2024 Sept 23 Monday

Bled

We were watching the weather to ensure a sunny visit to nearby Bled, and decided Monday was our day. It is a 25-minute walk to the Ljubljana train station, a one-hour train ride, and then a 15-minute bus ride to the main town, but all very doable since we won’t have luggage (yea)! It was very unique and very worth it.

7:31 am to 7:39 pm. Distance 7.0 miles; steps 17,640. Weather was sunny and warm.

Click for Richard’s Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vKv2gGzk2oO.

Scenes from the train. Farmland with low-lying clouds.
Churches in every town, regardless of its size.
For quite a ways we followed the river. The green color was unusual.
Arrived at our first train station. Off for coffee!
Ok—after coffee it’s off to the bathroom. I went first and was stumped by the doors. Finally a gentleman came out of the door marked “Bla” and it was obvious (and funny) to me. I was reading too much into it at first.
Our bus to the main town of Bled.
On the way to the castle from the bus stop, we came across the Church of St. Martin that deserved a visit.
This beautiful church has the biggest chandelier and beautiful coloring.
An unusual last supper picture with a premonition above it.
Stained glass windows above the altar.
An unusual sight in the pictures at the back of the church. There were religious and secular illustrations of the Lord’s Prayer with phrases in four languages. This picture illustrates “Give us this day our daily bread” with both secular and Catholic references.
Off to climb to the castle. It’s on an amazing cliff above the lake.
The upper courtyard of the castle. There are great views, and it is the entrance to the museum explaining the castle’s long history.
The island in the lake houses the Church of Mary Assumption, an ancient pilgrimage spot. Nowadays it is a tourist sight and recreation stop for boaters and paddle boaters.
The crew boats were out in the morning. The Slovenian crew team won the Olympic gold medal in the 1980’s.
Paddle boaters.
The castle chapel is small.

The castle museum highlighted the history of the castle from traces of Ice Age residents 14,000 years ago to the first mention of Bled in written sources in 1004. Bled Island was a place of worship and pilgrimage site in pagan times.

Two Bled residents were also highlighted: Arnold Rikli and Janez Puhar.

Arnold Rikli was a Swiss who moved to Bled in the mid-1800s and founded the National Health Institute. He recognized the healing springs of the area and developed therapies that drew wealthy guests from all over Europe. As such, he earned the reputation as one of the pioneers of tourism in Bled.

Janez Puhar was a man of many talents. He studied for the priesthood and was posted near Bled, where he was dedicated to photography. He developed an original process for fixing a light image on glass, calling the invention svetlopis (lightograph). International visitors to Bled spread the word of his invention and he was invited to present it to the highest scientific circles.

A self portrait on glass by Janez Puhar.
The lower courtyard of the Bled castle. Now there is a self serve cafe providing drinks and snacks with the best view.
The lakefront promenade is a popular spot to people-watch.
Tourism is still strong in Bled.

Boats of one form or another can take visitors to Bled Island. Individuals can rent boats, or groups can be ferried to the island by rowers. Click below to see our rower hard at work.

There are many boats in action at any point. Here is a neighboring boat.
Bled Island’s biggest draw is the Church of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary. The ancient Slavic cult area was probably located here in the Early Middle Ages as graves were discovered under the church. The first brick built church was consecrated in 1142. In the 15th century it was rebuilt in the Gothic style. In 1509 it was damaged in an earthquake and was renovated in early Baroque style. It has most recently been renovated in the 17th century after another earthquake. The bell tower dates first from the 15th century but has been renovated several times.
This richly decorated gold carving dates to the mid 1700s.

One cannot visit the Bled Island church without making a wish and ringing the wishing bell. Click below.

Have bell tower, will climb. Richard climbed the 99 steps while I supervised from below.
Are there hang gliders everywhere?
For our ride back to the lake shore, we assumed the same seats and by now we had fast new friends: Helga and Sylvia from Millstatt, Austria, and Kelly and Jake from Ft. Collins, Colorado.
One last look back at the castle and the nearby church at its base.
Although it was early evening, we planned a dinner at Bled before reversing our trip to arrive back in Ljubljana. Next to us, we discovered that Stephanie and John from Carlsbad, California are visiting many of the same locations we have seen, but in a reverse order; (they started in Prague and will finish in Grindelwald). We shared tips and locations and made the dinner time speed by.
Back in Ljubljana Train Station, there are techniques they employ for luggage that are new to me, but don’t require waiting for an elevator to move luggage. To the side of the steps down, there is a simple narrow belt on which you place your luggage and guide it down. It’s simpler than carrying it down the stairs. No such luck for the trip back up the stairs—only an elevator or carrying the luggage will work.
This simple ramp serves bicyclists a way to guide their bicycle up the stairs.

6 Responses

  1. I love the bell ring!!!! It has been so awesome to see the fluctuations in the art style in the cathedrals and churches you’ve visited throughout the trip!!

  2. Now I’m really jealous! We tried several times to include Bled in our travel itineraries but weren’t able to make it work. From your pictures in seems more beautiful than I imagined it would be. Looks like a very popular spot. Doesn’t look like tourism has slacked off that much even at the end of summer. Also looked like you are having great weather.
    Dan

    1. Richard watched the weather and like Grindelwald, we knew when to go. It was a beautiful warm day. There were lots of tour groups and lots of people, but it was certainly doable. We had fun meeting people even though nobody does the trip like we do except 20-year-old backpackers. For us, just going without luggage was a luxury. Friends Karen and Rob recommended Bled and they were very right—it’s worth some trouble to get there.

  3. Slovenia’s BLED was atop our list of favorites…ones that included Dubrovnik, Moster, Montenegro, Venice, et al. To realize that it’s only been 3+ months since we were there (June 2024) well, it’s discombobulating. How can that be? –seems long ago! Time is weird. We enjoy the images. Glad you made it to BLED.

    1. We decided to visit Bled after talking with Karen. Since we had several days scheduled in Ljubljana, we knew we could afford the train time. It was well worth it. I have always loved Venice (not quite as much as Ravenna, however) but I can’t speak of your other sights. Time is indeed weird and I’m sure our memories of travel will fade quickly. That’s why we write and re-read the blog.