first leg of the trip: Ljubljana to Lake Bled
Travel Day and A Surprise:
After the baby finished his morning nap, we jumped in the car for a quick ride from Ljubljana to Lake Bled. It should've only taken about an hour (we had a few wrong turns), so we would arrive in time for lunch. Meanwhile, my brother and his family who live in nearby Vienna, had also wanted to see Lake Bled and thought it would be fun to meet us up for the weekend. I had the brilliant idea to make it a surprise, and not tell my husband or kid. (ominous music begins). We were arriving on a Sunday just as they would be finishing up and heading home - so the plan was to meet up for lunch. I thought it would be really easy to have them pick a restaurant that I would casually suggest we go to, and then walk in and Surprise! What are the chances of bumping into our family so far from home?! I really thought it would be fun.
view of the island with the little church
castle up on the hill above the lake
Well, first off, they were staying on the other side of the lake than we were, and it turns out to be a bigger lake than it looks. Secondly - it turns out to be really crowded and trafficky. So - as we're trying to navigate through these middle-of-nowhere mountain roads to get there, I'm trying to text with them to figure out where to meet up, constantly losing service. We finally get to the area where they were staying and eventually find parking, and start looking for a restaurant. Then I find out they've walked all the way to the other side of the lake to where we are going to be staying. It's a disaster. Trying to keep the secret, I have to tell everyone to turn around and walk the other way for no reason, while they rush back to meet us. I finally pick a restaurant and they plan to join- and the surprise falls when I have to ask for a table for 7. At this point, husband, who has been doing all the driving and fighting with the traffic and getting yanked around - is not happy with me. We have a nice lunch with them: the kiddos are thrilled to see each other, and it was nice to catch up with them. Eventually, we head on to our AirBnb, a charming little cottage in the mountains. Lesson learned: maybe making it a surprise for the kids would've been a better idea.
so excited to see his cousin
yay!
After we checked in, we walked along the lake path for a bit, and then came back. It was clear that the restaurants were packed and we had no reservations - so we found a grocery store and pulled together a quick pasta and put everyone in bed.
Morning Trip: To the Island!
So the lake would be pretty on its own - but what makes it really famous is that there is a little island in the middle with a charming church. You can rent boats to go out to the island and visit the church - so we got up early to beat the crowds. It's a beautiful little trip, and then we walked around the island for just a bit. It was already getting quite hot, so we turned back after not long, and headed back to the cabin for nap time.
traditional boats parked at the island
yup- baby in the carrier - huge lifejacket around us both. Totally safe.
family pic - getting hot and silly - ready to head back for a break
Afternoon: Pastries & Swimming
After nap time, we decided to head out in search of a snack. We had heard about the Lake Bled cream cake, a pastry specific to the lake, and cannot pass up a local pastry. On a previous walk, we had seen a sign for a cafe up on the hill, so we wanted to check it out. Turns out to have been the party house for Tito, communist dictator and President of Yugoslavia. Apparently he loved to vacation at the lake and used this room as a place to host big parties for the communist big-wigs in this amazing spot overlooking the lake. It's a ball room, covered in communist mosaic propaganda, with a lovely balcony outside. So we sat on the balcony, overlooking the beautiful island and lake below, while sipping champagne, eating the official pastry of Lake Bled, feeling really awkward.
that's really decadent!!
what a view
Once we'd had enough, we tromped back down the hill and found a good spot for a quick swim. The water was warmer than we expected, but still chilly - so we took turns watching the little guy on the shore while someone took the big kid in the water. It was just beautiful and so idyllic. Eventually, people were getting tired and cold, and we headed back home.
swimming in amazing surroundings
Evening: A Failed Dinner and Some Stargazing
We again tried to get into a couple of restaurants, but it was clear the kids were just too tired to wait. While they went back to the room, I ran to the grocery store to grab something. Obviously, everything's in Slovenian, so I'm doing my best. I didn't want a huge bottle of olive oil, so I grabbed a tiny bottle without paying enough attention. When I get back to the cabin - I quickly discover that I've bought pumpkin oil, not olive oil, which I think tastes pretty awful. They apparently use it to drizzle over ice cream, definitely not for cooking. So we have a pretty awful meal of boiled chicken and plain pasta - not my best.
We put the little guy to sleep and decided to let our big kid stay up late to watch the stars. In London, not only is it a big city that is always covered in clouds - but the sun also doesn't set until 9 - 10ish in the summer, so we absolutely cannot see stars here. But in Lake Bled - the mountain air is clear and cloudless - so the stars are amazing! We let him sit with us outside for an hour maybe - it was just awesome. Then, eventually, off to bed - and the next morning we pack up for our next stop- the Plitvice National Park in Croatia!
Lessons Learned:
- Obviously, the surprise idea was a terrible one. Not that he wasn't happy to see my family - but I should've known that he's not a big fan of surprises and obviously having his help on the logistics of meeting up would've been better.
- The big lesson I think from this part of the trip was to cook dinner ourselves. AirBnbs all have kitchens, though they are not stocked equally, and it just makes sense to use them sometimes. We enjoy eating out, and obviously food is an important part of traveling and experiencing another culture, but sometimes with kids it's just easier to make something quick and easy. So - I think from this point on, we ended up cooking like every other night (always checking to make sure we had the right oil).
- This trip also gave us our first reminder that this part of the world has been in conflict not long ago. None of our other trips have been anywhere recently war-torn, so it helped prepare us to head south of the border into Croatia and near the border with Bosnia.
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