13 September ’04, Monday. You just can’t imagine the beautiful scenery as we travel from Salzburg, Austria on to Bled, Slovenia. All the pictures that we’ve seen of the Austrian Alps with the beautiful green grass of the Alpine meadows are all true….
It wasn’t long after leaving Salzburg that we came to our first tunnel. Now let me tell you, these people know how to build tunnels. They not only know how to build them, they have built them short and really long. We went through at least 10 before we got to the Slovenia border. One of them was close to 5 miles long. We also went over the highest pass I have ever driven on…over 7800 feet. That is about 3 times higher than Snoqualmie Pass….and “Bumble Bee” was a champ, she may not have been fast, but she had guts… We were very fortunate to have a bright and sunny day for this incredible day of driving. I opted for the “autobahn”, but there were many times that we looked down on the winding and twisting roadway below and wished we could be there. It went through all the little villages across the Alps. Each one, a picture postcard of it’s own merit. One other reason for going the “lower road” was the toll they charge on the “Autobahn”. We had to pay twice…$9.50 the 1st time and $5.50 the 2nd. That was pretty expensive, but the road, tunnels, and the long slow winding bridges were pretty nice…. As we finally made our way out of the high passes of the higher Alps, we turned right off the autobahn and into the little village of “Bled”. We are now at the edge of the Triglav National Park, and in the Julian Alps. The first thing that you see as you finish winding down the two lane roadway from the autobahn, is this magnificent lake. It is really hard to explain, except that it is the most crystal clear lake I have ever seen. And right out there in the middle is this wonderful island that has a picture perfect church on it. Next, looking down from high on the rock cliff above the lake is the Bled Castle. It made it’s appearance in the 12th century and continues to Wow every visitor to Bled. The village of Bled is small and fits tight to the southeast corner of the shoreline. The restaurants have the tables with their beautiful umbrellas situated so that you can enjoy all the lake has to offer while you sip your favorite afternoon drink. Our campground is on the far end of the lake, and when we arrived, we are taken back….we have found another that we will not forget. It is very nice to say the least… The first thing we did after pulling on the brake, was to go down to the lake and take the trail to town. It took us about 20 minutes to walk into town on this wonderful, picturesque trail. This was just an exploring type of walk, so after having a small glass of wine we continued around the lake and towards the campgrounds. Well you know how it is when you see someone taking a picture of their spouse… well, “Can I take the picture of the two of you???”. That’s how we met the Klein’s’ from Scottsdale. Peter, I never did ask you about “Wine Interests” from your personal card… We have met 2 more “Travelers”…those that really like to visit the world… Tomorrow….Bled
It wasn’t long after leaving Salzburg that we came to our first tunnel. Now let me tell you, these people know how to build tunnels. They not only know how to build them, they have built them short and really long. We went through at least 10 before we got to the Slovenia border. One of them was close to 5 miles long. We also went over the highest pass I have ever driven on…over 7800 feet. That is about 3 times higher than Snoqualmie Pass….and “Bumble Bee” was a champ, she may not have been fast, but she had guts… We were very fortunate to have a bright and sunny day for this incredible day of driving. I opted for the “autobahn”, but there were many times that we looked down on the winding and twisting roadway below and wished we could be there. It went through all the little villages across the Alps. Each one, a picture postcard of it’s own merit. One other reason for going the “lower road” was the toll they charge on the “Autobahn”. We had to pay twice…$9.50 the 1st time and $5.50 the 2nd. That was pretty expensive, but the road, tunnels, and the long slow winding bridges were pretty nice…. As we finally made our way out of the high passes of the higher Alps, we turned right off the autobahn and into the little village of “Bled”. We are now at the edge of the Triglav National Park, and in the Julian Alps. The first thing that you see as you finish winding down the two lane roadway from the autobahn, is this magnificent lake. It is really hard to explain, except that it is the most crystal clear lake I have ever seen. And right out there in the middle is this wonderful island that has a picture perfect church on it. Next, looking down from high on the rock cliff above the lake is the Bled Castle. It made it’s appearance in the 12th century and continues to Wow every visitor to Bled. The village of Bled is small and fits tight to the southeast corner of the shoreline. The restaurants have the tables with their beautiful umbrellas situated so that you can enjoy all the lake has to offer while you sip your favorite afternoon drink. Our campground is on the far end of the lake, and when we arrived, we are taken back….we have found another that we will not forget. It is very nice to say the least… The first thing we did after pulling on the brake, was to go down to the lake and take the trail to town. It took us about 20 minutes to walk into town on this wonderful, picturesque trail. This was just an exploring type of walk, so after having a small glass of wine we continued around the lake and towards the campgrounds. Well you know how it is when you see someone taking a picture of their spouse… well, “Can I take the picture of the two of you???”. That’s how we met the Klein’s’ from Scottsdale. Peter, I never did ask you about “Wine Interests” from your personal card… We have met 2 more “Travelers”…those that really like to visit the world… Tomorrow….Bled