Lake Bled, Slovenia

Today we traveled to Lake Bled. Our first stop was Bled Castle, a medieval castle built before 1011. It is the oldest Slovenian castle. This is one of the courtyards.

 

 

There is also a cute little chapel which was built in the 16th century and renovated around 1700.

 

From the castle there is an amazing view of Lake Bled.

 

 

This is what the castle looks like from the lake.

 

 

This is the church that is on Bled Island, the only island in Slovenia. The church in its current form was built in the 17th century. Many weddings are held in this church and according to local tradition the groom is supposed to carry his bride-to-be up the 99 steps to the church to prove he is worthy of marriage.

 

 

Other sights from around the lake are:

 

 

 

And a picture of the church and castle together.

 

 

This is some of the scenery from our trip over the Julian Alps.

 

 

 

 

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Ljubljana, Slovenia

Today we had more free time to explore Ljubljana and we found more items of architectural interest.

 

 

 

 

 

We visited the library ...

 

 

and the market.

 

 

The famous dragon bridge ...

 

 

 

and a church.

 

 

 

 

These are traditional Slovenian front panels for bee hives. Each one tells a story (click on the photo to see a larger version of it).

 

 

For example, the panel in the first column, fifth row, shows devils sharpening the mother-in-law's tongue. The panel in the third column, sixth row depicts a man carrying the cross of marriage with the wife sitting on the cross and smacking him with a wooden spoon. The panel in the second column, sixth row, shows a man carrying his old wife to a mill and grinding her up which transforms her into a younger wife. They had such a cute sense of humor in the 1800s!

 

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Ljubljana, Slovenia

We arrived in Ljubljana late yesterday afternoon so today was our first opportunity to look around. There are so many interesting things to see.

Neat buildings ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pretty bridge ...

 

 

Unusual doors ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fun sculpture ...

 

 

And a castle on a hill ...

 

 

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Back to England

We started the last leg of our journey this morning driving from Germany through Luxumberg, Belgium, and France on our way to the Channel Tunnel for the train ride back to England.

We traveled 2500 miles on this holiday.

The next phase of our trip, an Adriatic tour, will be starting in about a week.

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Across Germany

We spent today driving across the width of Germany from Nuremberg to Saarbrücken. For lunch we stopped at a classic car museum. There were some real beauties there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend there was a festival in Nuremberg with marching bands in costume and numerous horse drawn wagons.

 

 

 

 

This is an example of the local folk costumes.

 

 

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Nuremberg, Germany

We had some additional free time this morning in Nuremberg so here are some pictures from outside the city walls.

 

 

 

 

In this next picture the lower bridge is the Chain Bridge, Europe’s oldest iron suspension-bridge, built in 1824.

 

 

In the afternoon we visited the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art. Here are a few of the things we saw.

A sampler ....

 

 

A lovely example of Punto in Aria ....

 

 

 

A gorgeous example of delicate quilting ...

 

More beautiful stitching, this time on an apron ...

 

And some amazing furniture ...

 

 

 

 

The following is mother-of-pearl inlay on the top of a chest...

 

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