Our hotel at Lake Bled had something I had never seen on a breakfast buffet:  honey straight from the comb.  It was delicious with cheese and their freshly-baked croissants.  Between the wonderful assortment of food and fairy tale view of Bled Castle, it was a pleasant and relaxing way to start the day!

We began our morning tour (14 passengers in a deluxe 45-passenger coach!) with a beautiful drive through the Julian Alps to Vogel Ski Resort where we took a breathtaking cable car ride up to the top at 4,000 feet.  The views were spectacular!

Skiing is Slovenia’s national winter sport, and they are dedicated to it, no matter what it takes to get to the slopes.  It is typical for Slovenians to spend a total of 14 hours (round-trip drive and the wait time to get on the cable car and ski lift) just to be able to ski for 36 minutes down from the top of Vogel!

Our next stop was for a walk through a tiny village where the homes were adorned with overflowing baskets of flowers and the stream was incredibly clear and colorful.  It was the most beautiful little stream we had ever seen!

The town of Ribcev Laz located on the crystal-clear glacial Lake Bohinj was another picturesque stop we made where we were mesmerized by the clarity and color of the water.  Our free time at Slovenia’s largest lake provided an opportunity to take in the views of the limestone mountains and enjoy doing some photography.

 

Throughout the morning tour, I came to understand why those who had been to Slovenia were so emphatic in their recommendations to visit this small gem of a country.

When we returned to Lake Bled, we made our way around to the other side of the lake from our hotel to visit medieval Bled Castle that dates back to 1011.  Fortunately, it was a sunny day, and we were able to take in the gorgeous views of the lake, including the church on Bled Island and our hotel across the way.

Although most of our group chose to return to the hotel afterwards via our private motor coach, Bruce and I opted to walk down and take in the views around the lake.  We rewarded ourselves with a piece of delicious Bled cream cake at the Park Hotel.  Created by their chef in 1953, it is so popular now that they make 500,000 of the cakes each year!  Considering that every single person dining on the patio around us had a piece of cream cake in front of them, I had no doubt that statistic was accurate!

Between our piece of cake followed by a gelato at a stand down the street, we made a lunch of it.  Nutritious?  No.  Delicious?  Absolutely!

Dining alfresco at a local restaurant that evening, I was curious to see if the grilled squid would be as good as the night before at the hotel, and I was not disappointed!