Travel Tuesday: Slovenia

Katelyn's dear friend, Cat, is traveling through Europe and so graciously agreed to write a guest post for our blog! Enjoy :)

Hello friendly followers!

--Disclaimer--
Any and all misspelled words on here are due to my typing on a tablet keyboard, which is incredibly difficult, and are in no way a reflection of my spelling abilities. I'm a great speller. Thank you.

Now, I'm in Slovenia. Spodnje Gorje to be exact. Don't worry, I'd never heard of it either. But Slovenia, for those who don't know,  is a small country nestled between Italy and Croatia,  with a small part of it touching the Adriatic. It is not to be confused with Slovakia (way to go, President Bush).

The town I'm in, though small, is within walkig distance to two of the major attractions of the country: Vintgar Gorje and Lake Bled. I haven't seen Vintgar yet, but the main purpose I came was to see Bled, so that's what you lovely people get to hear about.

Walking around Lake Bled was the most divine, humbling, magnificent, and beautiful thing I've ever done. No, I'm not exaggerating.  The main attraction is the island in the middle of the lake, where there is a small church, a cafe, and some sort of tourist shop I believe (I didn't go to the island honestly. It was way prettier from afar.) You also have a castle, called Bled Grad, that sits atop a hill overlooking Lake Bled. The hill is covered in trees until the very top, where it becomes just a rockface, which is where the castle sits. So splendid. Then, behind those, you have Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. This time of year, the top of the mountain is snow-capped and rises above the clouds.

So when you walk around this lake (which is not very large, so circling it is quite easy), you get different views of each of these three places, and then also a view of the town of Bled, which is unfortunately fronted by three or four large hotels that made it look really stupid and inauthentic. With every turn I made, my view kept getting better and better. I felt the need to take about ten pictures evey time I moved more than 50 meters because the light changed or the angle changed, so I wanted to make sure I got it all, you know? I won't lie, I was speechless for about the first half of the walk. It's truly breathtaking. But it only got better. Once I passed the town of Bled, I came to this spot. This spot...wow. There was a break in the trees, and through them, I saw what seemed like heaven on earth. Looking across the glassy, crystal-clear water, I saw the island with the church, and behind that, the castle perched atop the cliff, and behind that, the great mountain of Triglav with its snow-capped peak, standing so majestically at guard. I'm no poet, but if I were, I would have written a millennial piece about that spot. I sat down on a bench, so perfectly situated in front of that spot, and I cannot lie. I cried. Not like heaving sobs or anything too over-the-top, but pretty free flowing tears.

I've seen a lot of beautiful places in my day, young as I may be. The sunset over Florence from Piazza di Michaelangelo, the French Riviera, the Irish countryside. They're all breathtaking. But in all my time, no sight has every reduced me to the humbled state that I fell to today. And I know I'm not the only one. I passed two other women who were staring, glossy-eyed, at that lake. I even passed a girl with her groceries, walking back from the store, who couldn't help but stop and stare for a few moments. Her face just screamed 'wow, how lucky am I?'

That's exactly what went through my mind as well. What in the world have I done to be so lucky as to witness this? This place, where everything else beautiful in the world seems to pale in comparison. This place, where words cannot describe and photos cannot do justice to its power. Then, I fell into a state of laughter, incessant and delirious. Of all the places in all the world, I am blown away by a small lake in Slovenia, a country most people never knew existed. A place I had decided against visiting in favor of more days in Vienna, but by the recommendation of a friend, had reevaluated as a decent pitstop. How strange is it to be here, in this small town, with nearly no visitors this time of year, and fall to tears at the sight of something so unheard of? How random! I think, though, that was part of the glory. It seemed like a secret, between Slovenia and I. It was so precious and quite pure in this season, that it felt personal and intimate. It was my little secret view, from my secret bench, at my secret spot.

As I walked back, I decided to skip Vienna and stay here for another day or so. I can hardly imagine a building in a bustling city that will move me more than Slovenia has. Oh yes, the rest of the country is quite beautiful as well. It looks a good bit like what you'd see in Austria, with rolling hills and small villages centered around pointy churches. I've had the urge to skip through the open fields and sing The Sound of Music at least four times since I got here, though I haven't done it yet. It's good to know I have a little shame left.

But anywho, that's the end of my Lake Bled account. Like I said, it's impossible to describe it in a way to do it any justice, so just spare yourself the mystery and just come here. Slovenia is so worth it.

Ciao, y'all! And thanks, Katelyn and Laura, for letting me rant on your blog :)

Catherine