In the middle of Croatia, Hungary, Austria and Italy... right there is a country with a bit more than 20.000 km2 and around 2 million people. This apparently hidden and sometimes forgotten country is Slovenia. 

Btw...the only country with LOVE in it's name ;)

Look at this: 

(Bled Lake - Slovenia. photo credit: bled.si)

AMAZING!! 

Slovenia is 25 years old — before was part of Yugoslavia and became independent in 1991 — but still is pretty much unknown for many people around the world.

Since the Yugoslavia Era, these territories are the crossroads  for main European cultural and trade routes.  The Slavic, Germanic, Romance, and Hungarian languages meet here. But, actually Slovene people manage to stay strong on their culture and origins.

53 dialect along those 2 million people and 20.000 km2 — It tells a lot about being unique — 

One of the most significant elements of the Slovene language is their dual mode. It means that if I'm talking about you and me, she and he, 2 women, 2 tables, etc... I need to use a special form. 

I'm still in the process of learning but I have to say that it's very interesting and of course challenging — think about having around 15 possible combinations to conjugate a verb depending of the 6 cases within it—  

Definitely, it's an example of a strong population with the mission to preserve their historical and very cultural roots.

How I ended up living here?

Well, this is quite a long story (I'll share it with more details in the future) involving volunteering, Caribbean islands, love and 3 years of long distance relationship.

So, here I am!... Married with a Slovenian woman who is amazing and beautiful and smart and strong..... she introduced me to this part of the world. I didn't know it could be that interesting.

YES!.....I'm a very lucky man!

Ok! ok.... Let's don't get lost in the love story! hehehe

Back on track.....

I traveled a bit before and I like to see the world. So, why not to enjoy what make this little country special.

I want to share with you different places and interesting people on the way. Maybe next time you make your getaway plan, Slovenia will be on the list.

Our First Destination: Lake Bled

The whole Slovenia is like living in a fairy-tale. Castles and churches are something you will always see around.

In Bled you get a lake, a church and a castle in the same place — you will enjoy this trip and probably sweat a bit on the way, believe me —

Getting ready for this adventure

We decided to take #steemit with us and prepared some material to giveaway for people along the trip. My wife and I got some ideas (giving some credit to any other steemian who did it before); but she also wanted to add something special. 

This something special ended up being Maria "La Girafa". So, she joined the team and together we moved on to make it happen.

We decided to make small Steemit Cards and a billboard for Maria.

Then, we thought "What about giving sweet gifts to people" and this is what happened the night before the trip (yes, we were making them until midnight)

The kitchen was our surgery table and after few hours of hard work — and eating a lot of candies — this was the result:

Here we go!

And this is the view that welcomes you to this beautiful place.

Crystal water, ducks and swans just invite you to sit down and enjoy the beautiful dance with the underwater view in the background.

How nature made this beautiful art?

Once, there was a tectonic basin located at the place of the present lake, which was later on carved by the Bohinj glacier. The glacier found itself in front of an obstacle – a giant rock which it carved and chafed against for so long that only the island we know today remained. The ice melted and the basin was filled with water, thus creating a 2.12 km long and up to 1.30 km wide Lake Bled. Its maximum depth reaches up to 30.6 m, making it ideal for diving exploration. 

A bit of History about Bled island and the Church of the Assumption

In the ancient times, polytheism prevailed in this area, which is why the island included a temple of the pagan goddess of love. After the local population was converted from paganism to Christianity in 745, they were forced to replace their goddess Živa with the Christian Virgin Mary. The ancient Slavic temple was replaced with the church consecrated to the birth of the Virgin Mary. A small Mary's chapel was also built to make locals pray to her.

In 1465, a single-nave Gothic church was built on the island. Its special feature was the 52 m high free-standing bell-tower made of porous stone known also as buckwheat grain. The church gained its present Baroque appearance in the middle of the 17th century when the Chapel of Virgin Mary and the monumental staircase with 99 stone steps were constructed. 

Tradition still has it that the groom should carry his bride up all of the 99 steps in order to get married in the island church. — This groom needs to be kind of fit to reach the goal, don't you think so? hehe —

You have different options how to explore around the lake or visit the island.

We decided not to go to the island and instead, we're exploring the surroundings by foot. We'll go back later...when the summer finish. Less people + lower temperature = more fun..... and maybe I will carry my lovely wife up all those 99 steps...just maybe :)

The young widow and the sunken bell. 

I found different legends related to this place and its love stories. Here is one that took my attention:

Once upon a time a young widow was living in the castle of Bled. Her husband was killed by robbers and his body was thrown into the lake. She was so inconsolable that she gathered all her gold and silver and cast a bell for the chapel on the island, in memory to her husband. But the bell didn’t arrive there. 

The bell, the boat and boatmen sank during a terrible storm. The desperate widow sold all her property after this accident. She offered the proceeds for the construction of a new church on the island. She left Bled and lived the rest of her life in Rome as a nun. 

After her death the Pope had heard of her misfortune and of her good deeds during her life as a nun, so in memory to her, he decided to make a new bell. He said that anyone that rings the bell three times and believes in God, his or her wish would come true.
 

Now you know it.... Don't miss the opportunity to ring the bell ;)

Back to the trip. 

After walking around, enjoying the views and answering questions to people about Why we took a Giraffe to our trip — you have to see the faces when they saw me carrying Maria hahaha — was time for a break.

  

Yes! we were planning to go on the paddle board with them but in the last minute we chose to stay in the shade and enjoy our coffee break — wasn't easy those 30 °C —  and coffee was too good :)

It's time to continue....

When we were discovering the nature around the lake we also found this:

It's a natural beer cooler. Creativity and nature working together ;) 

You can stop by and wrap a beer there. 

Don't forget to say  Na zdravje!!  (It means "cheers" in Slovene language) 

Handmade from Bled

At the end of our walk we came across this little art market. A local guy put together Handmade from Bled to promote and take care of the expressions from artists of this region. 

Here is more...

And more...

Meeting the Bird of Paradise

A clasp (fibula) in the form of peacock, that was excavated at Pristava under the Bled Castle, is one of the more beautiful finds from the VI century. The peacock, adorning  the Garden of Eden, symbolizes the source of life and wealth. For this reason people also called Bird of Paradise.

This figure personifies Bled of the past, present and future. 

Another characteristic that one of the artist told me, was very nice. He said, when you touch the clasp, it makes you smile. Good one!

You can get the bird of paradise aka smile maker in different presentations. You can carry it in your pocket, put around your neck or hang it on your travel-memories wall. 

The original one is in The National Museum of Slovenia...in case you wanna see it.

Time to hit the road again...

With one last view of the Bled Castle, we started to walk towards the parking place.... 

...then, Tjaša (my wife) said "Look at this, It's soooo beautiful" and we stayed for few minutes more.... and of course she took a picture to share with you ;)

One of the ducks was shy and run swam away hehe.....

Here is your takeaway about Bled - Slovenia

#1 Best time to visit: Before or after summer time. You'll have the opportunity to enjoy with less people and lower temperature. 

#2 Explore the island and don't forget to ring the bell.

#3 Be ready to walk, go up and down. This is the best way to enjoy and get to know the place.

In the same day we went to our next destination: Slovenia's Coastline.

This is the Episode #2* of this series. 

      * Episode #2 is already under construction. Coming Soon!

Don't miss it!! 

If you liked what you saw then, UPVOTE IT! and share it

If you want to see Episode #2 then, FOLLOW ME! (just make sure you already upvoted it ;)

Thanks for reading.....

@handmade