We got up and had some coffee. Hugo did a bit of work, and then we walked to the bus stop to go to Lake Bled.

The traffic was ridiculous. What should have been a 20-minute journey took 40 minutes.

In Bled we walked down to the lake and were greeted by a beautiful view. We called Louis, who said we had to go up to the castle. So we did.

Caro photographing Lake Bled from the shore
Our first view of Lake Bled, with Caro already taking photos.

The views were well worth the entry fee, and the information and exhibitions were an added bonus. Bled Castle is regarded as the oldest castle in Slovenia. Its history dates back to 1004, when the Bled estate was given to the Bishop of Brixen, and the first castle was built for defensive purposes around 1011. The bishops never actually lived there, which explains the lack of grand residential rooms. More towers and fortifications were added during the Middle Ages, and much of the castle’s present appearance comes from rebuilding after a major earthquake in 1511.

The courtyard of Bled Castle above Lake Bled
The upper courtyard at Bled Castle, perched above the lake.
Frescoes inside the chapel at Bled Castle
The painted interior of the castle chapel.
Caro standing beneath the covered entrance to Bled Castle
Caro at the old fortified entrance to the castle.
Bled Island and its church seen from Bled Castle
Bled Island and its church from the castle above the lake.

At the castle café we also bought a severely overpriced Bled cream cake. It cost €6.50 for the town’s signature 7-by-7-centimetre square of puff pastry, vanilla custard and cream. Annoyingly, it tasted surprisingly good.

Hugo eating a slice of Bled cream cake at the castle cafe
The €6.50 Bled cream cake: overpriced, but annoyingly good.

Back in Bled we walked past a pizza restaurant. It was completely full, so we ordered takeaway instead. It took only ten minutes, and we ate the pizza beside the lake. At one point a swan tried to steal it from us.

Hugo eating takeaway pizza beside Lake Bled
Takeaway pizza beside Lake Bled, with the castle high above us.
Caro eating pizza beside a swan at Lake Bled
The swan that showed rather too much interest in our lunch.

After the pizza we headed back to the bus. We got off at an earlier stop to buy supplies from the pharmacy, then walked to the grocery shop for a final stock-up on tissues and hiking snacks.

What our hiking snacks cost

The Hofer receipt came to only €5.50 for seven items. Using the European Central Bank’s exchange rate for that day of €1 to R18.7758, this is roughly what the little stock-up cost in rand:

Item Price About
Two wheat rolls €0.58 R11
Fruit purée, 100 g €0.44 R8
Magnesium sachets €0.89 R17
Potato sticks, 125 g €0.77 R14
Marzipan and coconut chocolate, 140 g €1.73 R32
Hazelnut chocolate, 100 g €1.09 R20
Total €5.50 R103

Back at the guest house, Hugo lay down because he was not feeling well, while Caro went to explore the old town.

At around 17:00 Hugo joined Caro for her second round of exploring. We bought a few unusual flavours from a local chocolate shop, then walked through the walled, pedestrian-only old town, around St Peter’s Church and through the old defensive tunnel.

Radovljica’s old town began developing on a promontory above the Sava River in the 13th century. Its centre, Linhart Square, is lined with houses from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Walls were built around the town at the turn of the 16th century, and the surviving medieval defensive ditch — now partly a tunnel — is the only preserved one of its kind in Slovenia.

Caro outside a chocolate shop in Radovljica
Caro with our unusual chocolate finds in Radovljica.
Historic buildings around Linhart Square in Radovljica
Evening light across Linhart Square in Radovljica’s old town.

Back at the guest house we decided to try their burgers. We usually share, but for some reason that evening we ordered one each. What arrived was less a burger than a massive slab of meat on something resembling roosterkoek. Neither of us could finish, but they were kind enough to give us a takeaway container.

Caro sitting behind two enormous open burgers
Less burger than massive slabs of meat on something resembling roosterkoek.

After dinner came the big repack: deciding what to carry on the hike and what to leave behind. Hugo would use Caro’s large backpack and Caro would carry her laptop bag, so everything staying behind had to fit into Hugo’s backpack and the foldable duffel bag we had brought with us.

We were in bed by 22:00, feeling both excited and stressed about the next day.