It's less than an hour from Bled to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, but it's very interesting.
The first village you pass through is Lesce. The railway station for Bled is here (a distance of 4km, so you'd want to get a taxi if you arrive here on the way to Bled). The village is home to Slovenia's only chocolate factory. Soon after you join the main road to the city passing by Lesce's airfield, which is the centre of gliding and parachuting in the area. You may be lucky, like we were, to see parachutists coming down to earth.
Then the road passes an ostrich farm. This is a means of diversifying Slovenia's agriculture as on entering the EU, Slovenia is not able to compete with the large farms of Western Europe. They hope to diversify into types of farming which are different from the norm. Looking at the farms as you pass, you will notice that although they are small, farming is very intensive. Maize is the main crop and every house (even some in the towns) has its own vegetable gardens, producing much of what the people need. Hay racks are found everywhere.
On the left of the road, you will see the village of Brezje. This is famous for its Basilica of the Virgin, a prominent landmark in a village with a population of only 500. The Pope celebrated mass here in May 1996, during his visit to Slovenia. Some 300,000 pilgrims visit the Basilca every year.
Soon after this you join the motorway to Ljubljana. This will eventually extend up to Bled (but things are moving slowly). A toll has to be paid here, 290 tolars (€1.28). The queues were short when we were there, but seemingly they can be very long, especially at the weekends when many Slovenes travel down to the Croatian coast. To these are added huge numbers of Austrians and Germans, many of whom just travel through Slovenia to the Croatian coast for their holidays.
We pass Kranj, a major industrial town and soon are on the outskirts of Ljubljana. The first impressions of the city are poor; the suburbs are not attractive. There are lots of ugly high-rise flats everywhere. They are leftovers of the socialist period in the country's history.
However, you are soon in the city itself and, boy, are you in for a surprise. Small and compact, it must be one of the most attractive capital cities in Europe.