Not a Travel Blog: Slovenia

One morning we woke up early. lol right?

We did though, and we met our friends at the gas station on the Autostrada where Lacey promptly delivered a hot beverage and 6 croissants. This is the life right? #truefriends

Then we drove to Slovenia.

I bet Slovenia wasn't even on your radar right? Mine either. However, my friend has Slovenia pride and so we went to check it out. I've been wanting to see Fall in all it's glory and I think this was the place to go. We headed to Lake Bled first. 

This is our walk to the lake after parking. 

That's the castle in the distance

We rented a couple of canoes to drive out to the island in the lake. Here is some info on canoe places if you are wanting to go. There are also big wooden ones for hire in case you don't want to make your man, your kids, or yourself do it. 

We climbed to the top of the island where there's a church and gelato specific to Lake Bled and a bell you have to ring if you want your wishes to come true. Then you have to climb to the top of the clock tower if you want to be cool or if you don't want Lacey to judge you. J/k. 

The story of the bell. 

Once upon a time there lived a young widow in the castle of Bled. Her husband was killed by robbers and his body was thrown into the lake. She was so inconsolable that she gathered all her gold and silver and cast a bell for the chapel on the island, in memory to her husband. But the bell didn’t arrive there. The bell, the boat and boatmen sank during a terrible storm. The desperate widow sold all her property after this accident. She offered the proceeds for the construction of a new church on the island. She left Bled and lived the rest of her life in Rome as a nun. After her death the Pope had heard of her misfortune and of her good deeds during her life as a nun, so in memory to her he decide to make a new bell. He said that anyone that rings the bell three times and believes in God, his or her wish would come true. Even today sometimes, on a dark night you can hear the sunken bell ringing from the depths of the lake.

This guy did it with a baby on his back so... he wins. 

The castle: 

View from the top. Do you see the island out there?

"Cream cakes, known to Bled for decades, are in fact the symbol of Bled. Although you can buy them elsewhere, those from Bled are simply the best. Ištvan Lukačevič, the former manager of the Hotel Park patisserie, tested recipes for many years before he finally succeeded. His cream cakes, which are prepared at this patisserie and sold in the café opposite the hotel, are famous." Read more here.  And I will say, it was amazing! I mean, SO good. 

So if rowing a boat, climbing stairs to get to the island, and then climbing more stairs to get to the clock tower, and then climbing more things to get to the castle... if that all wasn't enough, Lacey and Dan took us to another place to hike some more. I will say this, it wasn't that difficult of a hike. We walked through the prettiest part of this gorge and then turned around and went to the city. 

I love how you can see the reflection of the orange trees in the water. Those are basically all my favorite colors in one picture

I've never seen prettier water, if there is such a thing 

Tired! And cute

Ljubljana:

We happened to be at the right place at the right time! The Volkswagen Ljubljana Marathon was being held the day we were there as well as the next day. This pic was taken on our way to eat the best Mexican food I've had in a long long long time. I mean, there were spicy things. And they made the guacamole at our table. There were no peas in my chimichanga. The mole was delicious. I was totally happy. I want to go back there. 

This is DJ. He loves guacamole. His mom and dad had to buy him his own bowl which he promptly ate in its entirety. Then he ate his mom and grandma's guacamole from their plate.

The pink church, actually called the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation

A service was just getting over and the music that was playing was beautiful and loud and I wanted to capture it. I tried. and I got the last 20ish seconds.  I love organ music in gorgeous churches. 

I won't lie, this may have been my favorite part of the day. I have an addiction okay? 

It's an entire floor of a bookstore dedicated to books in English. I was in heaven and I took way too long in there. Sorry friends! 

Holy Door as designated by Pope Francis

 So, in researching the holy door, I discovered that this year is a holy year which (correct me if I'm wrong Catholic friends) happens every 25 years or so. This year is the Jubilee of Mercy and instead of having to make a pilgrimage to Rome, Pope Francis broke with tradition and said that the bishops could designate their own Holy Doors in diocese throughout the world. The one pictured is the one for the area we were in. Pope Francis said "The Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope." All of this led me on a journey to discover that we will actually be in Rome for the closing of the door and I requested tickets! I hope we get to go. :-) 

Also, I hope you come visit.