Slovenia, Austria: Part 6 - Day 7: Boat hire and hike 3 peaks

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 7.

29/7 Day 7: Rowed boat to the little island in the middle of Lake Bled. Hiked up a small hill to see the panoramic view.

Costs
(1) Boat rent for 1 hour EUR25 (shared)

Food
(1) Breakfast at Pekarna Planika bakery - Chocolate bun EUR1,55, 

(2) Bled Jezero train station - Cappucino EUR2,30
(3) Mercator Grocery store in Bled - Burek with minced meat 220g EUR2,89, Burek with cheese 220g EUR2,79

(4) Lunch at Restavracija Zaka Camping Bled - Pizza Blejska EUR15 (shared), Radler 500ml EUR4,50

(5) Back Bar & Sobe - Radler (again) 500ml EUR2,80 (next cheapest radler and beer so far. The cheapest radler and beer we had was at Postojna town for EUR2,50)

(6) Dinner at Restaurant and Wine Bar (Gostilna) Murka EUR24,43 - Goulash with potato dumplings EUR14,50, 100ml Cabernet Sauvignon red wine EUR4,60, apple strudel EUR6 (shared), tips EUR7 (shared)

The Story

29072024 : Woke up to a lovely day. We walked to a bakery not knowing that there was no place to sit and coffee can be bought from a vending machine. So, no coffee for us. Two of us ate the buns we bought while walking towards Bled Jezero train station to walk to Lake Bled. 

We decided to buy cappucino at the cafe which is located next to the train station. The cafe serves quite good coffee. What a surprise!

Slovenia, Austria: Part 5 - Day 6: Bus to Bled

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 6.

28/7 Day 6: Bus to Lake Bled. Walk along Lake Bled.

Costs
(1) Bus (Arriva) ticket from Ljubljana to Bled EUR1,90

Accommodation
(1) 3 nights in AirBnb in Bled for 3 persons - EUR529,41 (EUR146,67 per night, EUR10 cleaning fee, EUR79,41 service fee)

(2) Tourist tax - EUR9,39 per person for 3 nights (EUR3,13 per person/night)

Food
(1) Breakfast at Norma 23 cafe EUR12,20 - Egg benedict on pancake EUR8,70 and coffee with whipped cream and topped with supposed fresh herbs EUR3,50
(2) Radler at Devil Caffe & Bar in Bled EUR4,50

(3) Lunch at Spica bar & restaurant EUR18,42 (beef burger EUR16,92, cover charge EUR1,50)

(4) Radler (again) at Restavracija Zaka Camping Bled EUR4,50

(5) Dinner at Hotel Starkl EUR22,20 - Cheese struklji (cheese dumpling) with gorenjska skuta (local curd cheese) and porcini mushroom sauce EUR16,90, and a glass of white wine Sauvignon Verus EUR5,30

The Story

28072024 : Today, we checked out to continue our trip to Bled. We had breakfast at a random cafe which is on our way to the bus station. Ljubljana and Bled is very near and the journey is scheduled to take one hour. But we did not anticipate the traffic into Bled. Gosh, we reached Bled 45 minutes later than scheduled.

Here is our breakfast place at Norma 23 cafe. There were large columns in the area, inspired by Roman barock architecture that we learnt during our walking tour. I had coffee with supposedly fresh herbs plucked from the mountains nearby. The waiter is obviously making it up because the herbs that came with the coffee were dried rose buds. How can it be fresh when they are dried? My eyes just rolled when I saw that. Of course, that made it an expensive coffee.

Slovenia, Austria: Part 4 - Day 5: Postojna Cave

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5.

27/7 Day 5: Postojna Cave

Costs
(1) Ticket for Postojna Cave - EUR29,90 per person

(2) Return train ticket to Postojna station - EUR12,40 per person

(3) Train ticket to Ljubljana station - EUR1,50 per person (took the wrong type of train which does not accept our return train ticket)

Food
(1) Breakfast at Gourmet Kodila cafe - cheese sandwich and coffee EUR8,50
(2) Croissant at Postojna town EUR1,20

(3) Radler beer at Bar Pod Smreko in Postojna town - EUR2,50

(4) Lunch at Baščaršija (Maribor Poštna), a Bosnian restaurant - Grilled sausages with bread EUR8,90

(5) Gostilna Sokol restaurant - Gibanica dessert, a multi-layered Slovenian cake - EUR7,90 and Cappucino EUR2,70

(6) Trgovina Deli - Kremna rezina cake EUR6

(7) Beer at Sax pub outside of Ljubljana center - EUR3,30

The Story

27072024 : Today, we woke up early as we are visiting Postojna Cave! When we researched this place in January, there were direct buses to the cave and when I wanted to purchase the tickets a month before our trip, I found out that the direct buses were cancelled. Instead, we have to take the train which requires an additional 25-minute walk from the train station to the cave. I had not accounted for this when I booked the tickets to the cave for the 10am tour. Fortunately, there was an early train that we could take at 7.59am! Which required us to wake up at 6.30am so that we can have our breakfast. Lucky for us that there are cafes opened for breakfast at 7am!

We bought the train tickets at the train station. It was not smart of us to buy return train tickets because when we returned, we took another type of train and we had to pay extra! The train departed at 8.09am and the journey took us 1 hour 4 minutes. I was worried that we will arrive late when the train had not departed at 7.59am as scheduled. Thankfully, the train arrived at Postojna station at 9.11am and we hurried to the cave.

With Google Maps, we did not have any problem finding our way to the cave. There were signboards so we knew that we were in the right direction. It was not very hot yet so it was a nice walk.