Adventures of a Wandering Thirtysomething

As we pulled into town, I was determined to be as positive as I could be despite the conditions. Back in 2010, when we planned our month-long trek through Europe, both Matt and I had each had to cut a place we really wanted to go but just couldn’t squeeze in due to time and distance. Mine was Lake Bled, Slovenia. Given that I had wanted to come here three years ago, never thinking I would get the chance again, I insisted that we would make the best of it. Weather.com could shove it with its forecast of heavy rain and cold temperatures during our entire visit – we were going to enjoy Lake Bled, dang it.

We dropped our bags and bundled up for a hike around the lake. As we headed out in the damp cold, a warm feeling enveloped me as memories of late fall walks in Seattle came flooding back. Despite moving away three years ago from that cold and rainy climate, somehow it gave me comfort in the same conditions some 7,000 miles away from home. We went to bed rather cold, but happy, and prayed we might get a brief break in the weather to see Lake Bled in all its natural beauty.

When I awoke early the next morning, it looked like God was answering our prayers. I shook Matt awake and we dashed out of the room to hit the trail and snap some photos before our prayers ran out. We got some shots along the lake, then headed up to Bled Castle just as its doors were opening so we could get more photos. The blue skies over the lake and the sun hitting the Julian Alps were absolutely perfect. Nevermind that it was only 45 degrees – we were thrilled!

After the castle photos and a quick tour of the grounds, we headed to Vintgar Gorge. The river was running high and fast following all the rain, but as the clouds continued to burn off and the sun came through, we were treated to an amazing two mile hike along the gorge’s boardwalk that zigzags across the river and its many waterfalls.

Stunned that the sun was still out and actually warming everything up to a balmy 60 degrees, we grabbed a quick bite for lunch on the lakeside patio of a restaurant in town and then caught a ride on a pletna boat out to the center of the lake for a quick hike around its famous island and chapel. As we headed back in to town on the boat, the clouds began rolling back in over the peaks of the mountains and the winds picked up. We made it back to our room just before the rain kicked in again.

It may have been the single luckiest day we’ve ever experienced in our travels. Bled was just as beautiful as I had imagined it would be more than three years ago when I first learned about it. I simply love it here.

Now we head on to our last stop, Ljubljana, for a full day of sightseeing before we get back to reality in Nashville.