It can be a little nerve wracking traveling to a new country alone not knowing if everything will go smoothly. As my plane to Slovenia sat on the runway in England delayed forty minutes and I was unable to text Rebecca and warn her, I got a bit nervous. The best site ever was to get past the sea of people to find her waiting there ready to go. Now I could relax and let the second part of my adventure begin.
We were staying in Bled an adorable town not far from Ljubljana. I was excited to trade travel stories and learn about the adventures Rebecca and her parents had been on. The house they rented was gorgeous and close to tons of sights.
We started our morning outside eating a yummy breakfast and planning the day. Our first stop was to head to Bled Lake and take a boat out to the small island where the church resides. The rowers of the boat had an interesting technique that seemed very uncomfortable to me, but did the trick. On the island sits a small church and that’s about it. Inside there is a bell that if you can pull the rope and get three full chimes all your dreams will come true. After the bell went silent for Rebecca I was a bit worried, but my chimes were clear as day! We sat and enjoyed a version of potica, which is a bread my mom and I make from my grandmothers recipe. It didn’t quite live up to the one we make but was interesting to try. On the back of the island there are ninety- nine steps. In tradition for a wedding in the small church the groom has to make it up the stairs while carrying the bride. We also heard that the bride must stay quiet the whole way. No clue if that’s true, but I can see why one out of five couples don’t make it.
After our lake adventure Rebecca and I went to hike up for a better view. We climbed to the viewpoint overlooking the lake with the castle settled in the background. The water is an unbelievable blue that no picture can do justice. Luckily we made it down right before the rain came. We had enough time to get into an amazing restaurant and wait out the storm. Here we had one of the best meals I’ve had! Everything was delicious and our waiter was a very entertaining man with tons of skills and interests.
We wandered the town a bit more and later that night went out for a traditional cream cake. Very yummy dessert! Then off to bed since we had to be up super early for the hot air balloon adventure!!
Very rarely do I pop out of bed when my alarm rings at 4:45 am. But on this day I woke up singing, up up and away in my beautiful balloon. Something I have always wanted to do is take a hot air balloon ride. And Bled was a perfect place for this adventure. We arrived at the meeting point and met our captain and fellow travelers. We drove the balloon to a field behind the castle and watched as it filled with air and began to take shape. There were two balloons that day, ours included a group of six Chinese travelers and the other a couple from D.C. and a teacher from Spain. We jumped into the giant basket and before I knew it we were in the air. I have a pretty big fear of heights, but somehow it was so smooth it all felt unreal. I never once had a nervous feeling and as long as I didn’t lean out too far I was thrilled to be that high up.
The ride was about an hour long. I couldn’t get over the perfect morning with the spectacular views. We flew above the castle and lake and worked our way over to fields and forests. We watched a deer bound out of his hiding spot and disappear into the trees. Birds flew below us and sheep wandered the pastures. Our pilot, Philip, did this as a hobby and his actual job was as a meteorologist. We watched as he checked the wind by spitting straight down from the basket. Very impressive skills.
I’ve not seen a lot of hot air balloon landings, but I wasn’t quite prepared for what happened. Our pilot had us practice before we took off, each of us in our separated areas squatting down and holding on and facing the same way. As the time came we took our positions and he told us to brace for impact. The balloon made a thud and I figured it was done. Nope! The wind came right then and grabbed our balloon sideways and pulled us over. Obviously we were on the ground already so no one was in danger but it was a bit shocking. Everyone in the basket was laughing and laying sideways figuring out how to get out without kicking each other. I honestly don’t think I would have wanted it any other way. Rebecca and I giggled as we wriggled our way out and stood back on solid ground.
After packing up the balloons everyone joined in the traditional ceremony. We all knelt down and repeated the sacred words and arose as barons and baronesses of hot air ballooning and toasted with champagne. Such an amazing experience. The crew took us to enjoy more cream cake and learn a bit about the city. They presented us with our certificates and sent us on our way with our new titles.
Next, we drove up to Castle Bled and wandered the grounds. Rebecca has made us lunch reservations which turned out to be a great deal. We watched as people were turned away from the tiny restaurant happy to have our spot.
Making our way down the hill it was time to finally get into the beautiful blue waters. We found a spot to rent paddle boards and walked down to the lake. Random spotting of the day was a man taking his ostrich for a stroll down the beach among all the people. Yep, ostrich.
Once I finally felt confident to stand in the slightly wavy waters we paddled our way close to the church on the island. We jumped off our boards and enjoyed the cool waters and quiet away from the beach. With views like that I could have stayed out all day! Rules in Slovenia seem pretty relaxed, so we weren’t too worried about being late back. The guy didn’t even write down our names or ask for anything. “Pay whenever.” Uh ok! I could get used to this.
With one last night we sat outside eating cheese and drinking wine. The perfect quick trip to Slovenia. I will definitely need to go back someday.
