Lake Bled

May 5, 2005-Organizing
(photos:Typical countryside,
Italian, Alpine & Victorian style,
Prohibited around Lake Bled)


Our hotel reminds me of a Hyatt turned inside out. The exterior balconies are festooned with woody vines that cascade over the layers of floors creating a feathery green curtain.

We had a meeting with Viki, our director, after breakfast at 8:30am. In the orientation talk she went over the reading material provided in our printed folder. Hmm. I guess that’s part of the organization of organized tours.

We had a brief excursion around Lake Bled & into the countryside of Bohinj. We circled the lake twice with two photo stops but there were lots of things we drove past that I would have loved to photograph. On the other hand I did get to nap & didn’t have to navigate. We passed Tito’s villa on our way to Trigolav National Park. Trigolav is a 3-peaked mountain and rarely visible. Since it’s been overcast we have to take it on faith that it’s there or look at postcards.

Slovenia was under the control of Italy, Germany, & the Hapsburgs for centuries so it evokes flavors of them all. It gained independence on April 10, 1004, and it’s not unusual to see a pastel stucco building with a Victorian roofline and wooden alpine-style balconies. The houses are hung with flowerboxes like in Switzerland but they’re empty for now. Most houses have truck gardens ready for planting and ringed by tulips. Apple trees are in blossom and are a lacey addition to the scenery. The cuisine also reflects the different cultures.

I’ve mentioned how green it is but I didn’t expect the rivers to be green as well. The winters here are snowy & skiing is popular. The roofs are slate or tile with spikes to ease the snow off.

Slovenians

We were told Slovenians are primarily Roman Catholic, tall, hearty, athletic, tidy, & blond. So far I haven’t seen that the stereotype holds for blond. David & I took a 3 1/2-mile hike around Lake Bled this afternoon and the tidiness was apparent. This is the most litter free place I’ve been except for Japan.

The bell that tolls every 15 minutes in the neighboring church let us know it was time to go to the lecture on Slovenian history. The speaker works in reception at this hotel but has a wry sense of putting things in perspective. He asked us what city had the largest population of Slovenians: Cleveland, Ohio. He told us that the president of Slovenia is very close mouthed & rarely speaks publicly. His duties are limited. He’s the commander-in-chief of their army. It was disbanded recently. They decided to save money so sent everyone home. There are a handful of officer’s left eight of whom are among the “coalition” forces with the U.S. in Afghanistan. The minimum income tax is 40%. All medical & drug costs are free; education through graduate level university is free. Firearms are forbidden. There’s a two-year jail term if you’re caught. There were thirty murders in the country last year. But there’s a high suicide rate: seven hundred per year. This spans hundreds of years of history. There have been many studies that have ruled out weather, drinking, depression, etc. They think it’s genetic.

Dinner was in Radovljica. The restaurant, Lectar, is one hundred years old & is housed in a five hundred year-old building. The main dish was veal rolled around stuffing, a tiny piece of gravy-smothered sirloin rolled around a prune, & potatoes. I ate the potatoes. During dinner we were entertained by accordion & bass music with a performance by the owner playing local selections as well as the Orange Blossom Express on a harmonica.

Toby