Once Raym and I were up we started heading off on foot in what we hoped was the direction of the car hire depot to collect our car - hoping to grab a cab enroute. Croatian street names are not only difficult to pronounce but hard to follow on a map! But thankfully after a shop assistant assured us we were in the right direction and only about 15 minutes away we found it!
Soon after we are driving our 4 door Renault Megane back to the apartment to pack up and collect Adam. Another thing in our favour was that it was a public holiday Monday and the streets were fairly quiet - good for Raym to once again get accustomed to a left hand drive on the "wrong" side of the road.
Parked closer to central downtown and grabbed some scrumptious pastries and coffee for a late breaky.
Now time to head off to Ljubljana. Not a great start with our relationship with "Serena" - our GPS friend she sent us more than 20kms out of our way! Would certainly have done better relying on our map and instincts... but soon rectified.
Motorway/autobahns are excellent. Three lanes most of time but just as we were becoming accustomed to Croatian signage we crossed border into Slovenia! (Adam receiving his 49th passport stamp as he entered his 17th country for his trip so far!)
Countryside consisted of picturesque rolling green hills, sporadic corn fields, dotted with quaint villages and townships - each one featuring a significantly spectacular church and steeple. Postcard scenes! And in typical European style, roads don't wind around hills but tunnel straight through!
Once we reached Ljubljana, headed toward city centre, parked for a couple of hours in a paid parking area and walked off toward the old town area. Almost breathtaking to turn from a normal street into an amazing cobblestoned square flanked with incredibly colourful and distinctive buildings. Very reminiscent of Riga actually. Then the bridges over the river, the view up to the castle atop the hill, the markets and of course the abundance of cafes, bars and gelato bars with outdoor diners.
Had a yummy salad and toasted tuna sandwich in a bar before wandering around some more - and a gelato of course. Bit disorientated trying to locate the car again but all sorted thankfully. Sooo hot!!
On the road again, and on to Bled. Countryside continued to amaze with hills becoming mountains and majestic in their statue. Awesome!
And then, the lovely alpine town of Bled.
Found Hotel Krim - pretty ordinary, small room and unfortunately not air conditioned so hope we survive the night! Boys had a power nap while I freshened up.
Then we wandered the short distance down to the lake to find the best located spot for a beer. Literally pinch yourself material! Could hardly believe I was soaking in the vista of somewhere I had read and seen so much about. Just awesome!
Crossed the road to a gorgeous Pub and had a tremendous meal - trout salad, salmon, veal, and calamari - all delicious!
Slept ok despite the heat.