Lake Bled, Slovenia

The first port of call on our Adriatic cruise was Koper, Slovenia. We had a handful options for this port...a) we could spend the day exploring Koper on our own, b) we could book a tour and head to Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital city, or c) we could join a tour to Lake Bled (with a post-lake stop in Ljubljana). Naturally, we chose the last option. Why not kill two birds with one stone!

Early that morning we hopped a bus and made the 1.5 hour journey from the port in Koper to Lake Bled in the northern part of Slovenia. When we arrived, we dropped a handful of our touring group at the cliff-side castle and then we continued on to the lake bed where we could wander around the water and enjoy lunch overlooking the lake. To be honest, Slovenia was never a destination on my travel bucket list, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved our morning at Lake Bled! The scenery was gorgeous...big, beautiful blue lake surrounded by forests and snow-topped mountains towering in the background. And that little island just big enough to hold a church? Like something straight out of a postcard. The pletna boats floating back and forth to the island were so tempting to ride, but it was so chilly that morning. No water sports for us. When we first arrived, clouds were overhead, but as the morning rolled into afternoon, the sun came out and shown new light over the whole lake. I swear the blues in these photos don't do the lake justice. It was an insanely beautiful landscape to witness.

During our brief lunch break, we found a nice restaurant right on the lake where the original Bled Cream Cake (Blejska Kremna Rezina) was being served in giant portions right and left. I'm pretty sure every table in that restaurant had a slice of cream cake on it. D and I split a piece (because it was only Day 1 & we had 13 more days of cruise food to enjoy). Not too shabby! It reminded me of a deconstructed creme puff or vanilla custard-filled pastry...not too sweet, but rich enough to tame a sweet tooth. I'm always up for trying new foods, especially where desserts are concerned! It was nice to be able to eat a local treat that Slovenes come from all over the country to enjoy.

We only spent 3-ish hours exploring the lake before we had to hop back on the bus to head to our next Slovenian destination...Ljubljana! More to come!