The Wandering Chocoholic

Since arriving in Europe, I’ve been almost exclusively in big cities. They’ve been full of history and culture, and have all been amazing, but it’s great being here in the beautiful lakefront town of Bled to relax in scenic surroundings for a couple of days.

I arrived in Slovenia on Thursday, and checked into my hostel in Ljubljana. I didn’t actually get to see much of the city, since I got there late afternoon and left yesterday morning, but I’m going back there tomorrow so I can sightsee then. Slovenia is a very quaint country that, despite having been a part of the former Yugoslavia, actually has more in common with Austria and Italy. There are mountains, lakes, chalets and pizza everywhere.

Thursday night, there was a giant festival in Ljubljana with a free concert in the park and I think every young person in Slovenia was out partying. I also watched the soccer match where Australia draw Croatia to win a spot in the next round, and was glad to have left Zagreb before that happened, since it was a national holiday in Croatia on Thursday and everyone was out on the streets drinking all day for the lead-up to the game. I have no way of knowing, but I imagine the scene in Zagreb wasn’t pretty after that match.

Yesterday I arrived in Bled. It was absolutely pissing rain, but at least the weather cooled off a bit. I hiked up to the thousand-year-old castle for a look around. The view from the top over the lake is meant to be fantastic, but my photos are pretty hazy and cloudy. There’s also a small museum in the castle that has coins, furniture and even a skeleton from hundreds of years ago. After the castle hike, I walked down to the lake and did the two-hour walking path right around it (it’s not a very big lake). There was an international rowing competition going on, so I watched a bit of it. Hard to tell what was going on cause the commentary was all in Slovene, but it’s all good.

This morning, I caught a bus to the nearby lake town of Bohinj, where I ran off a mountain with a Slovenian strapped to my back. Yep, I felt I just had to cap off this trip with one last adventure activity, and paragliding over a gorgeous pristine mountain lake fit the bill. It was absolutely incredible! It’s really the only adventure activity I’ve done since New Zealand, and now the trip feels like it’s come full circle (even though technically I won’t complete the circle until next week when I arrive home). I arrived back in Bled this afternoon and went for a swim in the lake before heading out for dinner with my dormmates.

Tomorrow back to Ljubljana. More soon, including photos.