Our first full day in Lake Bled, started with a hearty breakfast and a delightful conversation with Iza, who we learned had essentially taught herself to do EVERYTHING at the farm. She said she started with two goats and things grew from there. She served us two types of jam, 3 types of goat cheese and some cured meats, all that she had made herself. She explained that her father was in a car accident when she was young so she and her mother learned how to do all the “man” jobs. She was very excited to be going on a long weekend trip to Iceland with her husband in a few days but before that, she had lots of work to do, including some butchering. Still very much Mrs. Weasley, she made sure we had our full and had all we needed before leaving for the day.

Our destination was Lake Bled, but it was not warm and sunny as it had been the day before, with rain in the forecast for the afternoon. Some quick on-line research yielded the name and number for Marina, a local SUP Tour operator, who graciously offered to rent us her SUPs so we could paddle the lake, dock on the island and visit the church, rather than take the touristy Pletna boats. In 20 minutes, we met Marina at the Rowing Center, that we later discovered is THE Olympic training facility for the Slovenian team, Medal winners at practically every Olympic Games since 1960. She told us where to dock on the island and about the 99 steps, saying that grooms must carry their brides up the steps to the church in order to get married. I asked if she was married and if her husband did this. She laughed and said: “Of course, he did. He does it once a year, to stay strong!” Despite the cold and cloudy day we enjoyed paddling around the lake, visiting the island, and the church, climbing the 99 stairs and getting a gelato. The Chinese tourists on the island seemed very intrigued by us on the SUPS and I would not be surprised if we showed up on some of their home videos.

Our plan after SUPing was a late lunch at the Castle Bled. We had read that the tour of the Castle was not really worth the 11 euro admission and that with a restaurant reservation, the admission and parking fee were waived, plus only restaurant goers got to enjoy the best views and the food was reportedly really good. The problem, upon calling to reserve a table, is that they were fully booked that day and the following day for reservations.

Feeling welcome at Wine Bar Sova

So we went to Marina’s recommendation, the Wine Bar Sova, a cozy place with views of the lake where we had another spectacular meal. At Resje, the restaurant from the night before, we noticed that they garnished the plate with white foam, the resembled spit-up. On this menu, we learned there is a name for this spit-up “champagne foam” and it appears to be quite a popular garnish in these parts as it appeared on every dish, from the fish soup to the veal cheeks. And the dessert at this place was off the charts. A wood platter presented with all the deserts of the day: mango tiramisu, crème brulee, yogurt/peach cake with accents of berries, chocolate mousse and chocolate/white chocolate swirled straws. A jovial Slovenian waiter with a British accent shared stories of his days at an army base near Postojna when he got to eat at our favorite Pizzeria Minutka every Sunday with his barrack mates. Read our review of Wine bar Sova.

After a short regroup back at the Goat Farm to get out of the rain, we returned to Lake Bled for our 6pm walking tour with Niko. We learned all sorts of fascinating things from Niko, who told his stories with a good dose of humor. It was engaging that Mark took notes. He covered the history of the area and of Slovenia in general, touching on long rule of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the 10-day war after Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. He is the one who told us about the current Pletna boat rowers being direct descendant of first families who provided this service under Marie Therese. When he talked about the tradition of the groom carrying the bride up the 99 steps, I mentioned that Marina’s husband does this every year. He looked quite shocked to hear this and then asked who was this person. When I explained that she owned the SUP company, it all seemed to click into place, as he explained that Marina married into one of the Pletna families and that her husband is a rower, and is very strong. He also told us about the candle festival in July, when the Plenta boats unleash thousands of candles on the lake. He told of the Olympic rowers, the rows of buoys on the lake creating lanes for their unique training on a natural lake, and how this is the only place in the world where the entire length of the lane can be filmed in competition – from the perspective of the perfectly situated castle on the ridge above. It just added to the magic and allure of this incredible place.

The next day, we awoke to a clear day and the first snow visible on the peaks surrounding us. We knew from yesterday’s tour, that Triglav (translated as 3 heads) is visible from town when not in the clouds. We decided it was a perfect day for hikes that offered views and perspective. We parked by the lake and took our first hike to an overlook that reportedly offered a ideal vantage point of the lake and the island. This is where the iconic photos of Bled are taken from. Many of the peaks were still shrouded in clouds, but it was still breathtaking. Next, we walked along the lake towards the Castle, periodically calling the Castle Restaurant to see if there had been a cancellation so we could get a reservation. We ended up getting one for the following day at 2pm, but this was after we were planning to depart for Ljubljana We decided to hike up to the castle to see if we might gain entrance to the Castle with tomorrow’s reservation. No luck. Nevertheless, a nice day to be out hiking, so we went down a different way ending up at a beautiful church that played Gregorian chants. We stopped nearby at Pizzeria Rustica, to enjoy a couple very good wood-fired pizzas and buffalo mozzarella, arugula and tomato salad. We walked back along the lake during twilight, with other visitors and locals, all enjoying the fading afternoon sun and light, and the beauty of the lake. Our goal was to be back to the goat farm by 6pm to join Iza in the daily milking. To crown the day, we learned that two baby sheep had been born.

Friendly locals along the path to Vintgar Gorge

Our final day in Lake Bled was spent visiting our 3^rd river gorge in this country. It was the most crowded one we had been to and it was pleasant, but the most fun was had taking an uphill detour to visit the country church of St. Katarina – Emily’s patron saint. Crossing through fields to get back to the Gorge parking lot, we enjoyed the company of a very friendly mule, two horses and their foal. We ended up cancelling our reservation at the Castle Bled restaurant because our host in Ljubljana could not meet us any later than 2pm so we needed to set off, stopping along the way at the charming medieval town of Radovljica.

It is worth noting that while in Bled, we paid more dues to the travel gods: Mark lost his sunglasses in Lake Bled while scrambling in the dry bag to get out his camera while on the SUP, and Emily discovered her gold ring missing after milking the goats. Recalling that I lost a shirt when the wind blew it out the window in Piran, it’s clear our offerings are also to being made to the elements….Mark to Water, Emily to Earth and I to Air. I mentioned that wherever we go in Slovenia we notice shrines and/or offerings. This can be in the form of an arrangement of vegetables, flowers and candles at the end someone’s driveway, or near their front door, or on a plate with rocks and flowers on a windowsill. Nothing we have seen in Mexico or South America compares to what we have seen in Slovenia in this regard. It’s an everpresent reminder to give offerings as gratitude for our many blessings.