I thought I’d better provide a map today to show you exactly where we have been! And where we are now!
The ship is in port today in Koper, Slovenia, but we immediately set off, by bus, to go on an almost 4 hour drive to Lake Bled near the border of Austria! We are hoping for cooler weather and I never thought I’d say it, but wouldn’t rain be nice for a change?
The landscape has taken on a totally new look! Instead of hot beaches and steep hills, we now have cool forests and mountains! The first photos were taken from the bus, but you will get the idea of the lush surroundings and the change in scenery!
If you didn’t get here by bus, as we did, you could have come this way!
We are finally here! Now we are getting on another type of boat called a pletna, a flat bottomed boat. The boat is similar in shape to the Italian gondola and seats 20 people. They are made by hand and are recognized by their colorful awnings. The role of the oarsman dates back to 1740, when Empress Maria Theresa granted 22 local families exclusive rights to ferry religious pilgrims across Lake Bled to worship on Bled Island. The profession is still restricted. Many modern oarsman descend directly from the original 22 families!
We are going to the only island in Slovenia and one of the most photographed! It has the Lady of the Lake Church, which was built on the site of a pagan church. Why do we want to go here? To ring the bell of course!
Here is the Church of Our Lady in the background…..
Here sitting on the outcrop on the other side of the lake, is the Bled Castle. We’ll be heading there too today!
The church is under repairs!!!!!
The view of the island from the castle………..
Whew, we made it! A few other people decided to row their own boats………….
What are going to find here? Exactly, what are we here for? See you tomorrow to see what we find!
ThatTravelLadyInHerShoes 
The color of the lake is so nice, and the lake looks deep
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I’m glad you got to hop around my country for a bit. 🙂 I have never seen Lake Bled to be this colour as is in the photo from the Castle. Either you were very lucky with the weather that day or you changed the photo too much in processing. 😉 I’m curious whether you got to visit Piran too or at least stroll around Koper for a while. How about Ljubljana, the capital? That’s where I’m from. I hope you were satisfied with my country, especially its hunks. (I laughed so much as I saw the hunks from Hvar.) Also, I was happy to see you enjoy Hvar where I was visiting with both my grandmothers when a small child.
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Manja, no I don’t do any editing of my photos unless I use one of those apps that really distorts the photos and I always say when I use them. We just take photos with our IPhones now! Don’t they come out good? Thats the reason we no longer take our big cameras with us……We sign up for tours from the ship at least six months in advance and by the time we actually do them I don’t remember what we signed up for once, I’m on the ship! There are loads of choices at each port. All the different tours from Koper were well received by everyone! It was a loooong day for us that day! I am so glad I got to see Lake Bled! Slovenia is a beautiful country, reminded me of Switzerland!
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I thought so, because all the other photos of the lake look so natural. It must have been a really special light then. I’m glad you enjoyed it! I have never been on a cruise but I can tell it can be a bit overwhelming at times.
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We had intermittent showers and were so happy to see it!
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