Day 15: Lake Bled
The morning started off with a ride on a Pletna boat! These boats are very specific to this lake and they are passed down from generation to generation. The lake was calm and it was great to have a peaceful ride out to the church. Once we arrived, Katka got out some beverages to help us have the energy to climb the 98 stones steps. Traditionally it is considered good luck for a groom to carry his bride up the steps on the day of their wedding before ringing the bell and making a wish inside the church. This Mike and another Mike in our tour group attempted the tradition of carrying their "Brides" up the stairs. We did find out that the "monkey on your back" method was not ideal and wound up just a couple stairs short! It was a worthy attempt however!
The afternoon was ours to explore until we were to meet up for our last group dinner together. Many of us from our tour took advantage of the sunny weather and headed to the toboggans! The track is placed on ski slopes during the summer and it is fun for all ages. The track is 520 meters and max speed is 40 km/h. Our tour members had a great time gliding down the mountain. After that, we grabbed lunch at a beautiful restaurant that was on the water. View was great and the food was even better! We ended up sipping our drinks for way too long, enjoying the view. Then, as if we hadn't done enough for the day, we rented the bikes at the hotel (they were free ) and we biked around the lake again. Such a fun way to see the area!
Well, we have made it to the very end of our group-part of the tour. We made a whole bunch of new friends, shared lots of new experiences together and really opened our personal view of Eastern Europe. Just a short walk from the hotel was our group dinner. We were greeted with an accordionist playing local music, wine and cheeses before we went in for dinner.
Dinner was an absolute blast, we had so much fun sharing our trip together and really getting to know each other. Katka offered a reward for the "most useless item brought on the trip"...everyone had something, from multiple phone chargers they never plugged in, too many shoes, cold weather jackets...but the winner was...."collar stays". Those little plastic collar stays that go in dress shirts, yep, I'd say that was pretty useless!
We hated to say goodbye to our friends, but we were going to be heading to the airport home first thing in the morning. It was an amazing trip and opportunity to travel again with another Rick Steves' tour, we look forward to being able to do another one in the future!!!
Dinner was an absolute blast, we had so much fun sharing our trip together and really getting to know each other. Katka offered a reward for the "most useless item brought on the trip"...everyone had something, from multiple phone chargers they never plugged in, too many shoes, cold weather jackets...but the winner was...."collar stays". Those little plastic collar stays that go in dress shirts, yep, I'd say that was pretty useless!
We hated to say goodbye to our friends, but we were going to be heading to the airport home first thing in the morning. It was an amazing trip and opportunity to travel again with another Rick Steves' tour, we look forward to being able to do another one in the future!!!