After a rainy afternoon in Ljubjlana (pronounced “Lubiana”), where I caught a Serbian brass band in the main square reminiscent of Gogo Bordello, I took the bus 1 ½ hours north to the little town of Bled.Bled is the No. 1 tourist destination of Slovenia, but I have found it to be quiet and empty – it is still early in the season and quite cool (with rain off and on), but I can imagine the hordes that descend in the very warm months of July and August.
I am housed in one of the many villas from the 19th century that have been converted to hotels; mine has only 6 rooms. It is quite comfortable and big change from my hotels thus far. My back thanks me.
This afternoon was a 6 km walk around the lake, and climb to the castle on the hill, which contains another excellent museum detailing the history of Bled and the castle. The earliest artifacts of the area date to 3,500 – 3,800 BC, and the castle to 1011 AD. Wow. I guess all of this Old World history has so impressed me after the last year traipsing around the New World.
No comments:
Post a Comment