Some more rain this morning as we boarded the coach ready for our trip to Lake Bled, and once again we struck trouble with traffic!!! There was a cycle race using the road outside the hotel and the police had blocked it off - Gaspar had to plead with them to allow us to use a service road along the banks of the Danube to get to the freeway entry! That out of the way, we made good time along the excellent freeway up through the mountains towards the Semmering Pass, seeing some beautiful scenery - lovely little farming villages nestled among tiny farms with small areas of crops growing.
Gaspar spent time on this leg to outline our tour and explain the way he operated, also handing out info sheets on many topics - as I said he is very well organised!
The city of Graz was our first stop - another lovely old Austrian city - where again we had a walking tour to explain the many old churches and other buildings. It was a very interesting hour or so and then we had free time to wander about ourselves - we chose to join the many locals who were relaxing in the dozens of kerbside cafes and bars and have a refreshment! One of the local Slovenian beers (pivo in Slovenian) is called Lasko and Den and I thought it only proper that we sample it - the girls settling for prosecco - and it turned out to be very tasty!
Then it was back on the road, pausing for a comfort stop at Lake Worthasee - coincidentally the same huge truck stop we were at in 2012.
We arrived in Bled late in the afternoon and once we were allocated our rooms had a chance to freshen up before dinner. Our room gave us the most amazing view across Lake Bled and we just stood in awe for a few minutes taking it in. The water was flat calm and the huge castle on a hill next to the lake was reflected perfectly on the surface - the snow capped Alps in the background just added to the surreal scene!
After showers and pre dinner drinkies we enjoyed a magnificent buffet and a chance to talk to a few more of our group.
We all commented that we expected Slovenia to be a bit old fashioned and communist - like, but the brief bit we have seen so far has been extremely impressive! The countryside is simply beautiful, with thick forests on the mountain slopes and small, very neat farms and villages on every piece of flatter ground! The people are very friendly and helpful and food and drinks are so cheap! A 500ml beer is about $3.50, a glass of wine $4.00 and main meals seem to peak at about $20. Think we might make the most of this as I know we will be paying top dollar in Paris and at the Italian Lakes!
So our initial impressions are all good and we are looking forward to our day around this area tomorrow!