Wheels Around Europe . . . . . . . : Ljubljana to Lake Bled

Photos now added to Caves and Castles from yesterday

This morning we left Pivka Jama near Postojna and set the sat nav for Ljubljana the capital city of Slovenia.

Slovenia

has an interesting recent past, in April 1990 it was the first Yugoslavia state to hold free elections for independence.

In response, in the summer that year Serbia threatened to declare a state of emergency in the region.

Slovenia`s response was to declare sovereignty, or independence from Yugoslavia. The Federation of Yugoslavia declared the move unconstitutional and Serbia then proceeded to raid the Yugoslav monetary system and misappropriated almost all of monetary issue for Yugoslavia in 1991 US$2.2 Billion.

Seeing the writing on the wall the Slovenian Government began stockpiling weapons and on 25^th June 1991 Slovenia pulled out of the Yugoslav Federation for good.

Just two days later the Yugoslav army began marching on Slovenia but met resistance from Slovenian forces. Yugoslavia threatened aerial bombardment and Slovenia faced the prospect of all-out war.

Yugoslavia never expected resistance and as there were no territorial issues, following pressure from the European Union, a truce was agreed on 7^th July to terminate hostilities.

The Balkan war for Slovenia had lasted just 10 days and had cost the lives of 66 people.

Sadly Serbia`s attentions were then focused elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia and we all know the horrors that followed in the region in the years that followed.

Anyway, history lesson over, Ljubljana is a delightful small city of brightly painted buildings in narrow streets with cafes and bars spilling out onto the cobbled streets. No where is very far away, and is all centered around the River Ljubljanica and it`s turquoise waters. It is a hive of activity and is the centre of all political, financial and cultural goings on.

There seem to be very few retail chains here, instead there are lots of independent retailers and artisan boutique type shops that give the town a welcome unique flavour. There is a busy flower and vegetable market.

We had an enjoyable wander around the streets but after a bright and sunny start, it started to rain after lunch so instead of walking up to the castle, we headed back to Ed where we`d parked by the railway station.

It was then decided to head up to Lake Bled. I`d been advised against overnighting in the Ljubljana city due to heat and noise, unless we wanted to see the nightlife, we didn`t, so we set off for Bled.

It has to be said, we have seen a dramatic change in climate in a very short period of time.

It was only Monday in Stara Baska where we were on the beach in 30c of Mediterranian climate..

Today in Bled it was about 20c this afternoon but felt cool and overcast with cloud and the threat of rain it felt much more north European climate. Even though were only 154 kilometers from the Med. Strange !

We are staying at Camping Bled (GPS 46.3614 14.08027) It`s a popular site as it is right on the lake at the west shore. However some of the pitches are a bit muddy after the recent rain and we almost got our wheels stuck at one point.

Thankfully a kind German man who had just arrived was our saviour, he offered to move to allow me to go forward instead of reverse. A much more successful manouvre in a front wheel drive vehicle in mud.

I managed to find a spot with gravel so we should have no problem moving when we need to.

I`d thought we`d stay here a while but that will depend on the weather !

We didn`t get here until teatime, but I had a walk down to the lake after tea and was disappointed to see that the church on the island has scaffold around it and the castle on the clifftop has a construction crane on it. Ah well, the lake still looked beautiful even under leaden skies.