Our trip from Venice to Bled was always going to be interesting. The tickets we'd been looked at originally had us on a 3 hour coach and then another 3 hour train….however we'd found a much more interesting route. So off we were, boarding a train to Goricia which is right near the Slovenian border. From there we had to either walk 4km or catch a bus...outside the station, we saw a sign for taxis to the next station (in Slovenia) for 10 Euros, alright, it was probably more than we wanted to spend, but it was easier and we knew we'd get our connecting train. As we were standing there, an Aussie couple came up, obviously with the same idea and we got chatting and agreed to share a cab. Stood there chatting away and a taxi pulls up…….another couple jumped in it. No bother, we thought - that one had arrived quickly, so there was bound to be another one pretty soon. With an hour till our train, we weren't panicking. After about 5 minutes, a bus comes along…still chatting, we all just kind of look at it, not sure if it's going our way or not…it pulls off before we get the chance to work it out. Still feeling hopeful that another taxi will come along, we wait it out for another few minutes.

20 minutes later and no taxis in sight, we all decide the best course of action is to walk across the border to the next train station. Easy…pfff….luckily, about halfway through the walk with time running out, a taxi pulls up. We all hop in and make it to the station with about 5 minutes to spare! … a lovely couple, although we never did catch their names….

So this is probably the most 'local' train we've been on. Hot after our hike and no aircon, it takes us a while to cool down. But wow, the scenery from the window is spectacular! Mountains and greenery!!! Already we've fallen for Slovenia.

Our host met us from the train and drove us down to the apartment, a cute little basement apartment about a 5 minute walk from the lake. All settled in and we went for a walk around the lake and up to castle (a lot of steps!!). It's beautiful around here!

With 3 nights here, it meant we could relax a little bit and not have to cover everything in one day. So our first full day and we headed up to the Vintgar Gorge, it's about a 3km walk from Bled (1.6km through the Gorge and back home…all in all just over 7km…not bad for a little hike!). Most of the walk unfortunately was along the road (with a pavement), but it was worth it. The Gorge was stunning, we got some really good pictures! We stopped at the end to eat our little picnic, but there were so many wasps, we finished up quickly and headed back home in a big loop…walking through the woods with some hand painted signs back towards Bled.

Today, we rented a little row boat and rowed out to the island in the middle of the lake…it was beautiful and sunny when we left and just as we moored up, it started to tip it down! Hiding under the cover of a tree, we ate our picnic (we're getting quite good at making up sarnies for lunch…cheese, ham and mayo all the way!!) and went for a little explore. We say little because the island is pretty small! There is a bell tower and church in the middle - apparently for 6 Euros you can go up to the bell tower and ring the bell of wishes…hmm. Once the rain had subsided slightly, we boarded our little boat and ventured back to shore.

The mission for the evening was to go to a local restaurant (Okarina) and say hello to the owner for a friend…when we first walked past, it was shut until 6pm, so decided it was time to try the local cream cake…yummy! Basically cream sandwiched between pastry…if you have a sweet tooth - highly recommend…if you don't have a sweet tooth - just have half. Thankfully on the way back the restaurant was open, but the man we needed to see wasn't there! So, we left him a note and stopped for a beer…halfway through, he turned up! Mission accomplished - we passed on our regards and were rewarded with a few gifts to send back. All good.

So here we are, tomorrow we head to Zagreb where we're thinking of hiring a car and driving down to the Plitvice lakes. Other than that, who knows! We booked our tickets home the other night, arrive back in London late on the 6th September…in one month though, we will be in Nepal!!!

xx