Hello, hello š I know it’s been a while since the last time I wrote an article on my blog, but after this looong winter break I’m back in business with good vibes and sooo many beautiful places and stories that I must share with you š
In these last couple of months I’ve traveled a lot through Europe and in my home country as well, so.. if you don’t have any vacation plans for 2019 yet, I’m pretty sure my next articles will inspire you a little bit š
Today I wanna tell you about my trip to Slovenia,Ā a country that we’ve always wanted to discover, but even though we’ve passed by it so many times in our trips through Europe, we didn’t manage to stop there yet. A few months ago we finally managed to stop here, for just three days, but it was more than enough to see some of the most important sights in the country.
Our first stop here had to be Lake Bled – the jewel of Slovenia – without doubt one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. With its deep blue water, surrounded by mountains, and with a picturesque little island right in the middle of the lake, this place is absolutely incredible.
I’ve seen sooo many photos of Lake Bled on Instagram and various websites and I knew it’s going to be a beautiful sight, but once we arrived there it was even more amazing than we thought, with all those boats, the castle, the islet with its lovely little church, the superb mountains nearby and all the restaurants and hotels beautifully reflecting in the crystal clear water of the lake.
It’s such as a charming view, especially when the sun goes down and the best part in Bled is that there’s a long walking path around the entire lake, with numerous benches where you can sit down and just admire the lake, the swans, little ducks, the boats and sip in the entire view. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too friendly with us – it rained most of our time here – but that didn’t stop us from enjoying this place. Walking in the rain around Lake Bled, sharing an umbrella with my boyfriend, was definitely an unforgettable experience.
We’ve stayed at theĀ Rikli Balance hotel in Bled and we had such an amazing view of the entire lake and the castle every single day, but the best view point with the lake was actually in the opposite part of the town, on top of a small hill. We didn’t manage to get there from our first try, since it was raining pretty bad, but we didn’t gave up and in the next morning we’ve been there right at sunrise and we got to see one of the most beautiful sunrises ever. It was a mesmerizing view and all that effort to get up there has paid off – trust me, the climb was pretty hard, because you have to go on a rocky path through the forest and since it rained a lot it was very slippery.
But once you get there you’ll find a little bench just waiting for you, all you need to take a short break, breathe in and enjoy this amazing view. We’ve stayed there for almost two hours, took some photos and then we’ve simply relaxed on that bench, enjoying the sunrise and the clouds passing by us. Since the weather wasn’t so good, there weren’t too many tourists willing to climb up there so we were lucky to have that place only for us.
From Bled you’re also really close toĀ Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, so of course we had to visit it as well. A city shrouded in fairy tales and legends with dragons and princess,Ā Ljubljana was a wonderful surprise for me. Everywhere you might turn your head, on the streets, on the bridges, in restaurants or souvenir shops you’ll see a symbol or statues of a dragon and the legend says that a dragon used to live right here.Ā Jason and his argonauts stole the golden fleece and they stopped here before winter, but where attacked by a dragon who was defending this land. Jason killed the dragon and became the first citizen ofĀ Ljubljana, while the dragon became the symbol of the city.
The Dragon Bridge is one of the most important sights in town, one of the oldest bridges in Europe and also the first bridge built from reinforced concrete inĀ Ljubljana. It’s 33m long and it guarded by 4 copper statues of dragons. Together with the castle andĀ Ljubljanica – a small river which splits the old town in half, theĀ Dragon Bridge is one of the main reasons why you should add this place to your list as well.
We’ve walked around the old town for a few hours, on narrow cobblestone streets and next to this small river,Ā and we’ve seen so many colorful houses, superb churches, numerous bridges and lots of interesting cafes and restaurants. We will surely come back here one day, because I think there are many more things just waiting to be discovered inĀ Ljubljana.
The last place we’ve visited inĀ Slovenia was the spectacular Predjama castle – one of the biggest castles in the world built at the entrance of a cave. It’s hard not to be impressed once you arrive here. The entire castle was built in the rock walls of a mountain and you just can’t help but wonder how did people manage to build such an amazing castle a few centuries ago. To get an idea of how old this castle really is, its first mention was inĀ 1274, and the current castle was apparently built in 1570.
You already know my passion for castles, so this was a place I couldn’t miss š If you’re going to Slovenia this year, it’s totally worth making a little detour fromĀ Ljubljana to visit this castle – you will surely love it š
I’m pretty sure Slovenia has a lot more things to offer, we’re already thinking about coming back here as soon as possible, but until then I’ll let you enjoy these photos and I hope I’ve managed to convince you to add Slovenia to your bucket list!
Kisses, G!
