Day 21: Cycling from Berlin to Athens SLOVENIA

Day 21

Tarvisio > Lake Bled > Ljubljana

108.4km

5 hours 4 mins

1,390m elevation gain

This was a fantastic section of cycling and although we had planned to stay at Lake Bled we realised early on that we could make it all the way to Ljubljana. It was also finally a sunny day, it started out quite chilly which was good for cycling, all the rain had cleared the air. We had a lovely route out of Italy along the old railway line and this extended into Slovenia and then we followed a cycle path signposted all the way to Ljubljana. It was still fairly hilly, you can't avoid them in this area.

Shanky zooming up the path in Italy

The River Sava we followed

Evidence the cycle path was an old railway line 

A little help

Of course as we had been warned, coming from Germany and Austria, occasionally the cycle path signs aren't quite as easy to follow and sometimes you have to make an educated guess at the path to take. In Jesenice we decided to stop at the huge Spar supermarket for a packed lunch and water. People were milling about and coming out of the store, but when I tried to walk in the doors wouldn't open, I tried again and a boy also came over to try. He then looked at the sign and we both realised that on Sunday's the store closes at 13.00 and it was 13.02!! We just missed it. There was some laughing and we all went back to our bikes, he and his friend were also on bikes.

We started looking at our phones to check the route and see if there was another supermarket. Then the boys came over and told us in their best English that we could get drinks from a petrol station nearby and then directed us. We left on our way, supposedly following the bike route but we ended up on a road leading to a worksite and factory. On our way back out of the road, we bumped into the two boys again who laughed and said "you again" and they sent us back on the route towards Lake Bled!

From a bridge along the route

Sights of note:

• A rainbow on the mountainside
• An enormous toad on the road, we had to swerve around it
• A drug bust on the border (we think) - police had stopped a car and were interrogating 5 guys right across the bike path, we had to dismount to get around
• A huge pig breaking through a fence to get to a river - I'm not sure if it made it through the gap
• A dinosaur park

A rainbow on the mountain side

Slovenian border

Lake Bled

A visit to the lake was slightly off course, but Shanky gave me the option and I took it. Soon after we followed the bike sign to Bled, we had to climb a huge hill on a fairly busy road, it winded up a mountainside and I immediately regretted the decision! Thankfully it did eventually end and then we cruised down to Bled with beautiful scenery all around. We picked a cafe right on the lakeside which served us a lunch including pasta pesto which Shanky had been looking for in Italy, so the detour was worth it in the end.

Lunch at Lake Bled

In the late afternoon as we were approaching Ljubljana