Fun in the snow

The snow in the Bled area has been a bit intermittant so far.  We had some on the mountain tops as far back as September and had our first dumping in October.  However, by the end of December everything had melted and even up at Poklujka at 1200m it wasn't very deep.  In the middle of January we had several days of heavy snow and it reached an astonishing 20 inches outside our windows - and starting blocking out our light!  The Slovenians are very organised and the roads (and footpaths) were cleared very quickly.  If you walked in the snow it came above your knees, but we could get about on the cleared paths. We got arm-ache clearing the drive so the gates could open and the car get in and out.

Vicki had a go at skiing - which she promises to write about separately, but I've never really fancied careering down hill out of control, so we booked ourselves up with a local adventure company "Amigo" to do a "Fun in the snow" day.  It promised a walk in snowshoes, sledging and a chance to try a Slovenian invention, the Buttshaker. 

We picked a day shortly after the large dumping of snow, which meant the snow was very soft and even with the snowshoes we sank - a lot! It was a beautiful sunny day, with gorgeous views of the Julian Alps and a barmy  -12 degrees celsius. It was hard going and we had a couple of problems with the snowshoes, but finally made it through the woods to a beautiful plateau.  We thought we were at the end, but our guide proceeded to walk us round the plateau before we'd had enough and headed back.

The next activity on the agenda was sledging.  Unfortunately, it was the first sunny saturday after the snow and every family in Slovenia had the same idea.  The slope at Poklujka was very busy and as I was inexperienced at sledging I very nearly took out a couple of toddlers who decided to have tantrums in the middle of the slope.  A close call....  The sledging was fun, but walking back up the slope after all the hiking wasn't. 

Then it was time to try the Buttshaker.  This slovenian invention is smaller than a sledge with only one ski and you hold at the back and balance on it.  It goes fast than a sledge (although we didn't go that fast) and is more manouverable - less chance of colliding with the children.  We enjoyed.

Christmas & New Year in Bled

I apologise for the lateness of this post, but January just seems to have gotten away from us.  But as I now want to write more blogs about our exploits I thought I had better catch up with an overview of Christmas.  As I mentioned previously we had managed to get into the Christmas spirit with a baby Christmas tree, a few decorations and a visit to the Christmas market in Ljubljana.  However, the important stuff of organising a Christmas lunch was still hovering over me!  I had not seen any whole turkeys in the supermarket, I could not find stuffing mixture, and there was no custard for dessert!  It would be a disaster!!!  My plan was probably for a roast chicken with Potica cake for after (a Slovenian Christmas speciality). 

We went shopping on the friday before Christmas (I never go to supermarkets on the weekend before Christmas after a disastrous saturday in Asda in London one year - never again!).  Amazingly, we found a fresh turkey - what excitement.  I'd found a chestnut stuffing recipe and got all the ingredients, and my mother came for a christmas visit and saved the dessert by bringing some custard powder.  I had experimented with making custard from eggs, sugar and milk etc, but it hadn't gone well and was too thin. We did have to do without parsnips though, much to Richard's disgust, though I don't like them so that was fine by me!  So Christmas lunch was more english than I had orginially thought.  The stuffing took ages to make as I had to chop loads of roast chestnuts - I appreciate stuffing mixture a lot more now.  And there was the usual issue of the dinner takes five hours to make and is eaten in ten minutes!  However, the turkey was excellent, (it must have led a good life) and the Potica cake made for a Slovenian finish. 

After lunch we walked into Bled for the Christmas entertainment, they had a show of medival dancers, sword-fighting and fire-swallowing.  It wasn't snowy, as the previous fall had melted, and it wasn't as cold as I'd expected so we had an enjoyable time.

 

After the show we walked further round the lake to see the Legend of the Sunken Bell re-enacted.  The story goes that Lord of the castle died and his widow commisioned a bell to be cast in his memory for the church on the island.  However, when it was being rowed to the island a huge storm struck and the bell and the rowers were sunk and died.  In her grief she moved to Italy and became a nun.  But years later when she passed away, the Pope commisioned a bell and it was finally installed on the island. The story is told at Christmas each year and they had a lighted bell that sank into the water, and another on a rowing boat at the appropriate moments of the story.  Finishing off with some fireworks - of course!

New Year was celebrated with more entertainment in Bled - on the Sunday we had an excellent fire-show, with lots of twirling and huala-ing, and New Year's eve we had a live band playing by the lake and lots and lots of fireworks.  The town was as lively and cheerful as in the summer, but with us all wearing more hats!