Bled, Slovenia.

Wow! That's the first thing that came out of my mouth when I arrived in Bled. It is stunningly beautiful, and in mid December, there are few tourists, so the views are unobstructed! The mountains were showing a bit of accumulation of snow on the peaks, and in the valley there was some old snow, but not much. The lake was almost dead calm and provided near perfect reflections. I found my very comfortable hostel within a few hundred meters of the bus stop and following the advice of the hostel host I set off for a walk around the lake before early darkness would become an issue. It was great to breathe in the fresh mountain air after so many weeks of cities and almost constant exposure to second hand cigarette smoke!

My host also advised me where to get a very good meal of typical Slovenian food, where the locals eat, and exactly how to order it. I followed her advice again, and had a fantastic mid-day meal of some local sausage served with red cabbage and potatoes, complete with a super tasty small desert all for about 7 Euros. It is nice to eat out every once in a while, but only if you can find local food being served. Of course, anywhere in Europe one can settle for pizza. Please... no pizza! I have steadfastly refused to settle for Euro fast food, even if it is better than NA fast food. Burek and pizza are available everywhere, and for some of the young travellers they comprise their entire diet, day after day, week after week, month after month. Well, it's a cheap way to go, if you don't mind unbalanced meals and endlessly monotonous food. Raw veggies (salad, for example) are not such a common part of the diet in these parts, so grocery shopping becomes essential if you want to get some minerals and vitamins mixed in with all the carbohydrates, and it's usually cheaper, but not always.

A local "must do" is to hike the Vintgar Gorge. This is Bled's version of Johnson's Canyon. At least that's how they see it. It's a pretty and easy hike through a river ravine, with some really poor signage, at both ends. It had snowed the night before I undertook this venture, so there was some deep snow to trudge through, but the board walk and trail were in fine enough shape for it to be completely safe. It was a pleasant walk beside a small river, with a few small waterfalls. Being from Canada, and having spent a lot of time hiking in the Rocky Mountains, I have to say that I wasn't all that impressed! (Take the Robson River and Emperor Falls, for example - now THAT'S impressive!)

There is also a castle up high on a hill overlooking the town and Lake Bled, which is another good outing on foot. It has some small museums in it, including an ancient printing press similar to the one used by Luther. Really old!

A few days of hiking and relaxing in and around Bled was a fine way to get out of cities, without having the essentials for a full on mountain experience - hiking boots, gaiters, down clothing, waterproof outerwear, tent, sleeping bag, stove, et cetera, et cetera. Kinda like being a tourist! I even went to bee-keeping museum in the nearby town of Radovljica. That was quite weird actually! The town was a good size at about 6000 residence, but almost completely dead! That is to say there were very few people out and about, even though it was the Saturday before Christmas. There is beautifully restored old town with gorgeous ancient buildings from the middle ages. The museum was closed when I arrived, but did open an hour or so later, so I came back to have a look. Probably I was the only visitor that week. Maybe all month. So then, why would they bother turning on the heat? It was easily as cold inside as it was outside, except that the sun wasn't shining inside. Slovenians are very proud of their bee-keeping and honey production industry which is old and traditional.

After 4 days in Bled it was time to head back to Ljubljana where I was going to catch a train to Vienna.