Slovenia and Venice Birthday Trip - Part One

Several months ago Jeremy asked me where I would like to go for my birthday weekend.  Of course I said Italy and we looked for a cheap flight to any part of the country.   We booked flights to Bologna and realized that it was only 4 hours from my old roommate and good friend Urska and her husband Uros in Slovenia.  So, we rented a car and took the long way from Italy to the Slovenian border.  Unfortunately we got a ticket for a few hundred Euros after arriving in the country!  Rude....but thank heaven it was worth it.  I couldn't believe how beautiful Slovenia was, I mean really, really beautiful.  It was so green with large hills and a little church on top of each hill.  We drove past village after village and arrived at Urska's house in time to celebrate with her family for Uros' birthday.  They prepared traditional Slovene food and we felt like very honored guests!

Our delicious European breakfast

This is where Urska lives...like a fairytale!

The view from her window..note the church

Her cute garden

After church (which Urska and Uros basically run) we went to downtown Ljubljana and then drove to Lake Bled.

Ljubljana main square

Roommates reunited

Urska and Uros

There was a canal through the town and a million little restaurants lining it, I loved it..and it was so clean!

This is where Urska gets her milk...it is put in this vending machine daily from farmers.....so old school/new school

Preparing another delicious meal

We also went to a beautiful trail along a stream, it crossed back and forth over the water and was just gorgeous.

Cute husband

We came across this little lizard

After we walked the trail and my hair doubled in size because of the humidity, they took us to see Lake Bled, it was breathtaking!!!

A topless hotel...so European...

I mean, does it get any prettier?

You can take either row boats or these little ferry boats to the island in the middle of the lake.  The island has a church on it, a restaurant and a couple stores, we hope to go there next time we visit.  Oh, in case you aren't convinced that Slovenia is a hidden gem...there is also a castle that overlooks the entire lake.

The island