From one of my fave places in Europe to another… I spent a long 12-hour travel day on a EuroCity train from Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The train took me through the beautiful Central Alps of Austria and then into the Alps of eastern Slovenia. I'd been to Ljubljana back around 2002 and didn't have any plans to see it again – it's nice, a good place to hang out, but I had other plans. Instead, I jumped straight onto a train to Bled, a gorgeous little lake in the north of the country that's a great place to plan some trips into the Julien Alps. I'd also been there before and had done all the touristy stuff (catch a boat out to the island and ring the bell, walk up to the castle etc.), but I wanted to get back there to go hiking.
Beautiful Lake Bled. These are the gondolas that you hire to get across to the church on the island in the middle of the lake.
I didn't have any accomodation booked but found a superb pension near the centre of town. I woke up early the next morning, got some great information and maps from the tourist office, and caught a bus to Lake Bohinj, about 20km west of Bled. The hike started off just how I like it – a series of gutbusting, steep switchbacks that took me from 600m to over 1200m altitude. On the other side of the pass I came to a pretty little alpine lake called "Crno Jelero" (just rolls off the tongue…) which was the ideal place for a rest and a refreshing dip.
My main objective for the day was a 1761m summit called "Prsivec", which I'd been told had great views. I left the lake and disappeared back into the forest to start the ascent. Towards the top the vegetation cleared out and it was indeed a fantastic view of Lake Bohinj far below to the south and the highest peaks of the Julien Alps to the north. It was a looooong and boring descent back down to the lake, with most of the track deep in the forest wher I couldn't see a thing. I eventually made it back to Stara Fuzina at the opposite end of the lake to where I started and caught a bus back to Bled completely exhausted.
The summit view from Prsivec. My start point was the lake shore down below.
Once I knew I was passing through the Czech Republic, I was hankering to get back down to Cesky Krumlov, a small, historic and World Heritage-listed town in southern Bohemia. I was last there in 1999 when it was just popping up in the travel guidebooks. I had a fantastic few days there checking out the castle up on the hill (and its expansive gardens), walking along the river bank, or exploring the narrow cobbled streets, and I was dying to get back there for another look.
It’s been well worth coming back, but WOW how times have changed!!! I hate to sound like a seasoned and slightly bitter traveler but "when I was here" there was only a handful of hostels, a couple of postcard stands, some good restaurants and that was about it. The place has definitely had a lick of paint since then and looks even more amazing than I remember, but every second building is now a pension, hostel or hotel, and the others are pricey restaurants or expensive jewel/Bohemian crystal stores. I guess the changes were unavoidable and inevitable, but it’s definitely lost a tiny bit of its original off-the-beaten-track appeal. It’s however still one of my fave places in Europe…
I’m on my way south now and decided to breeze through the Czech Republic on my way down to Slovenia and Croatia. I caught the train from Krakow to Prague and arrived early in the evening. I didn’t have anything booked but was lucky enough to find a cheap hostel near the train station.
I spent the evening re-acquainting myself with the city: I was last in Prague back in 1999 and was curious to see what had changed. I walked down through the Stare Mesto (Old Town), past the groovy Astronomical Clock, and across the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge, one of my favourite bridges of all time) to the Hradcany side of the city with its castle and palaces on the hill above. While it’s definitely still as beautiful as ever, to see the amount of tourist development that’s been done was truly astounding! The place was rammed with hordes of tour groups, far too many American college students, heaps of backpackers and tons of bachelor(ette) parties.
I had the next day free so I used it to re-explore parts of the city that I visited when I was last there – Prague Castle with its hourly changing of the guard, the impressive stained glass in St Vitus Cathedral, yet another walk across Charles Bridge etc etc.
The view across Charles Bridge to Prague Castle on the hill.
The Astronomical Clock in Staromestske with Tyn Church in the background.
The Changing of the Guard.
Stained glass and a sculpture on the gate outside the St. Vitus Cathedral.
Sunset on Charles Bridge.