Venetian Breakfast, Slovenian Castle and Austria By Accident

We returned from our 5 a.m. walking tour of Venice in time to pack our bags and linger over a hearty breakfast of croissants, muesli and coffee.

Securing one last gelato we left the charming canals of Venice one bright Spring morning, loaded up our 9 passenger van and headed towards Slovenia. 

It was a gorgeous drive beside flowering meadows, over mountain passes and through quaint villages. We were enjoying ourselves immensely as Ryan taught us his oh-so-novel dance moves and we sang loudly to The Proclaimers I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). Suddenly we were startled by this sign:

Austria! How the dickens did we end up in Austria?! There was much laughter and the hurried unfurling of the largest road map I've ever seen as we attempted to find out where in tarnation we were. :-)

 To this day we don't know how we got there, but it was a welcome detour as we pulled off the highway and wended our way up, up, up into forested hills.

As we entered Slovenia we were struck dumb by the soaring peaks rising up before us.

We pulled over to the prettiest meadow and just gazed up at them. Tearing ourselves away, we continued on, finding exquisite beauty at every turn. I was struck most by the color of the river we followed, a pale, ice blue, so striking against the lush green terrain. Before we knew it, we were at our destination: Bled Castle.

First mentioned in 1004, Bled Castle is one of the oldest in Slovenia, and overlooks the stunningly turquoise Lake Bled.

I love these shutters. :-)

This monk chatting with his bird.

 This lovely gateway that I simply had to go through.

We had such fun exploring, but the best part was being rowed across the lake to the ancient church on an island in the center. I shall take you there next time. :-)