Unrelatedly, Lake Bled

Some days, things to write about pop into my head randomly. Other days, it's just crickets up there. This morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table, smoking some medicinal cheerios, watching the river run by and the sun rise, when Lake Bled appeared in my mind. Lake Bled is a very small lake in the Northwest corner of a very small but magical country in Europe called Slovenia. I suppose that is where we are headed today then, once I finish rambling.

It's a beautiful day. No complaints...okay, one. When/how am I going to figure out whether to type one space or two after a period? When texting on the phone I type one, and on the laptop I normally type two spaces before my next sentence. Which is correct? Help! I just need to go in a direction here, People. It's not like we're trying to decide on the ultimate fate of the Northern White Rhino (mostly because it is extinct, if I'm not mistaken).

If I were to make a list of my top ten favorite places on the planet, Lake Bled would surely be in the top three. I'm not sure if it's because of where I was in my life when I visited, or if it truly is as magical as I remember, but either way it will always hold a special place in my heart. We were living about six hours from Lake Bled by car, in Budapest Hungary. It wasn't terribly far, so we went fairly regularly, every six months or so. Our first trip was in July 2001.

We had been down on the coast of Croatia in a small town called Brela for about a week when we decided to head North. We didn't have a reservation anywhere, or a plan for that matter, which always makes for an interesting journey when you have two little boys, five and two, in the back seat saying, "are we there yet?". The drive from Split, just north of Brela, to Lake Bled is about six hours. Miraculously, we pulled into town and within 30 minutes, found an apartment for rent above a little house on the east side of the lake.

I remember my first glimpse of the Lake Bled, tucked into the Julian Alps, as we pulled into the small town, population 8,000. It was magical. Small, but inviting. As you drive down the narrow road towards the lake, there are shops and hotels and restaurants on either side.

There was an island in the middle, with a pilgrimage church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, and the Medieval Bled Castle that could be seen high on a cliff above the North shore of the lake. On a nice day, there were people everywhere, hiking, biking, and riding in horse-drawn carriages around the lake. Transportation to Bled island is provided via a small flat-bottomed wooden boat, not unlike a gondola, called a Pletna.

Bikes and boats and horses, oh my...the boys were entertained for days. And ice cream shops and swimming pools and playgrounds. It was a fantastic place for little kids to be little kids. And I remember our landlord, everyone for that matter, being so very kind to us. Similar to Hungarians, most of the young Slovenians spoke English, or at least enough to help us with the menu or directions. We enjoyed beautiful food, start to finish. Lots of meat and potatoes, not unlike the cuisine of neighboring Hungary.

I remember being so excited about being in 'Western' Europe. There was an Italian kids' clothing shop on the south side of the lake, and I gave that place a workout. It was like a Gap, but way fancier. Lol. And the items in the grocery store were just better, somehow. We didn't lack anything in our lives in Hungary, but it sure was exciting when we got to go somewhere else and shop.

Despite its breathtaking natural beauty, many travelers still don't have the central European nation of Slovenia on their radar screen. In an area less than a tenth the size of the United Kingdom you can find towering mountains, picture-perfect lakes, vast caves and elegant cities. We visited Bled seven or eight times during the course of our time in Hungary. Each time, while we had a different experience, we found the same hospitable people and gorgeous countryside. There are also lots of towns in the surrounding area worth visiting.