The dawned clear and sunny - the view once again leaving us spellbound, with the sun highlighting the snow on the distant alps. The lake again smooth as glass, with a few rowers stroking along the World Championship Course, training for the World Champs to be held here next weekend!
We set off following the Sauer River and headed for Lake Bohinj about 20kms away, which is a very popular skiing region and all the little villages along the way had rooms for rent etc. It was a most picturesque drive and it was weird to see such self sufficient types of little towns here so close to the hustle and bustle of Austria.
At the foot of Mount Vogel we stopped and hopped into the cabin of a huge cablecar which took us up to the summit approx 1500 meters up!
There was a tiny bit of snow about, but maintenance of the ski lifts etc was in full swing, with hardly a tourist in sight. The view across the lake to the highest peak Mt Triglav captured our attention and we had time to wander around the cabins and lodges before heading down again.
We stopped in the little town of Ribcev Laz and walked across the little river to a wonderful little church which was built in 1544 - the inner walls of which were painted in frescos of ancient religious times. There was a statue of the head of John the Baptist that was made in 1585!
We had time for a coffee ($1.80 for a mug of latte) at a little cafe overlooking the lake before it we drove along a narrow winding road through the middle of quaint little villages with only a metre or so each side of the coach. The tiny two storey houses, though old, were very well kept, and each had a small veggie garden and fruit trees alongside - outside of the village each farmer had is own little plot of a few square meters of land to grow grass for a couple of cattle and sheep and some cereal crops! Such a subsistence lifestyle, but I spotted quite a few satellite dishes and of course a few mobile phone towers!
We got back to Bled at noon and had a wander around the small town, pausing to have some lunch at a waterside cafe. Soup, freshly baked bread and a frothy (Union brand this time) - yep this is what holidays are about!!!
Later we hopped on a "plenta" which is a handmade wooden boat, and were rowed out to the island in the middle of Lake Bled. No power boats are allowed on the lake and there were dozens of plentas being rowed about.
The little church is famous for its carving of the Virgin Mary made in the 1500's, and there is also legend of grooms having to carry their brides up the 99 steps to get married in the church - poor b*****s!
There is a "wishing bell" in the church and we all had go at ringing it the three times and making a wish, before having a walk around the tiny island. While waiting for our plenta to take us back, Mumsie realised she had left her sunnies in the church - guess who had to climb the 99 steps back up again and get them????? She owes me several pivos! Large ones!!!!
Then the poor boatman had to row the 18 of us back across the crystal clear water to the town, where we took the coach up to the hilltop castle.
Naturally the castle is extremely old and was used as a monastery and various other religious things, how they got all the building material up there in the old days I have no idea! There was an ancient printing press there also - used for printing bibles etc and we watched a local making paper and then printing some certificates on it.
That was our last stop for the day and as we had a free evening we took a walk around the town and had dinner at the same place looking out over the lake!
Tomorrow it is off to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, where we will have a guided walking tour before heading to the Plitvice Lakes for our overnight stop.