Slovenia: A Bit of Paradise

      So this is a bit late I know, but these last weeks have been hectic as I'm sure you can imagine.  The weekend before last I found a few friends to go with me to Slovenia.  The rest of this blog will consist of mostly pictures (you'll understand why in a minute).  We took the night train from Prague to Vienna and tried to sleep a bit before the sun came up and we caught a second train to Ljubljana.  The whole morning ride my eyes were glued to the window.  The mountains and cottages were so beautiful.  The entire landscape felt secluded and natural.  I wanted to get lost in the woods and never come out (don't worry I didn't give in to the desire).  We arrived in Ljubljana and I was shocked at all the green growth in the city.  Actually I'm not sure Ljubljana could be called a city, more like a town.  It's small and beautiful.  We checked into our jazz themed hostel and headed out to explore.  Despite our exhaustion, we climbed up to the castle and admired the flowers before grabbing some pizza and a couple drinks.

View from the Castle

      The next day was the main event.  We bought bus tickets to Bled and hopped on for a gorgeous ride.  The alps loomed above us and I couldn't keep the smile off my face.  I've never seen mountains that powerful and awe inspiring, and anyone who knows me knows I'm already in love with the Rockies.  We arrived in Bled and somehow my smile grew larger.  We rented bikes and started out with a ride around the lake.  We stopped at Tito's villa, where any sane person would be happy to live aside from the huge communist mural.  After a quick lunch, we rented a boat and rowed out to the island where we attempted to ring the Cathedral bell three times with one pull to supposedly make all our dreams come true.  After a gelato break we rowed back and hopped back on the bikes.

Ride Around the Lake

Rowing around the Island

Unreal

View of the Castle

      We agreed to bike the 2.5 miles to the Vintgar Gorge.  Despite the completely uphill trek, the gorge was well worth it.  The water was as aquamarine as at a water park.  I could have sworn the river bottom was painted to create the clear blue color.  We biked back and I somehow convinced the group to make the hike up to the castle for the most spectacular view of the day.  As we sat waiting for the bus back, we kept going over our favorite sights and adventures of the day.  It might have been my favorite day of the entire semester!

Ride to the Gorge

Vintgar Gorge

Gorgeous Water

View from the Castle

      The next day we woke up to see the handful of sights in Ljubljana.  After the cathedrals, buildings, squares, and one museum we found a pretty fancy fish place to enjoy a nice dinner to celebrate a great trip and a great semester.  We grabbed a margarita at the only Mexican restaurant in Slovenia (just a guess) to celebrate cinco de mayo and the waiter was confused why we were celebrating.

Exploring

Triple Bridge at Night

      Overall the trip was spectacular.  It gave us a mental break which was just what I needed before the last weeks of class.  For the entire day in Bled I couldn't stop imagining my family making the trip.  Renting bikes and rowing around an island are the exact kind of adventures my family loves.  I think it would be a blast to go back and make the same trip again with my fam.

      As I sat in the train on the way back, I was sad to leave such a lush and peaceful place.  Nothing seemed to matter in the quiet town of Ljubljana.  Regardless, I was also excited to get back to finish the semester and get home to my family.  It's hard not to miss them immensely while picturing them enjoying the adventures I went on.
      The last weeks have come so fast, and I fully intend to make the most of them.  I'll finish my finals for class, see the last few sights, buy my last few souvenirs, and leave Prague feeling like I didn't miss anything. :)