REM is a worthwhile band.   It's The End of the World As We Know It was just cool and fun, like Stand.  Man in the Moon is one of their best, even though it's about Andy Kaufmann.

Since it's been a while since I updated this blog, this will be a longish entry.  You have been warned.  I hope you packed a lunch. 

Bled is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, it seems.  A lot of other people think so, too, based on the number of hotels and casinos and other touristy amenities there.  And I’ve found that people who have only heard marginally of Slovenia know about Bled, or who have visited Slovenia went to Bled.  And why not?  A gorgeous deep blue alpine lake surrounded by green, wooded hills, and surmounted by a medieval castle on a tall outcrop of rock overlooking the lake.  There is a single small island in the lake with an old church on it.  Just magnificent, from any angle.

Here, again, though it caused so much hardship and even deaths, the flooding actually worked to our advantage.  Since we had been denied a visit to Mt. Vogel and Lake Bohinj, we instead were able to tour the castle (to my happiness).  The road up to the castle was a series of sharp hairpin turns up the mountainside, with the rock face on one side and a sheer drop on the other side.  It was a bit worrisome to look out the windows on the open side of the bus.  Since we were already high above the road in the tour bus, it just exaggerated the effect of being in peril.  And, since this was not the usual bus nor our trusty Luka driving it, I’m sure I was not the only one with any vague, subconscious concern.  (On the other hand, being in the bus in situations like this made for amazing views.) Once we reached the parking lot of the castle, several of us disembarked.  However, it was quite a steep hike up to the castle and I think some stayed on the bus. Jason and I raced up the ramp as well as we could – there were no steps, just time and foot worn cobblestones at a terrific incline.  There was a handrail, though, and some grassy areas along the walls for a little traction.  I loved going through the gate in the wall surrounding the castle, the wooden bridge in days before probably being a drawbridge that could be lifted to bar the way to undesirables.  We reached the top fairly quickly and waited in a little café/patio area while the rest of the group straggled up, and began taking pictures.  You can tell why castles were built where they were – the view from the castle commanded the entire area.  You could see the whole of the lake and surrounding mountains.  It would be difficult to be surprised by an invading army up there, and it was a solid, defensible site.

In time, all had arrived who were coming up.  Jason was suitably impressed by the castle.  He said I could keep my Predjamski Grad, this would be his castle.  I smiled and told him to wait until such time as he saw “my” castle, although I allowed that this could be our “summer castle”.  Ah, dreams.

We proceeded to the walking self-tour through the rooms of the castle museum.  It was set up a little better than when I was there last, but many of the same things were there like the amazing huge wardrobe covered in marquetry.  I looked around at the small gift counter and I think I may have gotten a couple of postcards, but that was all.  Knowing that time was short and we needed to get back to the bus and head to our next destination, but I wanted to look in the chapel first.  Robert was in the chapel, too, and we looked together at the altar area, trying to determine what the niches were used for.  There are some lovely paintings on the wall, possibly frescos, plus coats of arms.  I was attempting to follow the lineage of the arms, but reluctantly knew I had to leave.  As I exited the chapel and entered the plaza area, I heard a cry and saw some commotion ahead of me.  I couldn’t see what was going on due to a large shrub on the steps, so I ran forward, silently whispering to myself, “Please don’t let it be a member of our group, please don’t let it be someone from our group.”  But it was.  I saw Lois lying unhappily and in obvious pain on the paving stones, with one of the Carols kneeling over her.  Apparently, the ladies had been coming down the 3-4 steps from the upper plaza, and one of them tripped or lost her footing and both went down.  Jason had already gone to the gift shop to get help, and another person brought over a goblet of water.  Carol was beside herself as she hovered over Lois.  Slowly, we got her to sit up, then helped her to a nearby chair.  Her ankle hurt very badly, and we couldn’t tell if it was strained or if it had fractured or broken.  We encouraged her to have some water.  It became apparent that Lois would not be able to walk on her own.  Someone else had gone down and advised Manja about what had happened.  After a few minutes rest, Jason and I supported Lois on either side and helped her move to a nearby chair.  Understandably, she was shaken up from the fall and scared about the condition of her ankle. I determined that the quickest way down with the least number of steps was via a semi-circle of steps, like a little amphitheater seating area.  Also, it was the most direct route to a restroom, which Lois was asking for.  We told her to just rest her weight on us and we would support her down the steps.  It took a little while and we paused a few times, but finally we got down to the level with the WC. At this point, Jason ran down to the bus to let everyone else know what was going on and came back as quickly as he could.  The next section that Lois would need to traverse had stairs on one side and slope on the other – I thought the slope was too steep and slippery for Lois’ needs.  The stairs had a handrail she could use to support herself, and she decided to try that.  Carol tried to help, too, blaming herself for the fall.  Lori made it down the stairs and stopped in a chair at the bottom, not wanting to go farther.  Leaving her in Manja’s care, Jason and I went down to the bus and gave the rest of the group an update.  Most of the men on the tour were standing outside of the bus, and we joked that everyone had better be on the bus and in our seats by the time Manja came back or they’d be in trouble!

Manja was going to call an ambulance for Lois so that she could have her ankle x-rayed, but the nearest one was a good few hours away at the site of the flooding and would not be able to make it to the Bled castle anytime soon.  So instead Manja arranged for a cab to come and take her to hospital.  When the taxi arrived, he went up and he and Manja brought Lois down from the castle.  Once Lois was safely in the taxi and en route to hospital, Manja got back on the bus and we started down to the town to try to enjoy the rest of the afternoon as much as possible.

Our next stop was beside the lake, where we all boarded traditional wooden boats (called "pletna") to be rowed across to the island.  Still a little on edge from the incident at the castle, Jason and I helped people onto the boats, which were not so much moored as chained to hooks on the shore.  Once everyone was on the two boats, we took a peaceful ride across the lake.  It was so beautiful, and I took a few pictures of the castle from the middle of the lake.  My Mom and Laurie were on the other boat, and we had fun waving at them from our boat, which was first across.  Manja had told a story about the island, the lake, and the wishing bell (see below) on the way, that a woman mourning the loss of her husband sent all her jewelry to be melted down and cast into a bell for the church.  But the bell, when it was being rowed out to the island, had fallen into the water during a storm and was lost.  The story goes that the woman now haunts the island mourning her love and hoping to find the bell, and her ghost can be seen sometimes in the mists. 

The island has been in use since prehistoric times as a sacred site, so it only made sense to build a church there.  We docked on the far side of the island and walked on wooded paths to the church.  (Manja, also still worried, told everyone to stay on the easy path and not try the stairs!)  The church, dedicated to Mary, was very pretty, but its big claim to fame is the church bell, and you are supposed to make a wish as you ring it.  After looking at some historical information outside we went inside and sat down in the pews.  There, hanging down in the middle of the church between the pews and the altar, was the rope for the wishing bell.  The first couple went up to ring it, and it took quite a few pulls to get the bell going, which made it a little easier for the people after them.  As everyone else was taking their turn, I looked around the altar area.  There were places where the floor had been replaced with glass or some other clear material, and you could see into the area under the church with the catacombs, which was really cool and interesting.  Finally, when everyone else had finished, Jason and I rang the bell.  (I’m not telling you what my wish was, though!) 

Leaving the church, we were told to hurry so we could make it to our next stop, but I peeked in the gift shop building for a moment and walked around a display of crèches.  I wish we had had more time there, but we needed to move on.  The way back to the boats on this side of the church was the island’s other claim to fame: the 99 steps.  They were not particularly steep or difficult, but it is traditional when people get married at the church for the groom to carry his bride up the 99 steps to the top.  Someone Mom knows from SWU branch 103 (Washington, DC) just got married in Bled this summer and there is a picture in the winter Zarja of him carrying his wife-to-be up the steps!

Then, back onto the boats for the return trip to shore.  Instead of returning to the place we’d embarked from, we docked at a small private pier.  I was really looking forward to this stop – we were going to have kremschnitte or crème layers (Bled’s signature dessert) on the patio of a hotel which was once Tito’s palace. (Tito was fond enough of Bled to have a residence built there for himself.)  But as we exited the boats, everyone groaned when they saw they needed to climb a flight up steps to get there!  However, they were very wide, low steps (Tito had foot or leg problems and had the stairs built this way so he could navigate them easier), and to prove that they were no big deal, I climbed them two at a time and reached the top very quickly.  (Besides, once I started up I got into a good stepping rhythm and just kept going until I was done.)  We headed for a small open patio where tables were set up and everyone took seats.  There was a wonderful view of the island and castle from the patio – no wonder Tito chose this spot!   Almost immediately, servers came around to offer a choice of tea and bring out large slabs of crème layers.  Similar to a napoleon, crème layers are thick cakes made of custard and whipped cream with thin layers of pastry separating them and on the top and bottom.  Instead of frosting, there is a dusting of powdered sugar on top.  I chose a fruit tea to go with it, and when the hot water was added it steeped to a gorgeous deep ruby red, slightly tart tea.  Yumm.  

The hotel was quite beautiful and ritzy inside (and expensive, I’m sure).  After our “snack”, we waited in front of the hotel for our bus to come, and I had some time to chat with and get to know more of the people on the tour.