We only are in town for the first night of the festival - so we wanted to make the most of it. All through the day, temporary vendor tents and beer gardens were developing. As we came down the castle hill, the streets were filling up. After a short break back at the hotel, we joined the fray ("fray" implies disorder or chaos - there was none).
For dinner, we chose a mixed grill plate (I think "fijakanar", but I could be missing or adding letters). It is hard to be certain as to what we ate - little sausages, hambuger pounded flat, pork and I think veal. The same marinade was on all the meats so there was a blending of flavors. The primary side was boiled then slightly grilled potatoes. There was a generous slice of fresh bell pepper and fresh chopped onion, sour cream for the potato, mustard and a mild chili sauce for the meat. The bell pepper continued a color trend I'd noticed here - basically that there are a lot of available colors. I have seen green, yellow, red and orange at home. This was a lime green/ yellow (okay, maybe it just hadn't ripened). Yesterday I had one that was deep purple. The grilled meats were fantastic (when are they not?) and the garnishes complimented them well.
The big treat at dinner was the company. As we were seeking a spot, an older couple gestured to open seats next to them. They were sharing the same plate we'd chosen. As we both finished up, they offered wrapped toothpicks and said something in Slovene, pointing at our empty plate. Seeing what must have been a blank look from both of us, the man said something that I was able to glean some German words from so we were able to chat a bit. They seemed surprised that we were American - at least that's how we interpreted the awkward pause. If I understood him, they'd visited the US and South America extensively, as well as Iceland, Greenland, Siberia and the North Pole (this is where I really think I may have misunderstood). They have 9 grandchildren - but I'm not sure if that comes from their 2 daughters, their 3 kids or their 5 children - and the man is 73 years old -" I think. It was a nice little visit.
We eventually retired to our hotel balcony for the laser (pronounced with a short 'a' by the PA) and fireworks show. The lasers were projected onto the stone below the castle - it was a cute 10 minute show whose theme seemed to be "Slovenia welcomes Europe to Bled". The fireworks followed - again a nicely short show. There was a neat vertical phenoma going on for us - we were probably 100 feet above the lake (hillside plus building) so the fireworks were almost at eye level for us - like being in the middle of the show. Mother Nature complimented both displays with a cool lightning storm backlighting the castle (a rainy night may have sent revelers home early).
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Jezero Bled (Lake Bled)
We had a jam packed day of fun today - rowing out to the Island and touring the church - there has been a site of worship there for at least 1200 years - but possibly more. We took a dip in the lake too - cold at first for a couple of Floridians, but one adjusts quickly. On the way back to shore, Lisa wanted to try out her rowing skills. How many summers in Michigan, with all of those lakes and I have to teach her to row?! In Slovenia! Did she just swim everywhere? (She picked it up pretty quickly)
We had a great pizza for lunch. Slovenia has historically had a lot of Italian influence and even has an Italian speaking minority near Trieste and a large Italian tourist influence so Italian cuisine is omnipresent.
In the late afternoon, we stormed the Castle Bled (and had fun). According to our book, there are 3 paths to take to the castle. The book describes them in the sort of general detail that makes one say "I'm sure we'll figure it out - there are probably a bunch of signs". There is one sign, with a vaguely upward pointing arrow that says "Grad 1" - it's on a rock 500 feet above the town, the up arrow is only helpful if placed near a stairwell. We found our way to the 3rd path - having dismissed what we later learned was the second as merely someone's driveway (it is both). If we'd missed 6 paths, the view at the top would have still been worth it.
The Castle is not content with just the view - there is a museum, a restaurant, a print shop (?) and a bar (of course). The museum is small, but chronicles the history of the area with artifacts from each age - spear points, arrow heads and Roman coins. There is a cool mix of old and new style exhibits - short videos on flat screens in the same room as an accurate model of an Ostrogoth female. There were several replicas of people - sometimes that is wierd but I really liked it here.
We came down the hill to enjoy The first night of the "Bled Days" festival.
We had a great pizza for lunch. Slovenia has historically had a lot of Italian influence and even has an Italian speaking minority near Trieste and a large Italian tourist influence so Italian cuisine is omnipresent.
In the late afternoon, we stormed the Castle Bled (and had fun). According to our book, there are 3 paths to take to the castle. The book describes them in the sort of general detail that makes one say "I'm sure we'll figure it out - there are probably a bunch of signs". There is one sign, with a vaguely upward pointing arrow that says "Grad 1" - it's on a rock 500 feet above the town, the up arrow is only helpful if placed near a stairwell. We found our way to the 3rd path - having dismissed what we later learned was the second as merely someone's driveway (it is both). If we'd missed 6 paths, the view at the top would have still been worth it.
The Castle is not content with just the view - there is a museum, a restaurant, a print shop (?) and a bar (of course). The museum is small, but chronicles the history of the area with artifacts from each age - spear points, arrow heads and Roman coins. There is a cool mix of old and new style exhibits - short videos on flat screens in the same room as an accurate model of an Ostrogoth female. There were several replicas of people - sometimes that is wierd but I really liked it here.
We came down the hill to enjoy The first night of the "Bled Days" festival.
View of Grad Bled
This is the castle (grad) from our hotel balcony.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28894693@N00/3752171722/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28894693@N00/3752171722/
Slovenia
The natural landscape here is indistinguishable from Austria - beautiful alpine scenery. The human landscape is fairly similar, but with the occasional big communist bloc apartment building, as we saw in Jesenice - our first stop. New construction is much more appropriate to the rising Euro star that is Slovenia. After an hour (at a pub) in Jesenice, we took a short train to our destination of Bled.
Bled names the town, the lake, the island in the lake, and the medieval castle. The train station deposits you on a hillside high above the east side of the lake. The town is on the opposite corner. About 1 minute into our walk (2 km) to town, we knew that 1 day would not be enough here - it is absolutely beautiful.
We managed a hotel room overlooking the lake (thank you economic slowdown) and will have a great view of Friday night's fireworks display. Our second night corresponds to "Bled Days" - the local festival (dumb luck)
So I'm enjoying a view of the castle light up at night and a Slovene band playing traditional music in a courtyard below. Pretty nice.
Bled names the town, the lake, the island in the lake, and the medieval castle. The train station deposits you on a hillside high above the east side of the lake. The town is on the opposite corner. About 1 minute into our walk (2 km) to town, we knew that 1 day would not be enough here - it is absolutely beautiful.
We managed a hotel room overlooking the lake (thank you economic slowdown) and will have a great view of Friday night's fireworks display. Our second night corresponds to "Bled Days" - the local festival (dumb luck)
So I'm enjoying a view of the castle light up at night and a Slovene band playing traditional music in a courtyard below. Pretty nice.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
OBB wishes you "Gute Reise"
I think it is unfair to any nation you visit before or after Austria - compared to the wealth, order and cleanliness there, nothing can match. When we changed from a German train to an Austrian - we noticed. Today we switched from an Austrian to a Slovene train - we noticed. Nothing wrong with the Slovene train - it is what I was expecting from my past experience in 2nd class train tickets - just not the same as the OBB (Osterreiches Bahn Bsomething- the Austrian train authority)
schones Klagenfurt
We arrived Wednesday in the Southern Austrian city of Klagenfurt. Klagenfurt is the city closest to the Wortersee - Austria's largest lake and a summer sports playground.
Klagenfurt is a beautiful place - like all the postcards I've ever seen of Austria (except for the temperature - it was hot). A nice bonus of leaving the beaten tourist path is that people are willing to let me speak my broken German - big city folk switch immediately to English.
Klagenfurt is a beautiful place - like all the postcards I've ever seen of Austria (except for the temperature - it was hot). A nice bonus of leaving the beaten tourist path is that people are willing to let me speak my broken German - big city folk switch immediately to English.
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