Lake Bled, Slovenia

Slovenia is almost a land-locked nation. It is surrounded by five nations - Hungary in the northeast, Austria in the north, Italy in the west and Croatia in the south-southeast. Its only access to the sea is through a tiny window of land at the southwest corner of the country. From the Gulf of Trieste, it can access to the Adriatic Sea and beyond.

Even almost land-locked, Slovenia is  bestowed with one single island. Surprisingly, this island is  not found outside the tiny strip of coastline at the southwest. This tiny tear-shaped island is found in the heart of Lake Bled at the Julian Alps in the country's northwest.

For the visitors, the only mean to the tiny island is by the pletna boats. This traditional boat has a long history the goes back to the 12th century. In those days, poor farmers staying at the south coast of the lake were asked by the local authority to bring pilgrims to the church on the island in lieu of paying local tax. Later on, the boatmen were granted "servatute right". This right was only granted to 20 families to transport people to the island. From then on, the right was passed down from one generation to the next. The boats over the years have become bigger and better. Its present form is a gondola-liked wooden row boat with a canopy.

The most visited place in Slovenia is the Pilgrim Church of the Assumption of Mary in Bled island. Upon reaching the jetty, one needs to climb a 99-step stone staircase to reach the church compound. It was said that groom who wished to marry his bride in the church needed to carry her and walk up the 99 steps. Today, the church is popular for tourists as much as a favorite place for wedding couples. 

The compound had had church built since the 9th century. Its present church was renovated at the end of the 17th century after an earthquake.

99-step staircase.

Bell Tower

The first ritual after entering the church is to ring the church bell. It was said that a wish made during the ringing would be answered :). 

After ringing the bell, we moved to climb the clock tower to see the ancient clock.

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A casual stroll around the lake is good exercise to prepare for dinner!

Park Hotel by the lake where we stayed offers stunning

 view of the lake and its surrounding.

Dinner by the lake was a perfect way to end the day. Though having our dinner in awesome ambient, not everyone enjoyed the meals because they were served without sauce - as some complained. But as our guide said, this is intended for diners to enjoy the untainted original taste of each ingredient!