We woke up, ate breakfast, and tried to meet the shuttle to go to the mountains. What we didn't know is that there was only one shuttle out there that left at 8:30AM, so missed that ride! Our travel group went on a tour at 10 through the city of Bled. Bled is a small town that almost reminded me of Stillwater, MN- one main street and there was a recreation/outdoor equipment store on every corner. There is a huge lake with people ice skating/walking on and around it, and on the only island there is a small church from the 1700's. Snowcapped mountains are every way you turn, and there's also a castle high up on the only cliff near the town. In a lot of the shops we went into there were hocket teams, hocket jerseys, hockey ANYTHING- reminded me so much of home! The weather was in the 40s and there wasn't any snow on the ground, just way up on the mountains. Perfect weather for an outdoor tour!
The Gang
At one point we stood up on top of a ledge and took pictures, and we also went inside the castle where they had a museum of artifacts and even some crown jewels! Pretty sweet knowing that over 600 years of kings got to hang out where I was standing. Ther was also a skeleton of a Slovenian princess popping out of a dirt slab, and we could see the jewels she was buried with.
After leaving the inside of the castle, we went around the corner to where the castle's monk lived- he also was the only person that knew the secret recipe to the castle's famous wine and champaign! Traditionally back in medieval times, somehow bottles of wine and champaign were opened with a swift slice of a sword going up the bottles neck and nicking the cork off! So of course, we had to have some friends try it and we got to enjoy a glass of champaign with a monk in a castle. Who can say they've done that??
The monk with a few sliced off bottles (ours was the little one in the middle)
So we headed back to the main part of Bled and as we were walking along the lake, there were a lot of open water areas where the ducks and swans liked to hang out. Here's a picture of two swans enjoying their day!
We finished off our tour with stopping at the famous Bled Bakery where they have this cake that is almost as good as french silk pie. Nothing close to it, but it was really light and fluffy, with a crispy bottom and flaky top (powdered sugar as well). Caroline and I split a piece because they were HUGE! Here's my friend Maddie, me, and my other friend Kelcie posing with our cakes before they were eaten.
Even though the cake was nice, it wasn't very filling and since it was midafternoon and only eaten breakfast and cake, Caroline, Maddie, Kelcie and I found a big open area with a little sandwich shop and ate some food. Such a sunny day outside we sat and talked, looking over the lake and people watching. It's so easy to just sit and talk, as well as window shop at all the little boutiques. By the time we were done, it was dinner time! And went to a classic Slovenian restaurant. I ate goulosh (which is just beef stew and potatoes). Here is my friend Paige and I waiting for our (VERY) filling dinners. Yum!
After that we went to Pub Bled, a little bar at the end of town to finish off the night. What was really interesting to me is that there were unattended teens there: not your typical sight in a bar. So my friend Dan, John, and I went to go talk to them. Turns out they were 14-16 years old, and it was normal for them to come hang out at the bar late at night. No way would this ever be okay at home! So we took a photo with them, but another part of the Slovenian culture that shocked me big time.
Woke up Saturday morning very early to make sure we caught the bus to go skiing/snowboarding. There was a group of 18 people that went, all friends from Florence or Iowa State and was probably one of the best times I've ever had being up on a mountain. It was 50 degrees, sunny, and got to hang out with all my friends that are as big of goofballs as I am! In order to get up to the ski resort, we had to take a gondola 1200 feet up so we were on the snow-capped part of the mountain and could be at the base of all the chair lifts. Just that freaked me out, but it was definitely worth it! Here's a view from the gondola without any zoom in/out. Oh, and that blob in the middle-right is a lake bigger than lake Bled. Goes to show how high up we were!When we arrived at the top, it took a while to get gear (Some people forgot snowpants/hats/gloves), and we all had to get fitted for our snowboards/ski's. I went snowboarding, and surprisingly there were a lot of people that snowboarded, too. Thank goodness for that trip out to Colorado with my family, and little trips out to Afton Alps with Ricky or else I probably would have stuck to the bunny hills. Once we got to the midpoint cafe, we split off into an advanced group and a group that hadn't skied or snowboarded ever... I went with the first group. We did so many runs and only stopped 2 times to go to the bathroom/eat/drink. The chalet had "smurfs" working inside, and because it was so warm out I only needed my flannel and rain coat to keep me warm all day!
Here are all the girls that went!!
After conquering the middle part of the mountain, we decided to go to the highest point in the entire resort and finish off the only run left to do. To get to the top, you take a single person chair lift for about 20 minutes, going over huge bowls (dips in the mountains covered in snow), cliffs, and groves of trees. I almost peed my pants, but instead of doing that I took a lot of pictures!!!
Once we got to the top, I just about cried: it was the clearest day I could ask for, and saw (no joke) for HUNDREDS of miles. I'm being serious this time, it was that amazing. The sun was still out, and we still had a run to do. After sitting in awe for 15 minutes, we went down the mountain, and then did it two more times. Great way to end the day!
Paige, Jana, and I
Funny how snowboarding all day works up an appetite. We met up with the rest of our travel group and you will never guess where we went for dinner... so I will tell you: MEXICAN! Oh have I been missing out on eating that food. It was such a great place, called Pepper Chile's and it was actually very authentic for being in the middle of Slovenia.
We had a family style dinner, and I sat at the end of the table with caroline, Kelcie, Maddie, Liz, Abbey and Kate. Between the 7 of us, we went from seeing this platter of food:
to it being devoured in 20 minutes. 7 girls can eat a lot after a day up on a mountain!
After being stuffed, we ended up going to a local bar for 15 minutes, but thanks to us having a "food coma", I was ready for bed. It had been such a long day, and plus my roommate Jessie and I were planning on waking up at 6AM to see the sunrise. Slept for 8 hours still! I was pooped.
At first, we were just going to go across the lake and watch it, but since we slept so good, we climbed all the way back up to the castle to see it! Got another great workout in, saw the sun over the town of Bled, and made it back to have another great breakfast.
We watched the sunrise Sunday morning, and our group was leaving at 9AM to make a really fun and AWESOME pit stop: Venice Carnival. That will be in my next blog post. So to end this part of my blog, Slovenia was an awesome choice to get my snowboarding bug out of my system, and had a fabulous time with all of my friends! Geared up and ready for Venice... after a 3 hour nap on a bus. Much love, AF
Wow! I want to go. What a great weekend kiddo. Very fun stories. You should have given the monk a bottle of champagne and had him ski with you. That would have been humorous. Glad it looks like soooooo much fun. I hope you come home. Love ya, Dad
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