Slovenia

We awoke in Venice full of anticipation to travel to Slovenia. We took a water bus to the bus station, and then a 3.5 hour Flixbus to Ljubljana. We then changed buses and headed up to Lake Bled, in the north west of the country. Throughout the journey we were impressed by the forests, valleys and mountains of the beautiful country. Soon after arriving, we went for a swim in Lake Bled - a fairy tale setting, with a castle on a high cliff above the lake, a pretty island in the middle and very clear refreshing waters. We woke early the next morning to swim out to the island. The sun rose over the mountains and lit up the surroundings in warm morning light as we crossed the lake. The swim was further than we expected and we arrived on the island quite tired, but continued to explore. It was then that we realised we had swum from the wrong location, so swam back a different way which was half the distance! Feeling refreshed, we decided to make our way to Vintgar gorge. It was unfortunately very touristy, with wooden boardwalks down the edges and lots of people. However, it really was stunning with turquoise blue water and high leafy green cliffs towering above (thanks to Zara and Carlo for the Honeymoon gift). 

We waved goodbye to Bled and headed to Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana. We immediately liked it, due to its small size, historic buildings and vibrant feel. We had lunch of local flatbread while watching a ‘Volleyball On Water’ game, with the court in the middle of the river on a glass platform! We then decided to do a free walking tour of the city, with a charismatic guide. We learnt about Slovenia's war for independence (luckily only 10 days long!), the story behind the cities dragon mascot (featuring in the story of Jason and the golden fleece) and that the Slovene national identity was formed through language (with the first books printed in 1550). After some tasty dinner in a Mexican restaurant, we found a live music event playing across the city for free - our faves were an eclectic Tunisian/Italian band, and a Slovenian blues/pop band. We then waved goodbye to Sheila and Lucy, who took a night train to Munich as part of their journey home. 

After breakfast in a cute cafe, we decided to head up to Bled castle. We took a funicular railway up the steep hillside which was fun. The castle had been renovated with modern elements that tied in well with the history, and included restaurants, a wine bar, an art gallery and a puppetry museum! We walked back down to the city, and were serenaded by a brass band which had started playing in the centre. Slovenia seems to have lots of free events and activities which we really liked about it. We then went in search of a cafe to while away the afternoon doing some trip research. The next day we decided to do a day trip from Ljubljana to the town of Kamnik, about an hour away by bus. Slovenia had quite high tourism levels in the areas we had visited, so we were surprised to find Kamnik to be a very sleepy and quite deserted town! We explored the local high street, and then found some tennis courts on the outskirts of town. We had been missing playing tennis, so spontaneously decided to buy some cheap tennis racquets (which we are now carrying around with us!) and spent a couple of hours playing. We then hiked up to the top of a steep viewpoint overlooking the town. We headed back to Ljubljana, and just as we were arriving a thunderstorm started! We had booked a table at a local Slovenian restaurant which employed people with mental disabilities and served modern versions of traditional food, so we braved the rain and went to enjoy our dinner. We then went to the bus station to catch an overnight bus to our next country - Croatia!