Amazing Lake Bled and Ljubljana from Trieste cruise port
Trieste
We docked in Trieste today. It lies in Italy, close to its border with Slovenia. We decided on an excursion to Lake Bled and Ljubljana in Slovenia from Trieste as we had never been there. The ship stays in port until late tonight so we planned to have dinner in Trieste when we come back.
Lake Bled
After our pick up at the port, we set off into Slovenia. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. Slovenia is one of the most mountainous and forested countries in Europe, it is absolutely stunning. As far as we drove we could see forests and mountains dotted with small bell towers and castles. Our first stop was at Lake Bled.
The town Bled is a Slovenian resort town on the foothills of the Julian Alps, set along the stunning, glacial Lake Bled. On a cliff overlooking the lake, is the 11th-century Bled Castle and at the centre of the lake, is a small island which houses the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria. The lake is surrounded by a park with small footpaths and lovely hotels. It looks like a nice place for a weekend breakaway in central Europe, to have a quiet, relaxing time. We took a walk along the lake and stopped to taste a slice of the famous Bled cream cake. Roland tried Union beer with it, and I had a nice cappuccino. It was delicious.
Ljubljana
After our stop at Lake Bled, we continued to Slovenia’s charming capital city, Ljubljana. We headed to the city’s old town, which is surrounded by the Ljubljanica River. We walked through green parks and passed many Baroque-style buildings. We were there on a Sunday, so we had to imagine what the streets would look like when the shops and restaurants were open – most of them were unfortunately closed when we were there. We reached the centre of the old town, Prešeren Square, flanked by many historical buildings and of course the Triple Bridge, the Tromostovje.
The Triple Bridge comprises three bridges spanning the Ljubljanica River and it connects the historical medieval town with Prešeren Square. Dating back to the 13th century, it is the oldest bridge in Ljubljana. We had some free time so we opted to visit Ljubljana Castle. There is a small cable car to take you up the, rather steep, hill. We decided to walk up, to walk off some of the excess calories from all the ship food. 😅
The castle complex hosts many buildings including a jail, art exhibition centre, chapel, restaurant and much more. It also has beautiful gardens to explore if you have more time. But we had to head back to meet our group. On the way back we had a quick taste of Štruklji before we headed back to our coach. Delicious!
A bit of drama waited when we reached the bus, two people from another (ship) excursion group joined us on our bus – they got lost somehow from their group – and two people of our group went missing! Plus two and minus two! 😅 Luckily our guide found our tour’s two lost souls and we were on our way back to Trieste.
Back in Trieste, we searched for a place to eat before going back onto the ship for a good night’s sleep after doing more than 20k steps for the day! 🚶➡️🚶♀️➡️
All in all, we had a long, but good day. Before today, I had known very little about Slovenia to be honest. I knew of Slovenian Tadez Pogazar, previous Tour de France winner🚴 but not much more. Thanks to travelling, I now know a little bit more about this beautiful country ❤️
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