Thursday 4 July – Rovinj to Lake Bled

The GoOpti driver was early and we left Rovinj before 0945 heading for Lake Bled, the family not far behind us in their car.    We were the only passengers in the same sort of new and comfortable vehicle as we’d had on the first trip, I read most of the way.  We took the expressway and went across a couple of impressive viaducts and felt that a lot of money had been put into the roading system – NZ should be so lucky.  The border wait was about ten minutes, then we did a dog-leg through coastal Slovenia and across to Trieste in Italy where we changed vehicles.  This time all eight passenger seats were occupied, we sat in front with a young and friendly driver who spoke excellent English and passed on some sight-seeing tips and information so that made the trip go quickly (about 1 hour 45 minutes).  Just past the border back into Slovenia he pointed out one single wind turbine saying ‘That’s exactly half of Slovenia’s wind-power’, apparently the population has voted a big ‘no’ for environmental reasons including that they kill too many birds.  Evidently there are more greenies in Slovakia than in Italy if the thousands of wind turbines we saw in Puglia are anything to go by.

We were delivered to the door of our holiday apartment and greeted by the manager.  We’d had excellent communication with her and in person she gave us a very thorough ‘dos and don’ts list’ as well as pointing out places on the map, very useful and concise in a somewhat ‘Teutonic’ ‘zis is vat you vill do’ tone.  We did the check-in for the family as well – they have to record our passport details and all visitors pay a tourist tax, woe betide any apartment owner who doesn’t comply.   We have a studio apartment and the family has a large long room with a bed settee at one end, living and dining, and an open loft with a king bed above the kitchen/dining area.   High ceilings and very airy, very nice too.  

And then it was time to settle in and blob out until the family arrived around 5pm, having had a side trip to some pretty spectacular caves on the way.    We wandered downhill to the waterfront (perhaps five minutes downhill, rather more going back up for me) checked out the water park, Patryk spied the toboggan run on the other side of the lake up a hill, and then the kids saw a playground just beside a really nice waterside restaurant so we didn’t see the need to go any further.      The temperature was 23 and just right for me, and the apartment was nice and cool when we got home.

The kids had settled well into their nice big apartment and we’ve decided that Ellie is heavy-footed like her Nan Ailsa – she’s only a tiny wee four-year-old but has the determined tread of an elephant that we can hear down below. 

Friday 5 July

The island has evidence of settlement back around 3,000 years, the first church was built around 1140 and there have been a couple of new churches plus renovations over the years.    There are two sets of steps up but the main one is shown in my photo – 99 steps up and tradition was that a groom had to carry his bride to the top, non-stop, to guarantee a happy marriage.     The other tradition is to ring the bell in the church three times and make a wish.    It’s an extra charge to go into the church, just Pete went – I was trying to video him through the window but other people were in the way.  I asked afterwards did he make a wish and he said ‘yes, that you would hurry up and take the photos’.    Ah well……...    I climbed the 99 steps and wished yet again that I’d been getting fit climbing the back stairs at the DHB every day.  It was a lovely quiet and calm trip over and back and interesting to look around at the lake shore from a different angle.  The lake is full of small fish around 5 – 6 inches long, especially right up to the shore.    I was reminded of my younger brother when he was a kid in Warkworth, he used to go down to the river and catch sprats by the dozen, easy cat food.  

Lunch was at the same place as last night, they have a good menu with plenty to appeal to the kids and adults, as well as a waiter who was on his way to channelling Basil Fawlty – not exactly rude but service was pretty basic, he was quite funny though in a bad way.  The family went home for a rest but Pete and I walked round to the other side of the town then up to the base of the chairlift and toboggan track.   Pete (big kid) decided to have a go but I went up and down in the chairlift, and as you can imagine there was a great view from the top and the start of the toboggan track.  It’s very popular too, there were lots of people up there.    I managed to get a very brief video as my speedy husband zoomed by, all full of concentration.       We were just starting to walk down when Andy and Patryk drove up so we stayed to see them on the toboggan, I went back up on the chairlift with them and enjoyed the spectacular view again.    We left Pete to walk home afterwards but Andy, Patryk and I drove around the lake and out to the next village, just to see what we could see.   Houses are very ‘Swiss Cottagey’ with that distinctive look of wood, sloping roof, red geraniums in window boxes – you could almost expect to see Heidi running down the hill with her goats!     There are a few beachy areas but mostly the lake drops straight down from the roadside or path.      We had pizza for tea and a pleasant family time in the big apartment until bedtime.

 Saturday 6 July

Hotter again, my phone said 31 so it wasn’t the BEST idea to go climbing up to Bled castle…….   Pete and I followed the GPS to the castle and it said 12-minute walk from our place.   It lied.  Look at the photo.  See how HIGH the castle is above lake level.   Remember how unfit I am and how Pete just keeps going like the energiser bunny.    In a nutshell, we scaled the side of the mountain from the white church across to the castle (see the photo with the heart) and the photo shows how steep the path up is but you had to be impressed by the work that had gone into building it.  Staircase after staircase made of concrete/wood/gravel, very solid wooden posts and wire.  What a job.   No idea how long it took me but Pete was well ahead.  

Anyway it was worth the effort because the view is spectacular over the lake and 360 degrees around the area, a perfect vantage point.  It is the oldest castle in Slovenia, 130m above the lake and dates back over 1000 years, now used amongst other things for political meetings and showing off the view to important people.  Weddings are held on the upper terrace (we saw one being set up under a pavilion, stunning view), there’s a restaurant and coffee show and small gift shops.     They have printing demonstrations using an historical press, and in the same building there’s an exhibit of the area’s religious history and mention is made of the start of Protestantism – the woodcut shows the well-padded catholic priest on the right and the leaner preacher of the new religion on the left. In part it was a protest against the way senior clergy lived the high life while the poor struggled, and how the clergy was guilty of selling favours so people would have a smooth pathway to heaven. 

Andy had taken Patryk to the water park for an hour or so which I’m pretty sure they both loved; Justyna and Ellie had a potter around the shops and we all met for lunch.   They had the easy morning.    We all walked around after that to catch the little train that does a circle around the lake partly on the road and partly on the shared walking/cycling path, nice and relaxing.  It was interesting to see the swimming spots more crowded than they had been yesterday, especially a couple of flat grassy areas which had hardly any space to spare, it must be diabolical on a busy day.  

Everyone was ready for a good break after that so there was some snoozing, then the family went off to see a waterfall and gorge twenty minutes up the road, quite NZ-ish and pretty.   Pete and I, since it was a tiny bit cooler, went for a walk around our neighbourhood which fortunately is on the flat.  The houses were well cared for, lovely gardens with veges and fruit trees, plenty of flowers and such a nice ‘country’ perfume in the air.   There were a few old buildings including two very old ones with stone/dirt ramps leading up to the upper hay storage area, animals would have been kept below.    They reminded me of the barn we saw in Norway when we went on a day trip to the village my 3xgreat grandfather had come from though on a smaller scale.    The smaller ramp here had what looked like a hobbit hole dug into it on the side.  

There was a story board (see photo) about the area being settled since prehistoric times, more a Roman settlement and bodies being buried beside the road we were standing on.     And I couldn’t resist the ‘leaving Bled’ sign (town name with a red line through it), then a cycle/pedestrian sign and a red light, a bit like a Truman show moment – don’t go over the bridge!    We carried on and found little allotments full of veges, and the most beautifully kept cemetery with a 1942 - 45 war memorial to one side, and a walled area with each grave covered in all sorts of flowering plants such as lavender, cyclamen, marigolds, even some blueberry bushes.   There were four towers with ‘onion top domes’ at each corner, the gravestones were cared for and there were lots of red lamps.  

Bled is a really lovely little town, we’d happily come again though I think having a car would be best. 

And after dinner with the family we’ve all packed up read to leave on Monday morning.  As I write this we’ve got thunder and rain outside and the temperature has dropped to ‘pleasant’ again. 

And next…………. let’s see if the hills really are alive with the sound of music in Salzburg!