Lake Bled - Closed!

On our way from Italy to Germany (via Croatia to pick up our rental car that we will have for a month), we decided to make a couple night stop in Lake Bled, Slovenia.  Our knowledge of Slovenia was next to nothing, so we figured we could learn a little, enjoy some incredibly beautiful cities and towns, and take part in some of the adventures that the northern Slovenian area has to offer.  We got 2 for 3.

On the drive, we made a quick stop in the capital, Ljubljana where we went to a restored castle on the hilltop that had a great museum and a quick funicular down the mountain. The museum was a good choice for us, since it taught us about the more recent history of Slovenia - which isn't much, but a good example of post-Communism and the breaking up of countries to become independent from the Eastern Bloc.  Even the Slovenian Tourism's website says "we don't have a majestic history like other European nations" so they rely more on pre-historic exhibits that focused on Slovenia's diverse landscapes.

view of Ljubljana from the castle

taking the funicular from the castle

streets of Ljubljana

Funny enough, we clearly aren't the only ones who don't know much about Slovenia (in all honesty, I'm not sure I knew it was a country pre-planning), as our currency converter that comes on our iPhones  gave us the conversion rate of $1=172 Slovenia Tolar. When we went to the museum, we asked if it was ok to pay in Euro, since we hadn't found an ATM that doled out Tolar.  The (young) guide somewhat patiently explained that they have been on the Euro since 2007, and he doesn't even remember the Tolar! Oops - probably should let Apple know about that.

As we pulled into Lake Bled, we were excited for the days ahead - the town of Bled sits on top of a beautiful lake that has a tiny island (Slovenia's only island) in the middle of it, with snow-covered mountains in the distance from almost any angle, and a perfect castle  on the hill looking over the lake.

Our first morning, we were up early, and walked up to the castle, which happened to be on the hill over our apartment.  The kids liked the printing press exhibit, where they saw what the very first printing presses were like (one of the first printing presses translated the Bible into Slovenian, hence the exhibit), and then we moved on to the museum part of the castle, where we learned a little about the history of the region and the castle itself, but again - lots of focus on pre-human history.

After that, we struggled to find pretty much anything to do in Lake Bled - there were a couple of (overpriced) restaurants that had opened already, but everything else was closed - until April 1 (we were there the last week of March!).  Boating across the river to the castle in the lake? Closed for "weather" (um, it wasn't raining….). Adventure course/trampoline/activity center - closed until three days later. Renting a bike to go around the lake? Nope, not open either. We couldn't even go hiking in the nearby parks, as the ice storms this past winter had caused so much damage that all the trails were blocked off!  It was also cold, and our place was *really* small (and we've stayed in some tight spaces), so we packed it in, and took off for Munich a day early.

We all agreed, however - Lake Bled would be a perfect family destination in the summer, and we highly encourage people to visit AFTER April 1.  Stunning, perfect-looking European town - but totally a bust in the off-season!!

First morning - before we realized it was all closed!!