Bled : A Long Way Round

Bled Castle (Grad) overlooking Lake Bled
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Today we finally get the chance to relax and take in our surroundings. We start by having a lie-in and then I get dressed and make it to the balcony; well there’s no point rushing is there? As I’m up it seems reasonable that I should go in search of a morning cup of tea, so head down to reception. Here I have my usual conversation in Slovenian and ask to buy our drinks. She’s obviously so impressed with our language skills that she suggests I get if from the breakfast room. I do this with a real fear of being caught by the guardian of the breakfast things. Somehow though I manage to avoid her killer gaze and leg it back upstairs, gripping my prize.

Swimmers in Lake Bled
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When I settle down on the balcony I’m surprised to find it is cloudy. Then it begins to rain. Now this is more like the weather I was expecting in the mountains. However it doesn’t last long and I return to writing up my journal and watching the birds all around me.

We may be setting some kind of world record for taking so long to walk the circumference of Lake Bled.

Some considerable time later we are ready to face the world and head off around the shops, vaguely looking for a coat for Y. However we end up with a rather natty hat for me; I haven’t been able to find the one I had thought I’d packed.

Bled Castle and Island, Lake Bled
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Despite the cloud it is baking hot and within an hour or so the sun returns. This helps us decide what to do; we’ll wander around the Lake today. Everywhere we go is a fantastic photo opportunity, with the church sitting on its island, floating in the vivid cyan water. It’s impossible to describe how clear this water is, but imagine the chemically enhanced water in a swimming pool and you get close. Unable to resist I bend down to test how cold it is, expecting icicles to form down my arm. I’m amazed to find it extremely pleasant, certainly warm enough to swim in.

Stream feeding into Lake Bled
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It’s a very easy flat path that follows the shore of the lake. We do climb a little when we reach the swimming area, but in general it’s a gentle stroll in the shade of the trees that line the route. We aren’t in a hurry so sit on a shady bench looking down onto the public swimming area, admiring the rather handsome lifeguard, right up to the moment he gobs a mouthful of phlegm into the water! Oh well that’s one place off our must visit list.

All along the path are verges full of pretty wild flowers. Scabious is numerous, suggesting the soil is full of lime, just like the chalk from back home. Other familiar plants abound, but there are also new ones I’ve never seen before. One has purple leaves at the top of the stem with yellow bell shaped flowers beneath, stained with red in their centre. I’ve no idea what it is but I’m sure people would pay money for it in the garden centre back home.

Rowing on Lake Bled
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It really doesn’t take long to walk the length of the lake; we are beginning to suspect that the photographs we’ve seen of it distort its size. But nothing could overstate its beauty. Just before the end of this stretch we find a bench that has almost fallen into the lake. It gives us our first chance to strip off our walking books and paddle. Luckily we had both reverted to shorts some time ago. How I wish I’d brought my swimming costume and something to wear on my feet. The water may be clear but it is rocky underfoot.

Traditional Swan Rowing Boats, Lake Bled
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A little further on we reach Mala Zaka and the Veslaški rowing centre. A huge billboard boasts their medal success in recent major sporting events. Sadly they don’t seem to have any five times gold medal winners (well we’re rubbish at most sports, we need to boast about the ones we can do!).

It’s a lovely relaxed spot with people just swimming about doing their own thing. There’s no one telling them what to do and where to do it. It is now officially my favourite spot. There is a restaurant nearby so we stop for some lunch and a drink. We both settle on some deep fried squid and it is wonderful; cooked to perfection. It makes me feel much better after yesterday’s debacle. I even share a very tasty (and dry) salad with Y; what a short memory I have. I’m still embarrassing myself in Y’s eyes by ordering yet another coke to drink. This is followed by a heated discussion on whether all alcoholic drinks taste the same or not. I say they do and I’m not fond of it. Ah happy days!

The Island in Lake Bled
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A little further along is another stopping point where clearly everyone comes to swim. It’s at the very furthest end of the lake, where banks of seating line up with the finishing line for the rowing races that take place here. There are lots of people and showers are provided on the shallow shores of the lake. Y finds a cool spot under a pine tree to rest under; must be that beer at lunchtime! I try paddling in the shady quiet stretch between the boats for hire and the diving area.

I realised someone was coming to tell me off but managed to make the most of the minute I was there. Then the persistent voice of the boat owner switched to English “No swimming here!” I smiled and nodded and agreed that I wasn’t swimming here, but decided not to start a fight. It may be that the British are the only people daft enough to have a word for paddling, it certainly seems we are the only people who roll up our trouser legs so we can stand kneed deep in water. They have obviously never tried entering the North Sea during the summer!

The Bear Cake Shop, Bled
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We may be setting some kind of world record for taking so long to walk the circumference of Lake Bled. It is, after all, just 6 kilometres (4 miles) in total. Even the road train has lapped us several times now. But this is the best tactic when it’s so hot.

The final stretch of shore seems more developed than the other. Here we find grand hotels, busy parks and a town. We even end up following a very busy road. Thankfully we don’t have to follow it through the short tunnel before we return to Bled.

Just before we reach our hotel, we find the entrance to the toboggan run we can see from our room. It’s designed to work in the summer, so has a metal tube running down the length of the hillside. To this is attached a small plastic tea tray. It took me all of one second to decide this was definitely not for me!

Finally back at base we collect two teas from reception and head up to our shady balcony for a quiet rest and to recover from our endeavours. Somehow we don’t realise what the time is until about 7pm. Well we are supposed to be on holiday. Feeling a bit guilty we head off for a pre-dinner walk. Sadly we forget the excellent maps we bought earlier from the Tourist Office. But despite taking a long circuitous route we do finally discover the bus station – useful for future trips – and a local institution; the Bear (Smon) cake shop.

A colleague from work has recently bought a holiday home near Bled and she was able to suggest a few places to visit. This shop was high on her list. They sell many things including the local speciality, Kremna Rezina. The shop has a wonderful dated interior, but it’s warm and welcoming and the cakes are sublime. If you want a good reason to break your diet this is it. Neither of us is very hungry so we decide this will be dinner tonight; we know how to prioritise. Unable to face a mountain of cream, we both go for strudels. Mine is the traditional apple version, but Y has a cottage cheese and apricot one instead.

Wanting a bit of a change from coco-cola I settle for lemonade to wash mine down with. Imagine my surprise when it turns out to be the traditional homemade version. Y was just asking why they had given me three sachets of sugar when I took my first mouthful. It was pure unsweetened freshly squeezed lemon juice. Still after emptying all the sugar into it, it was really enjoyable and refreshing.

Eventually we did manage to drag ourselves away, both fully aware we would be back very soon indeed. This gave us the chance to explore some of the streets around the modern church. This is where the locals seem to live and it certainly has a very peaceful atmosphere. The locals have a strange way of gardening. You will find a little allotment plonked down in the middle of any green space they can find. Sometimes there may be a fence but more often there isn’t.

As we take the quicker path back down towards the lake, we follow the sound of a folk group playing a polka. So we take full advantage of it, sitting on a bench, watching the sunset over the mountains and noting that the red sky at night suggests it could be more of the same hot weather again tomorrow.