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June 29, 2024

In the morning we rode in a pletna to Bled Island. A pletna is a flat-bottomed wooden boat with a beautiful awning, handmade in Bled since the 1590’s. Bled Island is the only natural island in all of Slovenia.

 

There are 99 steps from the dock to the church at the top of the hill. According to tradition, a groom must carry the bride up the 99 steps in order to ensure a long and happy marriage. Stan and Lisa, members of our tour group, had read about that before coming. Unbeknownst to Lisa, Stan figured out a way to do that and had been working out in preparation to do it. He surprised Lisa and carried her to the top.

 

Karen and Rodney climbed to the top of the church’s bell tower and saw the inner workings of the clock mechanism and enjoyed more fabulous views of the town.

 

 

June 30, 2024

JUNE 30: The tour officially ended this morning. A few of us stayed an extra day before heading on. Tom and Nancy joined the three of us to go to Bled Castle. Rodney hiked up; the other four of us took a taxi to the parking lot (the climb from the parking lot was enough hike for us!). We were fortunate to get a table at the restaurant in the castle with a great view of all the places we’d been to and seen plus a nice breeze. Later we ate dinner in a courtyard cafe near our hotel.

After the pletna boat brought us back to Bled, a bunch of us hiked to the bottom of Straža ski slope, took the chairlift up, and then rode bobsled down.

 

We had lunch with Lisa and Stan at a nice outdoor cafe with a great view and a nice breeze. Supposedly this was the place that invented the famous Bled cream cake, so the five of us shared one. And then It was time for our farewell dinner.

This ended our wonderful 15 day tour around Central Europe!

Rick Steves Tours are the best--the best locations, the best guides, and the best fellow travelers! We'll be taking another one soon! 

 

 

And we loved Slovenia!!

 

 

We aren't home yet, though, one more day in Munich before heading home.