Unfortunately, the rain became even worst the following day. Fortunately, this is a transit day between Longarska Dolina and Bohinj Lake so we did not miss much except one “spectacular” walk (per Ingrid). It is not safe to do it under the rain as the path and rocks can be very slippery. Therefore we went directly towards Radovljica, a small medieval town very close to the Austrian Border.
There are small passageways and houses with beautiful murals everywhere. As it is still raining, I am trying not to get my camera too wet …
The highlight of the town is the Beekeeping Museum. There is a huge tradition of beekeeping in Slovenia and especially in this area. There are also several advancements in the art of beekeeping that were initially developed in Slovenia. Here is the entranceto the museum with a cart for transporting hives.
What is really interesting is the effort that some people went in the design and fabrication of their hives. Here are just two examples
We went for a tour of the town, with a very nice church, unfortunately closed.
In the restaurant where we are planning to have lunch, there is also a museum dedicated to “Ginger Bread” – not to be eaten, but to be admired because of the decorations. Also can be used for sending some one a message, in the case below, the message is obvious even if you cannot read the inscription.
We had a 10 minutes presentation on the methods for making ginger bread and the background to its development in the region.
While this was going on, the ‘decorator’ continued here work, with a very sure hand to be able to replicate the same design over and over again … Do not be disctracting by the lady talking, it is the lady to the left of center that you should focus on – very short video.
We then moved on to Bled. I will spare you all the play on words I could do with the name of this town because they are all in French, and not just French, but Belgian French. “C’est pas un Bled perdu, puisque j’y suis alle. Le lac du Bled est pas mal … etc”. In Belgian French, ‘bletor bled’ is a term used for a small, insignificant village with no significant features.
Well, that is certainly NOT the case of Bled in Slovenia. I remember seeing many times the picture of a small island in the middleof a lake withtrees and a church on the island and mountains all around. I did not know that all that was in Bled until I signed up for this trip. While there is still no sun, the views of the lake and the island are still very nice.
The only way to get to the island is by human powered boat. Motors are not allowed on the lake except for electric motors. We get a small boat for the 5 of us, with two Singaporean guests that take advantage of the lift and we are off.
The main staircase from the lake to the church dates back from medieval times. It is a beautiful climb as the small square and church at the top of the island are slowly revealed as you go up. The island and Churchare a favorite placefor couples to get married; at least it is a favorite place for brides to get married. In fact, custom dictates that if you get married here, the groom has to carry the brideup this staircase before the wedding! Not such a nice staircase any more…
At the top of the stairs, there is a small square with beautiful views around the lake. The clouds are still low and lingering on the nearby hills, making the views even more poetic.
The church is not very big, but quite nice on the outside and inside. There is a bell tower, and the bell seems to be ringing all the time. Fortunately, there are very few visitors – I am told that the square is usually full of people, now it is almost empty.
I have found the explanation for the constant bell ringing. This is a wishing bell. If you make a wish and ring the bell three times, your wish will come through. Giuseppe has been ringing the bell, and I bet I know what he is wishing for, the same thing I wished when I rang the bell. I can tell you right now that this is only a myth, as neither came through the next day!
Before we leave the island, our boatman is kind enough to take a group picture of us (from the left: Giuseppe, Ingrid, Debbie, myself and Bob) with Bled Castle in the background – he had several to take as there were several different cameras…
We head next for Bled Castle (or in French : le chateau de ce ‘bled’) which is high on a hill overlooking the lake. Strangely enough, the island that we just left is the only island in Slovenia! There are none along the Adriatic Coast. From the castle, we get a great view of the lake and the islandwith the church on it. It is continuing to rain and the low clouds hide the mountains that are all around us.
Even though fortified and well protected, this appeared to be a comfortable and spacious castle, with a lot of internal buildings that date back from the 16th century and later. There is an excellent museum about the local area and the geology of the lake and Julian Laps.
As we were coming out, we were suddenly thrown back 5 centuries. Players were coming in for a medieval feast due to occur that evening. They fit right into the local decor!
After Bled, we drove on to Bohinj Lake, under continued rain. This is where I really appreciated the work of our two guides. They spent a lot of time that evening trying to find interesting things for us to do even if it kept raining. The hikes that were scheduled are considered too dangerous with the amount of rain that fell. As a matter of fact, we hearon the news that portions of Ljubljana are flooded and that there are other problems throughout Slovenia. We arrive safely at our hotel along the lake and spend a quite evening inside…
The next day, we go for a walk along the lake. Because of the amount of rain that fell overnight, there are waterfalls that did not exist the day before, or that were so small as to be invisible from across the lake – here is one such ‘nameless’ waterfall.
Clouds, water, dark mountains and low light always make for dramatic scenery… We are now and the opposite end of the lake. In places the pathwe are supposed to take is underwater. For a while we can continue around, but it soon becomes obvious that we will not be able to go any further and have to turn back. We are in any case close to where we want to be.
Giuseppe is close to pick us up and drive us the rest of the way towards Savica Waterfall, one of the best in Slovenia and the source of their longest river – the Savica. With all the rain, we expect it to be greater than usual and we are not disappointed. I was very nervous to take a picture as the spray from the fall was still significant even where we were standing, but I did anyway. I figured that a little bit of water was not going to be a problem, and I could dry my camera as soon as we would get back to the van. Even though I had the camera out of the bag for only seconds, there are already many drops on the lens…
After this, I walked quickly back to the van and dried my camera as well as I could. We had lunch and then were ready to go back to the hotel. Not much planned for the afternoon as unfortunately, it is still raining. I decided to go for a short walk near the hotel anyway, just to see the surrounding area. I took one picture, and immediately changed my mind! Obviously, I had not done a good enough job of drying my camera, so I needed to go indoors and do it better.
Ingrid and Giuseppe had arranged for us to visit a local cheese factory on the way to dinner. We are hosted by the owner of the factory, who drove back from Ljubljana a little earlier than he planned just to give us this tour! He is very nice and only recently took over the factory as it was about bankrupt. The cheese is made from the same recipe as Emmental, based on instructions given many years ago be Swiss experts. They do not make a lot of cheese, but it is still made by hand and aged before being served. We all liked the flavor so Giuseppe bought some for a future pic-nic.
The next day, fortunately, it has stopped raining! We can resume our ‘normal’ itinerary with a walk high into the Julian Alps (In case I did not mention it before, the name of this mountain range comes from a rather famous Roman names Julius Caesar!). Bohinj Lake is still much higher than usual and therefore we have to leave the path and go into the fields to be able to go around areas that have been flooded. The brown cone in the lake in the middle of this picture is actually a trash can that is on the normal path!
We are happy to see that the sun is also making an attempt to come out. The high mountains are still covered in clouds, but we suspect that this will change during the day. After a little walking along the lake and in the valley, we soon start to climb…
Beekeeping is still a common occupation in this area and there are large hive “condominiums” along our path. Each hive is painted a different colour to insure that the bees know which one is theirs – do not want to accidentally drop in at the neighbours in this complex!
Just so that we are not coufused: this is a river …
… and this is our path- I forgive you for not seeing the difference!
Back to the river! We are seeing it withmore water than Ingrid has ever seen, no doubt about that. The roar is a constant background to the otherwise totalsilence around us.
Along the way, we cross a plateau with great views of the Julian Alps.
I could not resist building another panorama shot! Now that I know how easy it is, why should I not do this occasionally. This one is about 180 degrees around.
On the plateau, fall has already started. There are a few houses where people spend weekend and holidays.
How would you like this view from your front door!
We go take a look at another waterfall. However, this one is so ‘violent’, and a little shy after my experience of the day before, I decide not to attempt another photo too close to this one. However, I have decided that from now on I will have to have a small towel in my camera bag, so that I can feel better about taking pictures when the weather or the local situation could cause excessive moisture incidents on my lenses!
We have a short stop at a local ‘pub’ and then head essentially straight up through the woods. An hour later, we come out of the woods into an open area with a house! Who would build way up here in the middle of no where? There is actually a small path, wide enough for a quad, that leads away from the house for 1 km before you reach the road.
The sun is out, the sky is blue, the temperature is climbing! Oh Happy Days are here again!
As if to prove that we really are in a fairy land, we find mushrooms that I thought existed only in the minds of great animators (Walt Disney) and great comic book writers (Herge) – I had never seen bright red mushrooms with white dots. I am still looking for the gnomes that I know were not very far from here….
No, we did not pick them and have them for dinner! We needed something as a reference to indicate the size of the mushrooms and Ingrid volunteered!
The structure on the left is a local barn. The wall, with layers of wooden supports is actually a place that they use to dry the hay after harvesting. No haystacks here, so where do they search for the proverbial needle?
We are slowly heading back down towards our lunch stop in a small village – yes, this was all BEFORE lunch!
In the afternoon, it is back to Bohinj lake which is now bathed in warm sunshine. I can finally take a reasonable picture of the church ar the end of the lake (I have already taken several in previous days, all discarded in favor of this one because of the sun shine!)
There is also a statue of the legendary Zlatorog- the chamois with golden horns who created the mountains and valleys as punishment for being hunted. It is also the name of the best local beer. The statue is a gathering place for tourists who are usually too involved in taking their own pictures to pay attention to me trying to get a wider shot without people- I waited and waited, but as soon as one group left, another would come and take its place…
There is a monument to the first Slovenians to climb mount Triglav. They point at it in the distance (on the right of the picture) – they had left from here in this historical expedition. Now, a lot of people do the same – it takes about two to three days from here to the summit and back.
Tomorrow, we leave Bohinj for the Italian border. So a few late pictures of the lake under sunshine are a must…
You can see that the humidity is still high from all the rain, but the weather is still improving and the rest of the seek is looking better and better.
We go next to Kobarid (formerly known by its Italian name of Caporetto) which was the site of a famous campaign during world war I. Some historical sights coming up!
(1380 Page Views)
