Bled, the Beautiful

This weekend, we went on an adventure to Bled, Slovenia- a place that up until a week or two ago, I had never heard of. Well, I am BEYOND thankful we decided to take a chance and travel there, because it was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.

We took a very nice train to Bled. A few of us had an interesting layover in a run down train station with no lights, but we all arrived easily enough and in good spirits! Our hostel was full of life and other travelers, and we met a few students from a Catholic university in Portland studying abroad in Salzburg with a program very similar to ours!

Friday morning, we set out in the rain to find a bakery, and I snapped this pic as we walked alongside the road in the pouring rain because we looked RIDICULOUS.

Couldn't believe how pretty it was!

After the bakery, we went and bought rain gear and gloves from a tourist store, only to walk out and find the sun shining and no more rain for the rest of the day. It's okay though, because it definitely rained more the rest of the weekend! We found a place that you could rent a row boat and row to the island in the middle of Lake Bled, so Leah (who we nicknamed Babushka for some reason) was our faithful rower and got us to the island and back! --because we are strong, independent women who don't need no man... to row our boat--

On the island we rowed out to!

After our trip to the island, we found some yummy Mexican food and then hiked up to the castle that sits high above Lake Bled. It had the most incredible views! AND the sun was setting while we were up there! I probably took one hundred pictures. Moriah and Cassidy joined us later that night because they had to take the train coming a day later. We celebrated by returning to that same Mexican place for dinner and enjoyed conversation with two Australian guys from our hostel.

Saturday morning, after saying goodbye to Leah who had to take an earlier train ride home, we got a ride from the hostel to Vintgar Gorge which we explored in the pouring rain, but it was gorgeous as well. I loved this part of the day because we goofed off and spoke in British accents the entire time, and it even felt like we were in Peter Pan because part of it looked like a pirate cove.

This is what happens when you purchase an umbrella for 4 euro. 

We were all about taking selfies in the gorge!

It rained and rained and rained some more, and since most of the activities in Bled are outdoor activities, we struggled with finding something to do. We even went to the tourist center and asked what to do if it rains.. yup, nothing. Movie theater? nope. Indoor ANYTHING? nope. So, we found a spa at a 5 star hotel, and thought it would be fun to swim in their pool, but none of us had swimsuits. We searched EVERY dang store in Bled, but alas, no swimsuits. We called this spa four different times asking if we could swim in sports bras/ if they sold swimsuits/ where we could buy swimsuits/ what else we could do there. We'd all just lost it by this point. Our desperation level was unreal, we were SO wet and everything was just funny. Eventually, we decided to walk in and just ask if we could simply rent a bathrobe and shower. Literally, we looked like five wet rats, with backpacks and broken umbrellas, dripping through this super fancy hotel. BUT, they said yes, and for a small price of 11 euro, I rented a bathrobe and took the best nap of my life inside a Slovenian spa.

We ate a delicious meal at a lake side restaurant for dinner, laughed some more, shared some stories, and relaxed. Exhausted from our day of wandering Bled doing nothing, we headed back early and went to bed!

We woke up early Sunday morning and split into two groups headed for two different train stations to catch our trains back to Vienna. The route we took to our station, Moriah, Sarah, and Olivia had taken the day before after dropping Leah off. Except, they were going downhill, so they paid no attention to how steep the trek was. Well, after getting a little mixed up about where to go, we had approximately 4 minutes to get to our train, and I looked up to see the most steep, never-ending, most horrifying path I have every seen in my life. With like five layers on, and full backpacks, we booked it up the trail, pouring sweat and making animal noises while trying to breathe. When we finally made it to the train station at the top, we looked so funny, ripping off all of our layers and breathing so heavy. We definitely got some odd stares. But by the grace of God, our train was almost 10 minutes late, and we made it on that dang thing!

This weekend, I saw SO much of God's beauty, and I bonded with some awesome girls. But, four days for me felt like forever to be away from my "home" in Vienna. Our next trip is a group trip to Italy and then fall break, which means two weeks away from "home," but it's going to be incredible! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us! And thanks to whoever has been reading my blog and looking at pictures, I'm just glad I get to share my experiences with you! Almost halfway done with the semester, and I've already learned so much!
God bless!