Ljubljana - Sunday 1st Jan

New Year's Day – what a way to welcome in the New Year but with a trip to one of the most amazing sights we have seen yet.

Lake Bled is about a 1 hour bus ride from the centre of Ljubljana, and not feeling too hangover we hopped on the bus not knowing what to expect. The lake is 2,120 m long and 1,380 m wide, with a maximum depth of 30.6 metres and surrounds Bled Island, the only natural island in Slovenia. The island houses the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary, built in the 15th century. 

We made our way down to the lakeside and couldn’t' stop looking (and taking photos) of the little island and the castle on the towering cliffs above it. We found a wee boat that would take us to the island and we were amazed at how still it was, it was perfect day weather wise and we were again blown away at how crystal clear the water was. 

After visiting the island we went in search of some lunch, we found a random Egyptian themed pub and decided to try the Slovenian delicacy, burek which is basically filo pastry with a mince filling. Quite nice.

After lunch we hiked up the steepest trail possible to get to the castle. The views from the top were fantastic, we spent some time on the top soaking up the sun and having an obligatory mulled wine. The castle was first mentioned in a 22 May 1011 deed of donation, so it's pretty old. It also has its own winery and a bottle shop on site where you could buy wine from a guy in a monk's robe with a pet parrot (no joke). 

We made our way back down the hill and stopped in at the St. Martina church just below the castle, where they had the most beautiful nativity scene set out, complete with electric lights and a water feature. We spent the remainder of the afternoon strolling around this little town, we made a slight error with our bus tickets so we thought we were going back at 3.30pm only to find out we weren't going back until 4.30pm which was a bit annoying.

We finally made it home and had to have hot showers to warm up, and then went to one of the restaurants we tried to get into the night before. It was a cute little restaurant and we got a window seat so we could see everyone else freezing outside. We had a decent meal, again very cheap but the quality was right up there. An early night followed in preparation for the big ski day!

Highlights: The scenery, you just couldn't stop taking photos of it.

Lowlights: Trying to get back to the hotel, bit of a downer.
Interesting Fact: The rowing world champs were held on this lake in 2011.