Lake Bled

Blue, Sian, Chris, Issac and I hopped on a bus and made a day trip out to Lake Bled a beautiful lake with crystal clear water and surrounded by the alps in the background. The center of the lake has a tiny island with a beautiful church and, had I not visited this place in person, I would have thought it only existed in fairy tales.

We hiked alongside the lake and arrived a small "beach". I say beach only in the most general sense, because it was just a small patch of grass next to the lake filled with sunbathers. There was also a concrete space upon which were sprawled out a surprising number of sunbathers as well, although why anyone would want to come to such a naturally beautiful space to roast on the asphalt is beyond me. European speedos also took some getting used to. These things are skin tight, thin and deeply disturbing. How anyone can strut about in such things with even a modicum of pride is beyond my Californian comprehension.

After lying around for a bit, we jumped into the water with the intention of swimming to the island in the center of the lake. Little did we know how far it would be. The entire swim took about 30-40 minutes, and much time was spent floating on our backs resting and contemplating how slowly the shores of our destination grew before us. Only when we finally arrived did we realize that we would also have to swim back, so this gave us a good excuse to idle around the island and try to delay the inevitable journey back. I guess I am making the swim sound unpleasant, but this is far from the case. There is nothing quite like the feeling of floating in clean, cool water while surrounded by towering mountains, verdant trees and a cloudless clear sky overhead.