New Year in Bled
Enjoying a relaxed new year by the most magical lake in Slovenia
29th December 2015 - 3rd January 2016
It is no secret we prefer the cozy and quiet. After big-city experiences that left us less relaxed than we wanted, this time we decided to go to somewhere tiny, cold and cozy to enjoy our end of the year. Also, we needed a detox week after what was for Julio a very demanding experience attending a true Neapolitan Christmas with Martina's family (and facing the huge portions of food that come with their hospitality).
For that we chose Bled, in northwestern Slovenia. It's a tiny, cozy town situated on a magical lake with a tiny island on its center. On the island there is a tiny church, which you probably have seen pictures of. On a rock overlooking the lake there is also Bled Castle, a medieval castle that is said to be the oldest in Slovenia. It's also a cold town with mountains around, so we were definitely expecting to see some snow while we were there.
Day Zero
We departed from Martina's place in Trieste, which is not too far from the border with Slovenia, but getting to Bled ended up taking way more time than we expected. It was not because of the poor bus connections, but really just our tendency to plan things at the last minute, something we took quite literally this time. We got to Bled after dark. The walk to the apartment was very uneventful, and we didn't even get lost!
Gaber, our host, was expecting us with pieces of Potica, or Slovenian nut rolls, and some liquor to shake off the cold. He showed us around the apartment, taught us how to set up the fire in the wood-burning stove and made himself available for anything we might need during our stay. He left and we went to sleep all starry-eyed.
Day One - Scouting the lake
We woke up to a grey and cold day. But we had the fire crackling in the stove, the calming noise of the water stream running just below our balcony, and a nice hot tea for breakfast, so it was a cozy way to really start our vacation. Despite the moody weather, the daylight let us see the real beauty of our surroundings. Being away from the town center, we had a very quiet place, surrounded by green and the tiny stream just outside our window.
Lake Bled was only a 3 minute walk away from the apartment, so it was our first target. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures, partly because of the lousy light, and partly because we were too busy drooling over the scenery. The lake is as magical as the pictures show. We strolled around it for most of the morning.
We visited more than a few souvenir shops in the more touristy part of town, and we have to say that the shops are the most original ones we have found so far. Each one had their own selection of all different things, and none of them were the usual been-there-done-that-got-the-t-shirt crap you see in most other places. They did seem to have a particular inclination to sell wooden items and honey though.
When we got home in the evening there was only one thing we wanted to do: drinking the Slovenian wine Gaber had left in the house for us to try. There was no fridge in the house so we had to get creative to cool it down. To be honest though, you don't really need to be that creative during winter in Slovenia, all we had to do was to leave the bottle outside the window for a few hours and start preparing sandwiches. Needless to say, the wine was delicious!
Day Two - Row, row, row your boat!
The last day of the year was very sunny and not too cold. We decided on doing a more outdoorsy activity: renting a boat and rowing our way to the island in the middle of the lake. We could of course have opted for joining the other tourists in a Pletna boat led by a professional oarsman, but we wanted a bit more freedom (and time) to explore the island in our own terms. How difficult can rowing be after all?
The rental place told us the journey to the lake would take 10 minutes, so one hour should give us plenty of time to walk around. But even with the most vigorous rowing Julio could muster, it took us two hours and a half to be back, most of it spent rowing in circles. That didn’t leave us a lot of time to explore the island, but it wasn’t much more than some piers, the church and a café/souvenir shop at the top of the hill.
This is not to say it wasn’t worth it though. We had fun rowing (for some definitions of fun, anyway), and the view of the mountains we had from the huge window at the café was amazing. We had some hot chocolate and more potica (this time with poppy seeds!) to prepare us for the way back, and row back we did, slightly faster this time.
Just before midnight, to celebrate the new year, we grabbed a couple of warm blankets and walked back to the lake to watch the fireworks. We weren’t expecting much for such a small village, but ended up being entertaining.
Day Three - The other side of the lake
On new year's day Bled was crowded with people strolling around the lake, enjoying the sunshine and the warm atmosphere, so we embraced it too and walked the entire path around the lake, discovering the places we hadn't been to yet. We got some even more amazing views, and a much cozier feeling. Julio couldn't stop taking picture and Martina couldn't stop jumping around him, so business as usual. It took us around two hours to walk the entire thing, which could've taken much less, but pictures.
Following Gaber's advice, we had lunch at Babji Zob, a very traditional grill house not too far from the lake. It was the best decision ever. We had the Babji Zob plate, a huge dish with different kinds of meat, one better than the other, and the bread that came with it was the softest and tastiest we have ever had. It ended up being very affordable for the quality and amount of food we had. We literally1 had to roll outside the place at the end.
By the time we got out of the restaurant it was already getting dark, and almost all shops were closed because of the holiday. So we called it a day and went home to enjoy some warmth in front of the fireplace, but not before enjoying a nice sunset on the walk back, this time through the shorter path.
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Note of the editor: unless they actually rolled out of the place, I think they mean figuratively. ↩
Day Four - The castle on top of the mountain
The evening of our arrival, from the bus we saw a castle on the top of a mountain overlooking the lake. It was very imposing, the lights illuminating it from below. It was a shining sight in an otherwise completely dar scenery.
We were very curious to visit it and so we did. But first we stopped at Slaščičarna Šmon, a bakery for a late breakfast/early lunch with some more poppy seeds and Kremna Rezina, the local cream cake.
The path to the castle was not very long but rather steep, and there were so many stairs that Martina gave up on counting them. The view from the castle was as breathtaking as the way up, but it ended up being a bit too hazy for nice pictures. We wandered around climbing dangerous paths like two wild goats, searching for hidden gems and met the cutest dog in the process.
When we got home from the castle we found a very nice surprise: our host had brought us fresh handmade kremna rezina, made by his wife. It was the most delicious one we had had so far.
We were very disappointed that we hadn't seen any snow so far, since we were totally expecting to be knee deep in it from the first day. But then there it was. That evening it had finally started to snow!
It was a very light snowfall but enough to get us excited and out of the house again. We walked all the way to the center and back and got our hair (and Julio's beard) wet and snowy. There was no doubt: on our last day in Bled there would be the most epic snow battle that town has ever seen.
Last Day - More snow than we had wished for
On our last day we woke up to complete whiteness. Everything was covered in a few centimeters of white, pretty, fluffy snow. Martina couldn't be more excited. She kept on picking up snow and throwing it at Julio and submerging her feet until you could barely see them. After half an hour she was already all wet and her shoes were a disaster. That didn't stop her from initiating the long awaited snowball fight, though. Never mind that the both of us ended it with frozen hands and had to run to the apartment and stand in front of the fireplace to get warm again.
The time to leave arrived too soon, and just after noon we dragged our suitcases in the now not-so-white, not-so-pretty, not-so-fluffy mix of snow and mud to the bus station in the center, where we took the bus to Ljubljana.
Let's just say that the way back was not as pleasant as the way there. Travelling for two hours with wet and freezing feet is tricky.
Our objectives have definitely been reached. It was our most relaxing trip yet. But we like to think that we'll come back, one of these summers, for a more adventurous holiday there. That beautiful lake just asks to be kayaked. But, in the meantime, we'll be here figuring out excuses to let the planning for our next trip to the last possible moment again.