Lake Bled in Slovenia

Our next stop was the tiny country of Slovenia. It is surrounded by four countries. Italy to the West. Austria to the North. Hungary to the East and Croatia to the South. We stayed in the tiny town of Bled on Lake Bled, which sits below the Julian Alps. It is truly a fairy-tale setting. A castle looks down upon the lake and there is a little church perched atop a tiny island in the middle of the lake. You'd be hard pressed to dream up a prettier setting.

We hiked up to the appropriately named Bled Castle.  Bled Castle is a medieval castle dating back to the year 1011.

The Church of the Assumption

View from Bled Castle. Julian Alps in the distance.

European "penny" crusher.  Now that's how you crush a penny!!

The weather can change quickly in the mountains.  

It is a 3 mile walk around the lake and a light rain began to fall.  So it was a good time to take a break for lunch at the 1.5 mile mark.

The lake is very peaceful, no motor boats are allowed on the lake.  To cross the lake, you must hop on a flat (not "fat") bottomed boat (not "girl").  Like the gondolas in Venice, an oarsman stands in the back and rows you to different parts of the lake while carrying on a conversation. These boats have been owned and operated by a single family for years.

There are 99 stops from the boat dock to the church.  (Although, I counted 96). Legend has it, that if the groom, on his wedding day, can carry his bride up the 99 steps, it will bring the couple good luck...and the groom a bad back.
I'm not getting married any time soon, but I found an alternative way to get in on this good luck.  In the church you  can pull on the church bell rope.  If you can make it ring 3 times with a single pull, you will receive good luck.  I was successful.

Okay, time to fess up. The only reason we came to Bled was for the world famous Bled Cake or Kremšnita as it's referred to locally. It is a vanilla and custard cream between two crumbly sheets of pastry. I lost count of the number of pieces I ate while we stayed in Bled, but it's safe to say it is the best cake I've ever had.

Even the birds loved Bled Cake or at least the Bled Cake crumbs.