Lake Bled and Ljubljana

Lake Bled, Slovenia

This morning, I headed up to Bled Castle up on the clifftop – and I do mean up – lots of stairs! It was quite a climb. The castle dates from 1100AD, and has been added to over the centuries, and following damage in 1511 was restored to its current appearance. It was mostly used for defence and as a result has no large luxurious halls. Instead it has smaller rooms, which today house a museum and restaurant.

It also offers stunning views of the lake and island below. All-in-all, it was a lovely morning.
On the way back to the hotel, I passed a market selling handmade jewellery and art/craft things, and I bought a pair of earrings. I also passed a lovely, tumbledown abandoned house. It had definitely seen better days, but I really liked it.

After lunch, we all headed back into Ljubljana. After we checked into the hotel, we met our guide for a guided tour of the city. Sadly, after all this time I can’t remember anything he told us about Ljubljana. But, I can remember really liking Ljubljana. It’s a lovely, charming city, with pretty buildings, with a small-town feel, with all the amenities of a big city – shops, restaurants, cafes. There’s a buzz to the city.

After the guided tour, we had some free time. Somebody had mentioned there was a cafe in the botanical gardens which sells horse burgers, which Karen decided she wanted to try. I said I’d go with her, as I fancied seeing the gardens. It was a bit of a walk, but the botanical gardens were pretty. Eventually we found the cafe and Karen got her burger, which she enjoyed. I did not have one – I couldn’t bring myself to eat horsemeat.
After that we had to but supplies for the next day’s 10hour train journey to Budapest, and then meet the rest of the group for a group dinner, at a nice restaurant which Louise has eaten at before.