Woke up at 07:00, down to breakfast. The hotel fittings were looking a bit tired, a lot of wood panels and the bathroom wasn’t as modern as the others we’ve had, but it was decent enough.
They did put on a good breakfast though. I had orange juice (2), coffee, muesli, toast, bacon and eggs, yoghurt and a pastry. Made a bit of a change from the cold meats on offer at the other places.
It was a bit cloudy and cold, 2c, and we walked around to the bus station to get the bus to Lake Bled. I also discovered that we can’t get a train to Trieste tomorrow, it’s another bus, but it’s only about 90km so won’t be a problem.
Got the bus ok, travelled through pleasant hills getting closer to the mountains covered in snow, still cold. Slovenia is much more attractive than the other Balkan countries; we passed through towns that were busy, clean, no abandoned or half completed houses. The scenery was nice – lots of pine trees, small hills and the mountains.
It reminded us of Switzerland or Bavaria – chalets and fields.
Arrived at the lake and it was bloody freezing and a bit windy. Walked around a bit, quite picturesque but not nearly as impressive as Lake Koman in Albania, although the mountain setting was nice.
Went into a souvenir shop and bought a fridge magnet and some chocolate. Tried to find out how we get to a small island in the lake – we’d bought a ticket but the instructions were a bit vague. Eventually found the tourist information office and they told us, but it wasn’t easy to find. We were joined on the boat by 3 Chinese students and Song started talking to them so I asked if she knew them from China but she didn’t.
Arrived on the island after about 20 minutes, had a look in the church and even got to ring the bell, that’s a first.
Climbed the clock tower then sat in the cafe for a while where we had a coffee and traditional cake that was part of the ticket price. The cafe was playing some of my favourite Slovenian tunes.
More Chinese tourists turned up but Song didn’t know them either.
Used their wifi – super fast. The internet in Kosovo and Slovenia is faster than Australia.
Left the warm comfort of the cafe and went back to the boat. The sun came out for a while but it didn’t get much warmer, and the trip back across the lake was nice with the mountains and the castle on the hill.
Got the bus back, an hour and a half, stopped at the hotel to drop the bag and then a 5 minute walk to the old town. It was still very cold and cloudy.
The old town was delightful – reminiscent of towns like Warsaw. Old art nouveau buildings, a river, cobblestone streets. All very clean and well maintained. We came across what looked like a restaurant opening, a crowd of people drinking wine and people dressed in traditional Slovenian costume singing. There were loads of restaurants, as well as ice-cream shops. They also had small buses ferrying people around that were free.
I liked Ljubljana, had a nice atmosphere although it could have been warmer. I heard a lot of English people, so I think it is trendy for them to come here at the moment.
Stopped in a restaurant I looked up on Tripadvisor, the number 5 in the town. I had Mediterranean lamb and a beer, Song had grilled octopus.
Both were good, my lamb was a welcome change from the generic meat dishes in the other parts of the Balkans. Also, and what a joy, there was no smoking in the restaurant. Cost about $68.
Went back outside, still very cold so hurried back to the hotel.
