We arrived in Koper early in the morning. We had a private tour to Ljubljana and Lake Bled arranged with some fellow cruisers.
We ordered room service breakfast for 6.30am with the plan to meet our group of 8 at 7.45am.
All went to plan and our guide, Adrianna was there to meet us. We went firstly to the Bled Castle which took about 1.15 hours on the motorway and was only 15 minutes from the Austrian border. The castle overlooked the lake with a church on an island in the middle. Apparently the church has a lot of stairs from the water and the tradition is if you get married on the island the groom has to carry his bride up all the stairs to the church!! A true act of love....
After exploring the castle we headed to the lake to sample the traditional cake of Slovenia which just happened to be a custard slice... Yes my fav!! It was a contest as to who was going to eat the cake first me on the bees!!!! They certainly were hovering causing all sorts of hysteria.
We then headed back down the highway to Ljubljana, the political and cultural capital of Slovenia which features a mix of Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture.
Ljubljana is in the middle of Slovenia and is basically 1 hour away from Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia and has a vibrant population including over 60,000 students.
After a walk through the town which traffic is banned from we headed back to Koper but not before trying some of the freshly caught calamari from the local produce market. Sadly since joining the EU most of their produce is brought in and not grown locally. Our guide said that a lot of costs have increased 300% since joining the EU.
After arriving back at Koper where the Dawn was waiting, Adrianna took us for a quick walk though the walled town and back to the ship along the waterfront. A lovely little town but not enough to occupy you for a full day. Back on board 5 minutes before curfew so a good day all round. We set sail now for Split in Croatia.
An aerial view of the castle taken from a photo
A view of Lake Bled and the church on the island from a window in the castle.
A view from a window at the back of the castle.
These wooden boats are very old and passed down through the family from generation to generation. There are no motor boats allowed on Lake Bled.
Ljubljana
There are two guys here... Very clever stunt. Lots of people taking photos but not much money being left.
Traditional cake for important occasions like weddings and funerals... Walnut and pastry.
Beautiful fresh produce at the market
Koper
The welcome back on board band having a break.
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