Lake Bled Slovenia, Gemona Italy

Travelled:151km

Stay:Italy Gemona del Friuli- sosta with free parking and service point N46.27619 E13.1373

Visited:Lake Bled Slovenia free parking at train station 46.368301,14.082900 , Lake Fusine Italy free parking 46.473099,13.671200 

We headed into Lake Bled just after 9am and managed to get a spot at the train station in Bled. It was already quite busy. It was just a short walk down to the waters edge and then we continued to do a lap of the lake. 

It is an enchanting place with its aqua coloured waters and stunning views of the church on a little island. It is a tradition for grooms to carry their brides up the 99 steps to the church entry. It is said if the groom can survive this he will survive his married life! Needless to say neither Tom or Mark wanted to take up the challenge. 

So we kept strolling along the western shore taking lots of photos of the lake as well as the dramatically located Castle on the cheer cliffs.

On the opposite side of where we started we can to the Bled township but decided not to venture away from the water. 

Here there are lots of hotels and restaurants and we stopped in one to once again sample the Bled cream cake, but this time in Bled! 

We finished our lap at the rowing club and the boys took a dip in the refreshing waters before climbing up the hill back to the motorhomes.

On our way out of Bled going to the highway we were glad that we had had an early start as the traffic jam was a few kilometres long heading in. After filling up with diesel, as Italian prices are about 30c per litre more expensive and doing a bit of shopping, we crossed the border into Italy.

It was a very picturesque drive. We had a lunch break at Lake Fusine which is a very popular stop for both motorhomes and visitors enjoying the lakes and walks in the forest. We met Australians Dean and Vicky and we exchanged some motorhome stories.

 

Needing to get a few more kilometres done we took to the road again, taking the motorway to Gemona, which only cost €6.40. 

Beer in a paper bag...tastes good on a hot day.

We were lucky to get some shade to get a bit of reprieve from the heat. The town has a sad past with it being destroyed by an earthquake in 1976. We walked up into town and enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner, followed up with gelati.