The Slovenian Alps, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj and Vintgar Gorge
The Slovenian Alps, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj and Vintgar Gorge
We arrived in the Slovenian Alps via an old country road, avoiding the highway and its speeding traffic.
Along the way we stopped in small towns and did a bit of walking around, saw an art exhibition, toured pedestrians-only village centers and stopped for lunch to try the local buckwheat ravioli with forest mushroom sauce.
The countryside all over central and north Slovenia is very green and lush.
It is dotted with large and beautiful houses that seem to be well built and able to withstand many cold and snowy winters.
The windowsills of almost all the houses are decorated with planters overflowing with bright, seasonal flowers.
The houses were surrounded with well-kept vegetable and flower gardens.
We have seen no signs of poverty in any of the countryside that we have driven through since we arrived in this country.
There have been no abandoned old cars in the fields, no trailer homes, no corrugated or ply poorly built houses.
The villages were spotlessly clean, orderly, well kept and very beautiful.
The roads are mostly very good and there are sidewalks and cycling or walking paths everywhere.
Every village has a picturesque church and every town has a medieval castle, with most converted into small or regional museums.
The weather turned rainy after we arrived in the Slovenian Alps.
We had booked a hotel room in Lake Bled, and upon our arrival, we walked around the lake area and up through the woods to the castle, perched high above the lake.
From the lake area, the castle seems to be impossibly high up, on top of its rocky foundations, forbidding and inaccessible.
But as we climbed the hills on the back side of the castle, we arrived at a lush forest which led us to the entrance to the beautiful castle.
Inside the castle there are two restaurants, gift shops and a small museum.
Lake Bled is very, very scenic, and it is a major tourist destination.
While we were there, a major rowing competition was taking place, and rowers from all over the world had come to compete.
Tourism in Lake Bled started in the early 1800's.
A Swiss doctor pioneered here a method of holistic healing which included resting and walks in beautiful nature, soaking in the the hot springs, nudity and naturalism, sunshine, clean air, vegetarian food and massages.
All of these are things that I fully believe contribute to wholesome living and healing.
It is easy to see why tourists love this place.
Nearby in Lake Bohinj, the water is clear and blue and there is much less bus tourism than in Lake Bled.
The whole area is filled with walking paths and you can walk all around Lake Bled on a well-paved path.
Only twenty minutes away from Lake Bled, there is the very scenic Vintgar Gorge.
We went there on a very rainy day, the same day that Hurricane Irma pounced on the state of Florida.
We walked the wooden pathways inside the gorge, along the banks of the roaring river.
Normally, the Gorge is very, very busy with tour buses, but the heavy rain must have kept some of the people away.
It is easy to see why everyone who travels to the Slovenian Alps, comes to walk this beautiful gorge.
The wooden walkways cross the fast moving river and over the waterfalls, crisscrossing between the dense forests.
At times, the boardwalk hugged the rocks and only one person at a time could walk over.
The rain was relentless and we walked with umbrellas and coats, but nothing at all like the recent flooding and storms that battered the USA.
As I walked in the rain I thought of my clients in Houston Texas, my friends in the Caribbeans and in Miami, and about my Mother in Florida, about all the damaged properties that the hurricanes have left in their wake, and the heavy rains in the Slovenian Alps seemed like just a gentle drizzle.
My heart is filled with care for those who struggle with the damages....
Wishing you all a quick recovery,
Tali
