Bled - Pearl of Slovenia.

13/7/12

After a relatively dry night we set about trying to squeeze our belongings onto an overloaded bike. This ended up with us having another selection of clothes to post back to the UK for storage, and to eventually take back home with us. We are slowly reducing to load, mind you we also added two new shirts.

Speaking of clothes, I think I have moths in my panniers. I have found a hole in my pants, one T shirt, my merino gloves, my merino top. Might need to get some moth balls. Which reminds me...What have you got if you have a moth ball in your left hand, and a moth ball in your right hand? A bloody big moth.

We eventually left the camp site just after twelve. I do stress out when it's time to pack everything up. We still don't have a plan where to store everything. It's getting better, but it's still not right. I dread it when Suzanne says "Where's the...?" We spent a few hours finding a post office, having lunch (breakfast) and then visiting Marijan at A-Cosmos BMW to pick up the correct tank bag for our bike. We all now know that he R1200GS tank bag will not fit an R1200GS Adventure. So with our new tank bag fitted we were off to Bled. We didn’t know Bled was so close to the Austrian border so we back tracked a fair way. It wasn’t a problem though because we chose “Avoid Motorways” on the Sat Nav again and had a brilliant two hour ride to Bled.

When we arrived at Bled we rode down the main street to the lake and went wow when we saw the little Church of Assumption on the island in the middle of Lake Bled, then wow when we saw another building on the side of the lake (we still have to find out what that one is), and then a big wow when we saw Bled Castle. Apparently the lake is a constant 25 degrees, warmed by underground springs. Last winter it had an 18 cm thick layer of ice on it so everyone was skating. The best of both worlds.

The Church of Assumption on an island in the center of Bled Lake, as seen from the balcony of our hotel.

A quick ride around the lake and we found the camp site. To be honest I was totally shagged and was having trouble handling the bike at slow speeds with all the weight on board. I really needed comfy bed and a good night's sleep tonight. When I planned this trip I thought camping would be great fun, but you know what? I’m not twenty years old anymore, and it’s bloody hard on my poor old worn out body. So we decided a night in a hotel was in order. Yes, I’m a pussy.

The hotels around here are pretty impressive and we thought they would be well out of our price range. I stopped the bike outside Hotel Triglav and Suzanne went in to try and strike a deal. The desk clerk, Jure, was another shining example of the hospitality industry over here. Bloody fantastic. He gave us a lake view room at the price of a cheap room because all the cheap rooms were booked. He then managed to upsell us into staying for two nights. Oh yes, this of course included free Wi Fi and breakfast.

Our accommodation for the night.

This hotel had stood empty for twenty years. From what I can gather it was due to a legal dispute. Once all that was sorted the new owner renovated the whole place and it reopened three years ago. The indoor pool and saunas were a hit with Suzanne. I went downstairs later and Juri informed me that he had checked and there was enough room in the garage to park my bike, secure and out of the weather. This may not sound like a lot but it means we can leave everything on the bike and just take one bag with our clothes and toiletries inside. Ripper. We love you Juri. Juri then proceeded to fill us in on all the local sights, how to get there, the good bike roads to get there, and gave us a map with instructions. If Juri doesn't own his own hotel in the future I will be amazed.

We had dinner in the restaurant and went with the five course chef’s special. Another beautiful meal with Slovakian wine that was exceptional. The sommelier’s recommendations were spot on. When he heard we were from Australia he started telling us how good Margaret River wines were. To be honest, I think Slovakian wine is pretty damn good too.

Tomorrow we explore the area.

   Where’s Rex’s Buff?

The lovely Holly showing Rexy's Buff some leg.