This day was mostly driving as we started to head back north. Originally I had planned a few different options, but we decided that we wanted to see Salzburg again as we'd only quickly visited last time and it also gave us a chance to get to the Eagle's Nest.
This meant a six hour drive from Venice, so it would be nice to break it up. I looked at the map and ended up settling on Lake Bled in Slovenia.
Lake Bled sits in the Julian Alps and is 55km from Ljubljana. It is 2,120m long, 1,380m wide and has a maximum depth of 29.5m. In the centre of the lake is Bled Island, which holds a pilgrimage church to the Assumption of Mary, built in the late 1600s. Sitting above the lake is Bled Castle, first mentioned in 1011 and home of the bishop for 800 years.
The drive into Lake Bled was pretty slow as it was a major tourist site and the weather was warm and sunny. Parking was difficult and we eventually agreed to be overcharged to park in a hotel carpark for 10 euro for 2 hours.
We walked down to the lake from our carpark and found a quiet area to have a swim and take some photos. The water was about 22 degrees C and crystal clear. The only issue was a group of small fish that were very protective of the shore and charged our feet as we got in. I laughed at the boys as they screamed and jumped when the fish got their feet, until I got in and did exactly the same. Stupid fish.
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| First view of Bled Castle |
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| Church on Bled Island (sounds like a horror title) |
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| Mr Bitey the fish |
Feeling nice and refreshed from our swim, we checked out the souvenir shop for a cloth badge and the picked up the car. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch, along with 90% of the population of Bled it seemed, so Kris and Cam went to the shops, while Tom and I waited for the food.
We then started our drive towards Salzburg, only to end up in massive traffic jam. Two of the roads north had been closed and the only remaining one led to a toll gate with only three lanes. We ended up taking almost an hour and a half to finally get through. We did get a call from Alana and a few of our rugby friends who were away camping for the Barossa Rugby game, so that made time pass a little quicker:
At least the scenery was nice when we finally got free:
Did Alana do something with her lips?
Along the drive I also learned to keep an eye on the mountains for castles.
Berg Hohenwerfen:
and Berg Landskron:
Our accommodation in Salzburg was actually just over the German border in Freilassing (it was much cheaper that Salzburg). The apartment was great and the views were amazing, especially of the thunderstorm that rolled in that evening:
The only issue we had was when we first arrived, because we'd just move country from Austria to Germany, we did not have any phone reception or wifi as it switched over. The details of the apartment were all online and I couldn't access them without internet. We weren't sure at first if it was due to crossing the border or just the area in general so there was a bit of a panic. Kristine remembered where to find the key, so we got that, but we couldn't remember the apartment number. I didn't want a repeat of Poland, where we'd tried to enter the wrong apartment so we wandered around until I eventually found the door that jogged my memory - about the same time our internet kicked in.
It had been a long day and the relaxation from the swim had long since faded in the traffic, so it was nice to settle in for dinner and a sleep.
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