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| Lake Bled church view from our hotel room |
Morning walk through Vintgar Gorge
is Gorgeous, followed by excellent lunch at Vila Bled, the former lakeside
residence of Marshall Tito.
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| Tito's Mansion |
Again, a very good meal that included cream of
asparagus soup, sausage ravioli, cheese soufflé, and Slovenian prosciutto. In
the afternoon we split up, Peter and Joan taking another lakeside walk while Pat
and I boat to an island in the middle of the lake where Pat tours the church
and Pete busies himself with some photography.
Contradicting my earlier statement
about the status of Bled cuisine, dinner is taken at Penzion Berc and is truly
exceptional. Our server for the entire evening was Dehan Kičin Stare, who has a
sommelier’s knowledge of Slovenian wines and is equally adept at explaining the
details of the pension’s menu--in addition to being a delightful person, more
than happy to share his knowledge of local lore and geography. For starters, we
shared gnocci with rabbit ragout and a smoke trout platter consisting of smoked
trout filet and smoked trout pate. For mains, Pat had grilled sea bream on
spinach while Joan, Peter and I shared a broiled whole seabass, expertly
dissected and served at table side. Dehan then talked us into sharing two
desserts: a dark chocolate/milk chocolate mousse combination that was served
with raspberries in a terra cotta flower pot; and a local cake-like dessert made
with buckwheat flower and berries that was served in an enormous mason jar.
Either of the desserts would have easily fed four by itself, but we were up to
the task and managed to ingest both with ease. The meal at Penzion Berc is up
there with the best of the trip to date and may be the overall winner. Absolute
must if you happen to be in the area.
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| Vintgar Gorge |
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| Lake Bled Castle |
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