A Day Around Bled-town

This is going to be picture heavy!  So hard to chose a few!

I found a great vacation rental online called The Red House.  It was a great place for us!  I'd never seen a rental place have so much for kids!!  A wicker chest FULL of toys, baby items for those with small children, a Wii, lots of movies and much more.

We slept fairly well that first night, although Eli woke up EARLY, about 5:30!  So Kristi & Eli had an early start to the day.  They were both a bit sleepy, but we headed in to downtown Bled by mid-morning.  Our goal that day was to take a gondola out to the island and go up to the castle for a fantastic view of the lake!

We headed straight for the gondolas.  These gondolas hold up to about 18 people, we had 13 on our boat, which included a couple from Australia, a couple from England and a Swedish/Norwegian couple and our party of 7.  We had a good time chatting with all of them and they laughed at the antics and silly things our kids did and said!

The view from the lake is so beautiful and calming as the water laps at the boat.

As you can see, the kids loved playing in the water!

Arriving at the island the gondola rower gives you 30 minutes to explore (not quite enough time, but oh well).  We took a moment to take some family photos.

There are only a few buildings on the island housing the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church, a souvenir shop and a cafe.  It is the most hilly island I have ever seen.  You have to climb about 100 steps to get up to the church/cafe/shop.  Maybe not that many, but it was a lot.

The view from the island does not disappoint.  I don't think much about Bled could be disappointing in the panorama department.  It is just that gorgeous!

Look at all those fish and how clear and green that water is!!

I'm so glad Kristi and Eli could come with us.  We had so much fun together!

We ate at a Slovenian Mexican restaurant for lunch.  It was pretty good!

Visited the Parish Church of St. Martin.

I love this photo collage Kristi put together.  Kristi did some research and found that this church was designed by Friedrich von Schmidt in 1905, who also did the Rathaus (city hall) and Votivkirche in Vienna.

We meandered along the lake taking in the sights.

Did a bit of window and souvenir shopping.  This shop felt as if we'd stepped into a quaint shop in my parent's town of Granbury, Texas!

The kremina rezinka, a dessert specific to the Park Hotel, had been recommended to us by some colleagues.  Yum!!

After our yummy dessert we made our way up to the Bled castle.

Love them!!

We decided to buy our souvenirs at the castle shop and had a nice little chat with the shop keeper.  A young, local guy who grew up in Bled.  He was a ski fanatic and his eyes lit up when he heard I was from Alaska.  Ha!!

That concluded our day.  Looking a little haggard!!

We decided to pick up some eats at the store for a simple dinner at the house.  The kids still got to bed late, but they slept in a bit too.

It was a long day, but we all had a great time!

Next up, Vintgar Gorge!