Bled, Bled Lake and Bled Castle: Beautiful Slovenia
Wednesday June 12, 2013
I'm up early and out to scout our new location. The Sava River rushes past the campgrounds on two sides, bright green and sparkling, on the third side is a little lake. Only Family Schwann is out for an early morning swim. Yes, this is a beautiful spot.
I'm up early and out to scout our new location. The Sava River rushes past the campgrounds on two sides, bright green and sparkling, on the third side is a little lake. Only Family Schwann is out for an early morning swim. Yes, this is a beautiful spot.
Family Schwann out early
Lake at Kamp Sobec
Sun and blue skies today and we are soon on our bikes. Janos suggests we ride around Lake Bled. A good idea. First we try to cycle on a small path to Lesce on our way to Bled. We beat a quick retreat when we see that it's a stony path that resembles a staircase. First lesson in Slovenia - walking paths are not meant for bicycles, not for us anyway. The road to Lesce is steep, too, and we are very happy to have support from our e-bikes.
From Lesce we proceed to Bled Lake. The water in this glacial lake is a delicious green, its little island, called Bled Island, is adorned with a small church. A castle, Bled Castle, presides from the cliff on the opposite shore. The church is not called Bled Church, by the way, it's the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church.
From Lesce we proceed to Bled Lake. The water in this glacial lake is a delicious green, its little island, called Bled Island, is adorned with a small church. A castle, Bled Castle, presides from the cliff on the opposite shore. The church is not called Bled Church, by the way, it's the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church.
Bled Lake
And here's an interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: "The island on Lake Bled has 99 steps. A local tradition at weddings is for the husband to carry his new bride up these steps, during which the bride must remain silent." Now what does this symbolize? He must toil for her and she must hold her tongue, come what may?
Church on Bled Island with Bled Castle in the background
See the stairs to the church?
On our bicycle tours we depended largely on restaurants and pubs for our meals and had picnics if the weather permitted, now we can cook our own. Very fortunate since the restaurants around here seem to us to be overpriced, the same fare would cost less in Germany. The supermarkets on the other hand are inexpensive if you don't buy imported luxury products. Today we bought the makings for a delicious picnic at the lake and on the way home we picked up some more groceries for our evening meal.