Winter on Lake Bled

The charm of Bled is not in the skiing, but in everything else there is to see. The scenery is impressive: the clear blue-green waters of Lake Bled, the tiny island with a quaint chapel, the cliff overlooking the village, the fortress perched atop and the Cathedral of St. Martin and the village below, and behind it all - the Julian Alps.

The Fortress (blejski grad) overlooking Bled village was constructed in 1004. It is home to a number of smaller museums including a Guttenberg-era printing press, and gives you a commanding view of Lake Bled and the surrounding mountains. Mount Triglav ("Three Heads"), the symbol of Slovenia on the national flag, is easily visible from here.

During our 3-day "ski trip" to Bled, we were on the slopes for one day. Our only complaint is not having enough time to see everything the region has to offer. The hiking is extensive (including Mt. Triglav itself), and the caverns at Postojna are the main reason many people visit Slovenia.

Quick Tips:

SKIING - The nearest ski area from Bled (apart from the lift right on Lake Bled) is 25 minutes away at Kranjska Gora. Pistes varied, and because it is low altitude, the bottom was slushy in late March. For die-hards, Austria is a only short drive away.

FOOD - Although Slovenian cuisine is heavily influenced by the Austro-German penchant for pork and schnitzel (500 years of Austro-Hungarian occupation will do that), the unique character of Slovenian cuisine is found in the locally caught fish, grilled octopi from the Adriatic, creamy goat cheeses, and free-range ham from the Karst Region. I also recommend the local brew, Zlatorog (a.k.a. "Goat Beer"). Slovenians also seem to have soup down to a science. There was nothing better than sitting down to a bowl of vegetable or cream of mushroom soup with fresh black bread to mop it all up after skiing. Rakia is also par-for-course after any big meal. Two to three cups of traditional Slovenian coffee per day is also required. A Kava is small and strong like an espresso, but with the consistency of Turkish coffee (50 cents per cup).

Best Way To Get Around:

The village of Bled, including all museums, restaurants, and casinos can be reached on foot. The ski areas can be best reached by car.

Hiring a boat is the only way to visit the tiny island (unless it is warm enough to swim or the lake is frozen and you walk). The boatmen can row you across on a traditional wooden Pletna, or you could go on a battery-powered launch.

Although it was not the end of the ski season, we were able to book four rooms three days in advance, each with a balcony that had a spectacular view of the lake, the village, and the fortress. For anyone one who has ever skied in Austria or Germany, you will appreciate how such a thing there would be impossible on short notice. Rooms were clean, although the buffet breakfast was not spectacular. I also recommend avoiding rooms near the Fortress side, as the bells of St. Martin Cathedral will wake you up pretty early in the AM!

The island offers a unique view of Lake Bled and the village, but the goal of a jaunt to the island is to visit the little chapel to ring the Bell of Wishes. A rope comes through the vaulted ceiling of the small chapel and hangs in the choir. It requires pulling with all your weight in order to get it to ring. Ornate figures on the Baroque-style altar and a solitary wood carving of the Virgin and Child from the 15th century on the left side of the chapel will be your only witnesses in March, as there were no tourists. A cutaway section of the floor reveals the foundation of the original pre-Roman structure.

“And now,” the gravelly voice of the restaurant host bellowed, “is time for dessert.”

The seven of us at the table looked at one another apprehensively. We had all just eaten a massive four-course lunch whose Slovenian name I cannot recall, but probably translated as “Absolutely Everything Grilled (served with a tiny green salad)”, and we were all full. However, no one at the table wanted to contradict a man who stood about seven feet tall, had the voice (and the gait) of Frankenstein’s monster (with Bela Lugosi’s accent), and was armed with a dry wit that could catch an Englishman off guard.

After some silence, one of my friends had the courage to answer, “But if I eat anything else, I’ll explode.”
Our host considered this information for half a second before answering. “So you eat. You explode. Is okay for you.”

This exchange was followed by boisterous laughter from all sides, and by rakia (yet another round). This was par-for-course during our long weekend in Bled, Slovenia. And during this lunch, I was asking myself, weren’t we supposed to be skiing?

Background Notes:
Positioned between Austria, Italy and Croatia, Slovenia is the smallest nation to share the dramatic geography of the Alps. Like its better known neighbors, the Julian Alps of Slovenia (Julijske Alpe) offer breathtaking views and numerous year-round activities, but with a unique character all their own.

As soon as you cross the border from Austria into Slovenia, you know you are in Eastern Europe. The ski traffic disappears, as do the roadside billboards. The overdeveloped resorts and towns of Austria are replaced with the underdeveloped Slovenian countryside, (characterized by the ubiquitous hay drying racks), and in winter your nose is immediately hit by the smell of burning heating oil.

The Gorenjska region of Slovenia used to be popular with vacationing families of Italians, Austrians, and Germans as well as Yugoslavians before the dissolution of Yugoslavia and war. Slovenia was spared the kind of bloody ethnic violence and destructive battles that characterized the war in the rest of the former Yugoslavia, and Slovenia’s “war” for independence lasted 10 days.

The restaurant within the fortress was the first of many meals we had that lasted over three hours and 4,000 calories. The only surprise is that while Slovenia was a good value in comparison to Austria, Bled is not for the shoestring budget. Bled was always considered a high-end resort, and Slovenia itself has always been industrious and relatively prosperous in relation to the other Yugoslav republics. The approx. 2 million people that make up Slovenia were 6% of the population of Yugoslavia, but 20% of GDP. Food and lift tickets were comparably cheaper to St. Moritz or Ischgl, but on par with lower altitude ski villages in Bavaria, for example (approx. US$ 20 for an all-day lift ticket).

Bargains were to be found in hotels rates. Local beverages like Zlatorog (the national beer) and coffee were also a good value. Besides, no day of walking would be complete without two to three cups of proper Slovenian kava per day between activities (around $.50). A Slovenian coffee is small and strong like an espresso, but with the consistency of Turkish coffee.