Hello! Sorry for the silence. I’ve been so busy with the bakery and my son came back home after almost 2 years in New Zealand so my life has been a little all over for the past couple of weeks. We also had another teeny, tiny holiday (but that’s for another day). There’s been a lot of adjusting but now everything is starting to settle I’m hoping to dedicate more time to this blog.
So, where were we? If I remember rightly our week in Croatia had come to an end and we were now on route to Slovenia! Lake bled in particular. Slovenia is just north of Croatia so the drive was pretty simple and extremely beautiful. We arrived around 2:30pm to a huge, old house in a place called Lancovo. We knew it was ran by Jesna and Brigita (Mother and Daughter) and that Brigita was an artist who also used the house as a gallery. We were immediately intrigued.
Upon arrival we went to the huge house and knocked on the door. We waited and when no one came Joe opened the door and walked into the hall. It was the biggest hall I’d ever seen. I called out a couple of times and then we heard footsteps on the stairs. It was Brigita. Small, hair tied back and covered in paint, she didn’t look impressed at all. “There is a doorbell” she said in a thick accent. We apologised and explained that we had knocked, after a few minutes she began to soften ( very slightly I might add). While showing us around her beautiful home she told us that although it had been in her family for many years it hadn’t been decorated since the 1940s! It showed and I loved it!
The house was made up of nets, wood, cobwebs and paintings. The kitchen was beautifully vintage and the bathroom and front room had large ceramic heaters covered in brown and green tiling. I’ll be honest, it was a little creepy. There were another couple of girls staying for the night, two cats and a strange old man roaming around. He was never introduced to us or even acknowledged for that matter. I’ll say it again, Creepy.
We wanted to make the most of the afternoon so quickly got changed ready to go to Lake Bled. It was 5k away and Brigita kindly let us hire 2 bikes. We had such a blast! The journey was breathtaking. Stunning scene after stunning scene as we cycled by rivers, cornfields and through winding roads with little houses dotted around.
A few minutes into the journey we came to a bridge over a lake and stopped to take everything in. It was honestly the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Green, vast, calm. Lake Bled was incredible but it couldn’t beat the beauty of this place.
Eventually we arrive at Lake Bled. It was full of tourists (why do all the beautiful places have to be full of people?!) but it was still magical. How could it not be with that stunning island in the middle? I was dying to get into the water but it was freezing! I dipped my toes in as Joe lowered himself in. I’m not one for getting things over and done with, I like to take my time and drag out out, no matter how painful or agonisingly cold it is. Once in it didn’t really get much warmer but it was such a thrilling feeling. As the sun began to set, tiny little humans were diving into the water, others were teaching their parents how to paddle board and one little girl in particular was rolling her eyes at me because I thought it was cold. You gotta love kids.
We hopped back on the old bikes and cycled around the rest of the lake. If you get the chance to visit Lake Bled I would definitely recommend cycling to and around it. After stopping every few minutes for photos we made our way back to Lancovo. It was getting late and we wanted to make it into town for dinner. The journey back was the best! Mostly down hill and pretty steep at times. We flew past cows, trees, cats sat in fields, hair flying behind me as I shot down the hills. It served as a reminder of how flat it is back home in Hull. We stopped at the bridge again taking it in for the final time. It looked different now. The colours changing as the sun disappeared and the sky darkened.
The town and Lake Bohinj
The next morning I woke feeling a little groggy and delicate. I had been severely ill during the night. Sickness isn’t good anytime but it’s particularly bad when you wake to the blackest night you can ever recall, in a strange home, with an old man roaming about the house. We’d been out for dinner but I didn’t really eat it. I was tired and not feeling great. What I did eat was the mackerel pate. Was that the culprit? Who knows, but I felt awful.
We got ready and made our way to the town (Radovljica) for a little wander before we got back on the road. It was very pretty with a handful of shops and cafes and what appeared to be stray village cats. I went over to stroke one and it went to bite me. I’d already been attacked twice by a cat in France so decided to leave this one alone. We popped into a little grocers were I purchased yet more honey. “What are you going to do with all of this honey you keep buying?” Joe had a point. I wasn’t sure and I’m still not. I just can’t resist a local honey.
Brigita had mentioned another Lake to us, Lake Bohinj. She explained that it is just as beautiful as Bled, if not more, but with less tourists. Even though I wasn’t feeling great I didn’t want to miss out and it was only half an hour away. We made our way down to the lake. It was surrounded by trees and had the clearest water. I took off my shoes and waded in a little. Fish swam around my ankles. It was much calmer than Bled and much more scenic. Ideally we would have spent more time there. It would be the perfect place to while away a few hours, swimming, picnicking, frolicking in the shallow waters. Alas, we had the rest of our journey to finish. A long drive to Germany was ahead of us and though I wasn’t feeling up to a long day of travelling (or food for that matter) pretzels and bratwurst were calling me….
The actual life of Riley 