lake bled

It’s hard to put into words how excited Tyler and I were for this trip to Slovenia. Not only were we looking forward to our wedding, but since the moment we left Paris two summers ago, we had been dreaming about returning to Europe. Our trip to Curaçao last year helped with the constant wanderlust-ing, but by this summer we were yearning for somewhere new.

I always forget how bad I am at the actual travel part of traveling. I’ve been known to get sick on short car rides so it’s always a gamble for me. For whatever reason I decided to try flying to Slovenia sans motion sickness medicine–BAD IDEA! Our journey went a little something like this: minimal sleep due to excitement, three hour car ride to Chicago, four hours at O’Hare, eight hour flight to Frankfurt, three hour layover, delayed flight and finally a one hour flight to Ljubljana. Let me tell you, excitement can only get you so far when you feel this ill and exhausted. I’m pretty sure by the time we reached the airport in Slovenia I was muttering to myself “I’m never doing this again.” Thankfully we had booked a private transfer from the airport to Bled in advance and our driver couldn’t have been more helpful. He did us the favor of driving us around the lake before dropping us off at our apartment. It was a rather gloomy day, but Slovenia looks eerily beautiful covered in a blanket of fog–especially Lake Bled. The moment we first saw the lake was one of those chills-down-the-spine moments. Immediately, I knew we had made the right decision to get married in Bled and all of the miseries of traveling felt worth it.

Once we were finally checked into our accommodation, we showered and got some much needed rest. Upon waking up and feeling refreshed, we wandered through the streets of Bled, which were lined by houses that looked like they belonged in a Disney movie. Between the live music and the sound of the church bells ringing in the distance it was all I could do not to grin like a crazy person as we approached the lake. Swans and wooden pletna boats glided across the water; meanwhile the island, castle and surrounding mountains were all peaking through the clouds. It was a fairytale setting, completed by a double rainbow that stretched across the entire lake. I fear overusing the word “fairytale” to describe Lake Bled, but it’s the only adjective that does this place justice! I wish we had taken pictures because this was the only day during our stay that the weather was gloomy, but I won’t complain about the abundance of sunshine that followed.

Slovenia is such an interesting country in terms of location and history. For being such a small nation, it has an extremely interesting mix of cultural influences. This is largely due to the fact that it’s centrally located where Western Europe meets Eastern Europe. To the west of Slovenia lies Italy, to the north is Austria, to the east is Hungary, and southeast of Slovenia lie the Balkan countries. All of these influences are apparent throughout different parts of the country, but Slovenia manages to maintain a strong identity of its own. The lands of Slovenia have fallen in and out of the hands of different rulers throughout the years. After breaking away from Yugoslavia, Slovenia finally became an independent republic in 1991. In fact, the former Yugoslavian ruler Marshal Tito’s summer home remains at Lake Bled; Vila Bled, tucked away from the crowds, has since been converted into a hotel. We didn’t have the time to go inside, but next time right!? 😉

Slovenia immediately felt different than all of the other European countries we had visited. It felt foreign, but in the best way possible–never uncomfortable, never scary. I think it was the perfect country to visit before some of the Eastern European and Balkan countries on our future travel list. I plan to do a second post about Bled, detailing the food and where to stay, later on. For now I just wanted to share our first impression and some photos of the lake itself. Do you have Lake Bled on your travel list? It seems to be gaining popularity, but it was still far less touristy than many destinations in Europe.