiful yesterday but I had my 3-day tourist pass to use, so it was today or Monday. Tomorrow is supposed to be the better day but I worried something might interfere. And there was only a chance of rain (30-40%) at 3 pm. And I could catch a 10 am bus. With about an hour’s ride it seemed to me I’d have plenty of time to admire the sights before the rain hit.

So off I went. On the bus I rechecked the weather and it now showed a chance of rain from 11-1. By the time we got close it showed it was already raining there. Having been prepared by Scotland, I had the right jackets on but I’ll admit I didn’t wear my waterproof boots (which btw are no longer fully waterproof but that’s another story). No problem. I decided to treat myself to what I was sure would be an overpriced coffee and sweet cake (Bled is known for its cream cake — kremsnita), as long as I could have a misty view of the lake.

It was only drizzling so I set off to what looked like 3 different establishments that had a terrace and views of the lake. That should have looked like this.They were about a quarter mile away. (Oh, Lake Bled has a 6 km — less than 4 mi— pathway around the whole lake. It’s mostly paved and easy even if you have a cane or small children. They’ve made everything quite accessible! There’s even a tourist train that’ll take you around if you can’t walk.) Anyway, I get to the buildings and one is a casino and the other two are closed! So I start walking back and of course as I’m walking the rain picks up to be a pretty heavy shower. Thankfully it doesn’t last long and I find another place (without much view) that’s full — but the advantage of being a small single person is I can always fit at the bar! It’s warm, the caffe latte is good and the cake is creamy. So I manage to warm up and dry off and I think it stopped raining a bit.

I can’t prolong it any longer and head out and of course it starts drizzling more but not terrible. There’s a castle high up that you can walk or drive to. I mean it’s quite high up. And the paths up are semi steep or just stairs. But there are railings and it only takes about 15 minutes of steady walking. Sadly a firefighter stopped in front of me (to smoke of all things — don’t firefighters know better?!), but I saw all ages going up.

It was well worth the walk! The views are amazing even in the rain. And I spent so long there, the sun actually came out. I kept trying to take a picture of that island (the only naturally occurring island in Slovenia which I find shocking after all those tiny islands in every Loch in Scotland — but maybe makes sense since this area is glacier-formed, not lava formed). You can see it in darkness and sunlight. Beautiful either way though the iPhone camera could never capture the green color of the water when the sun is out.

I was also trying to capture the alps behind the castle. There are three big ones in that section (the Julian Alps). Sadly they’re shrouded in clouds/mist. The largest, Mt Triglav, is the tallest in all of the former Yugoslavia. Is it just me or is it really astounding that they have views like this in such a small country? Mountains and lakes like an alpine area (the houses also look Austrian up there) then coastal beaches like the Mediterranean, and towns like Ljubljana that are just gorgeous. All within 3 hours of each other?! Anyway these were my attempts to capture the clouded alps. Finally I gave up but not without a few castle shots. I had a nice chat with the 4th generation blacksmith at the castle. Other than talking politics (my favorite), I was struck by his parting words that it’s not the worst thing to work in a castle in the clouds! Indeed. In any case, it pretty much stopped raining so I did the loop (and then some). Here are some of the shots of the island and castle on my walk around. It’s seriously so damn picturesque it almost seems fake! At every break in the trees, it’s like the lake is perfectly framed by branches. And by the way, being off season (and raining) it wasn’t very crowded — but in summer people swim, paddle board, kayak, bike and hike up through the mountains.

Also, people take a wooden boat (called a pletna) to the island. It’s the only mode of transportation allowed (commercially). You can rent your own or have someone paddle you over. They look like this.(Kayak aside.) I didn’t take one. Perhaps I should’ve but at first in the rain it seemed too empty (I didn’t want to be the only person being rowed over) and then when the weather cleared and the buses of (Chinese and Italian) tourists arrived, I didn’t want to cram myself in one. And I was told it’s not that exciting on the island. Ironically I realized I never went to even 10 different museums in 3 years in Rome and I’ve done more than that in 3 days in Ljubljana! But I went inside a lot of Italian churches and I haven’t been in one yet here. Perhaps tomorrow! I thought about going to Lake Bohinj which is supposed to be quieter and prettier than Lake Bled (but not as easy to get to without a car) but I realized I haven’t had a relaxing day in Ljubljana. So for my last day I will try to take it easy and enjoy the views here. I’ll leave this with just a few more shots of Lake Bled.