We ate at the restaurant panorama which is connected to the Grand Hotel Toplis (where I am using their WIFI network for free)

Pam had a Salmon Ravioli and Chris had Squid (again)

The following cream cake is a Bled tradition for about 60 years – it has a firm pastry on bottom, then a custard, and then a layer of cream and topped off with another sheet of pastry and icing sugar.

We found a little restaurant last night called “Ostarija Peglez’n” after trying to get into another restaurant that closed at 8pm – most were closed last night around 8pm, quite strange for a Thursday night.

We both had a nice dish of Squid with potatoes and spinach.

It was a very tasty meal.

The shell contained garlic and parsley

I had to drown it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar since the garlic was some sort of pre-prepared crap like you see at home in jars – a complete waste of time – why to they bother

It is a lovely day in Bled. The lake is still and there is no wind.

I just travelled up to the Straza - a lookout over the lake - it is 642 meters up , but I think bled is 400 meters up.

I walked around the streets until i found the way up the hill. There you couild take a snow lift up to the top or walk - I took the snow lift as I have a blister from the walk up the Hallstatt hill - 4 euro return

It is 28 degrees so I am enjoying a Slovenian beer with the great views - 3 euro

Pam went for a walk around the lake edge (hills are not her thing)

We arrived at lesce bled after getting off the train. Lesce Bled is quite a working town - a bit of a turn off actually.

Pam and I were the only ones to get off the train which made me wonder if this was the right station!

we found that it was the correct station and we decided to catch a bus into bled itself - especially since there were no taxis at the rank.

There was a bus in 10 minutes and it turned up on time. It only cost about 2.70 euro for both of us to get into bled (about 4 km)

We then went to a tourist office and asked directions to our hotel.

The lady was very helpful and gave me a map of bled.

We had to walk abou 10 minutes to get to our hotel.

Pam says that the hotel is a bit of a scrubber - or in order words - it needed a make over about a decade ago.

Nothing special in the room - no aircon, no fridge, no jug, no safe, no toiletries but it does have a nice lake view.

Time to look for dinner.

http://www.hoteli-piran.si/en/

Piran is an ancient coastal town on the most western headland of Slovenian Istria. Its first inhabitants settled here in the middle of the 5th century and in the 13th century it was taken over by Venetians. It was then that this small old town started to develop and prosper.

In spite of a turbulent past Piran has retained its distinctive charm. Written records mentioning the town of Piran go back to pre-Roman times. Over the centuries the townspeople have made their living by fishing, handicrafts and trade in goods such as salt, wine, oil and fish.

http://www.hotel-emonec.com/

Garni hotel Emonec offers a self-service breakfast. All rooms are ensuite. Towels are provide in the rooms and are changed every day. Each room also has SAT TV, telephone, access to the internet ( LAN and Wireless) and safety deposit box.

On the map below A is the Bus Station in Ljubljana (http://www.ap-ljubljana.si/eng/) and B is the Hotel Emonec.

http://www.hotel-jadran-bled.com/

The Jadran Garni Hotel is close to Lake Bled, which has the longest swimming season of any alpine lake. The hotel is a wonderful starting point for a relaxing stroll in the local countryside and other interesting excursions. There is a large car park next to the hotel. The Grand Hotel Toplice, its sister hotel, offers a thermal pool as well as a host of wellness programmes. A private lido is close by.

The A on the map below is the location of the hotel in Bled.