From sunshine to snow

Trip Start Sep 12, 2006
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Trip End Sep 08, 2008


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Thursday, February 8, 2007

I was a little pleased to see the rain had cleared the following morning, however the dark clouds hadn't moved on, leaving us with another overcast day. Given that both Chris and I had exhausted our funds, we opted for a day trip to the tourist town of Bled and further on to Bohinj instead of a trip south to some of Slovenia's reputedly magnificent caves. It was a public holiday in Slovenia, and Irena was quite happy to drive us the short distance to Bled. Despite being such a short journey, of just over an hour, we were actually traversing almost half of the tiny country.

Bled is a small town with an idyllic setting on a 2km long sub-alpine lake with a castle crag and small island with a church. On a clear day I'm sure the scenery would have been spectacular, however the cloudy skies, sludgy snow and overdevelopment seemed to spoil the atmosphere somewhat. Nonetheless, we were grateful that it wasn't raining like the previous day, and after a cappuccino and some more fantastic Slovenian cake we took the opportunity to wander around the lake for a while, where we were able to get a better view of Bled Island and the Church of the Assumption.

With a few hours of daylight remaining, we decided to continue a little further on to Bohinj. The journey took us past tiny villages through a magnificent valley, dotted with pines and covered in snow, culminating at the magnificent Lake Bohinj. Huge mountains rose on either side of the lake, and we were lucky enough to have the clouds part a little, giving us the tiniest glimpse of blue sky for the first time since we'd left Sarajevo. The scenery was really stunning, however I couldn't help but think it would be much better during the warmer months, when I could take advantage of the daylight and do some serious hiking.

Given two days of poor weather, and a serious lack of funds, Chris and I made the decision on the drive back to Ljubljana to do the long haul back to Opole the following day. It would involve a journey of 13 hours on four trains, passing through four countries, but it would give us a full weekend back home to relax and recuperate before starting school again on the Monday. While I enjoyed my time in Slovenia, I must admit it was a bit of a disappointment compared with the other countries I'd visited on my trip. Perhaps it was simply travel fatigue combined with poor weather that left me feeling that way. Nevertheless, I had seen enough of the tiny country to know that if I ever had the opportunity to return there would be plenty for me to see.
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