The town clocktower struck 6:00 AM and that was apparently my cue. Found a bakery and coffee shop, open right next to each other, both at six, both entirely local. One table of what I think was a German family. Chocolate roll for €1.75 (clearly not fresh that morning, but fine), coffee for around €2.15. I’m learning fast that you can eat well here for under €5 if you keep it simple.

The walk up to the castle was the real gift. Rosemary, lemon balm, chamomile, lavender, sage, even white sage, thyme, marjoram, all growing wild along the path. I want a garden like this so badly. Big old trees that have clearly been standing for centuries, doves and pigeons wandering around like they own the place. Also passed a genuinely strange AI-generated ad for the church (is this blasphemy?), and a little robot lawnmower doing its rounds. The future is here and it is mowing grass in Slovenia.

I got there at 6:48 AM, a full hour early, and just sat with the mountain view. Worth the whole walk on its own.

WOOOOWWWW. This church is free, modern-colored Renaissance-style wall paintings, genuinely lovely. 10/10, would visit again. There’s a small hotel (called the Old Parish House, which some of my tour-mates tomorrow stayed at! So weird!) and café right outside selling ice cream, coffee, lemonade, and Bled cake if you want to linger! Absolutely gorgeous.

Also- when you visit, look especially long at The Last Supper mural. Judas looks suspiciously like Lenin! It’s very possible he was modeled on Lenin by the artist, Slavko Pengov, who painted the frescoes in the 1930s.

A whole adventure in itself.

€2 bus to Radovljica. I got on the wrong bus at first and the driver (stressed I’m sure) yelled at me “NO! No no no!” And I got so scared I jumped off the bus lol! The heat gets to everyone. I got on the right one and was literally the only passenger lol. We made another stop like 2 minutes away and picked up three locals who tapped their bus cards. THAT is the spot to wait! Bled union. The main bled bus station was so crowded and everyone was pushing and shoving to get on the lake Bohinj bus. It was strange, because the lake Bohinj bus DID say Radovljica in the scrolling text on the front. When in doubt- ask the driver, and hope they are having a good day! 15 minutes later, I was in the medieval town of Radovljica, one day ahead of schedule!

Pictured is not the bus but the breakfast/lunch place I went to for cheaper pastries. Pekarna Planika is the bakery, and a coffee shop (Bar Planinček) is right next door. Both open at 6:00 am, yay!

The gingerbread museum was super touristy and gimmicky. I was willing to forgive that for the low €2 museum fee, but there was no one in the store. I wandered around, twisted and turned through halls, kept expecting to be stopped once I got too deep by some angry lederhosen worker, but… no one. Just me. I wandered around until I found an outdoor restaurant attached to the museum (that seems to be primarily what this establishment is), and found one gal in what best can be described as a green gingerbread doll outfit. I thought to myself “wow, I could have robbed this place blind. Glad I’m a good person.” Too sweaty and too socially drained to ask for a museum ticket (who would even give me the tour? The waitress?) I decided my gingerbreading experience would have to take place another day. 

And that day is {here!!}

Today did not go as planned, though neither did yesterday. Bled castle I would skip (€19 is exorbitant and made me rethink my life choices. When you start questioning whether you have enough money for dinner you know you’ve messed up.), tobogganing was super fun and I would absolutely do it again (and even put myself in the mindset of maybe I oughtta zipline tomorrow even though I’m terrified of dying on those things bc ziplines around the world are notorious for safety issues), and gosh darn I am so made that that the bee museum (Čebelarski muzej Radovljica) is closed on Monday’s. I’ve decided to try again Wednesday (they have actual BEES living in a HIVE there c’mon!! I would be verklempt if I made it this far and didn’t go, and beekeeping seems so important to slovenian culture!), but I will be dragging my suitcase behind me in the museum like an awkward albatross that I hope no one notices (or at least points out or shoots and kills me for being an obstruction to the peace). My family would tell me to just give up on the museum, but I’ve decided I look just young enough to keep making bad choices in public and face minimal backlash. Once I look like I’ve got a 401k or a mortgage (so when I’m 60) I’ll really be facing some consequences.