Lake Bled: I'm taking up residency.

I learnt yesterday that the Slovenian word for ‘take picture’ isn’t Pods Slap instead this means ‘under the waterfall.’ These words became the repeated phrase (thinking that it meant ‘take picture’) over these past couple of days in Lake Bled.

A short 40min drive from the capital, Ljubljana, Lake Bled is stunning – beyond words and therefore you’d want to ‘take picture’ at every given opportunity. It kind of reminded me in way of Queenstown in NZ, funny that when the town is based around a lake. But what sets this place apart completely from any destination in NZ is the colour of the water. A rich, vibrant emerald city green. It’s crystal clear and unfortunately not quite warm enough yet for an onslaught of swimmers.

But back to the infamous Pods Slap. What a word. I love it. After a visit to Vintgar Gorge where you wander along the riverbank and end up standing atop of thundering falls, you were desperate to follow the Pod Slap sign so you could get under the waterfall and no surprises here, ‘take a picture.’

Slovenian’s are slightly reserved at first but once they get talking and laughing (particularly at you) they are quite the opposite.

Every trip to the lake should include a row out to Bled Island. It was a sunny afternoon when we did it with our new friends hailing from the UK, Ireland and Scotland (just had Wales missing). We where on a high thinking life can’t get any better until the rain, hail and thunder crept up with us (it’s getting sick of causing carnage in Germany, Hungary and Poland) and decided to make face here. Rowing in thunder and lighting isn’t fun. I can though, have a laugh at the woman who we rented the boat in stitches at us as we returned the boat looking like drowned rats. I’m sure she’s still having a chuckle over it.

We are back In Ljubljana now. Staying in a apartment for the next few days. But just quietly I think I’d prefer to be in Lake Bled.

Toodle pip x

Bled Island (and the lurking rain clouds)

Before the rain, thunder... etc etc arrived

The after shock. Stunning.

Spot the river. Oh you can't. It's green.

Vintgar Gorge.

Pod Slap.

Surrounding countryside.

Bled Island.

25 Reasons that you know your leaving London*

*Aside from the fact that your visa is expiring

1. The ‘L’ word becomes forbidden to use
2. HMRC is on speed dial for that final tax rebate
3. The dreaded ‘Heathrow injection’ (a cause of concern for any arriving Antipodean that they will inflate after gorging on English food and booze) becomes a reality in your final days due to a increase in pub visits for those last goodbyes
4. Your morning inbox dramatically reduces after unsubscribing from the daily Groupon and Amazon Deals emails
5. Ryanair is no longer the [dreaded preferred] airline of travel
6. You suddenly realize that the surging crowds on Oxford Street no longer annoy you
7. Pants can be a term used openly in conversation without getting any odd looks
8. Lloyds TSB stop calling you as your never going to take that overdraft now
9. No longer are you included in the Glastonbury planning emails
10. Sunscreen is a product that is actually needed and used in certain parts of the world
11. You realize that your probably never going to walk this far to get to blah blah blah… or travel for 45 mins in a tube to get to blah blah… or even bother with public transport at home as it isn’t as good as London
12. Cotton clothes stay ‘hole free’ as the moths have found a new victim
13. What winter jacket?  
14. 6 pairs of shoes aren’t ‘a necessity’ to take traveling
15. No longer does your Mum need to call and ask you, “When are you coming home?”
16. Your glad that you never completely dropped your standards and morphed into a fake eye-lash wearing, fake tan glowing TOWIE wannabe
17. You can be included on the Christmas list this year – and there will be a space for you at the family dinner table
18. This is your last chance to try a jacket potato with sweet corn and tuna or get creative with every other possible food substance that can become a filling
19. A URL for a blog is your only address
20. Your still not interested in going up the London-eye (that’s only for real tourists)
21. This is your last – last chance to try tally up a bill for more than £100 at Primark
22. A weekend in Europe will become a memory from the past
23. Buying a round of drinks won’t set you back £30 anymore
24. Sunbathing in the park becomes weird and drinking a alcohol in a public place is back to being illegal
25. Your friends can finally stand down from duties as surrogate parents/sisters/brothers and every other blood relation as you do have a 'real family' that you need to return too :)

Toodle pip x