This was one of my favourite rides on the tour, despite my shoes and clothes being wet and my bike still muddy from yesterday’s rain. The ride out of town was entirely on dedicated cycle paths and it wasn’t long until I saw the beautiful mountain ranges.

My first stop was in Kranj, where I came across a big group of cycle tourers. I found them very inspiring, they’re from Brazil and each year they pick a place to cycle tour, this was their fourth year running and they were having a blast. I loved that they could organise such a large group and find a way to make it work. I could definitely relate to them, especially when one lady said “I wish I could do this for the rest of my life”, I’m keen to find a way to do it.

Shortly after it was coffee time, which included eating cake while my clothes dried.

I carried on with my ride and met Ho on his awesome turquoise bike and we cycled together for the last 9km. We both started at Ljubljana but it took him an extra 2 hours, since it takes a while longer to cover the same distance on such a little bike. He started in Rome, so I was impressed.

Upon arrival in Bled, I sought out the region’s specialty cake, cremeschnitte, a pastry sandwich with cream and vanilla cream inside. Of course it was delicious…

I headed towards the lake and it was stunning, so I walked up to the castle for a better view.

All the walking and sightseeing made me hungry and I went to a nearby Slovenian restaurant. I was running low on my jennyonwheels origami wheels, so I made a dozen more during dinner. The food was delicious and after such a great day, I slept easily.

The next morning I decided to take the train back to Ljubljana so I could catch the afternoon walking tour. I stopped by Vintgar Gorges, 3km from Bled, and walked along the water to admire the views. It was great because I arrived nearly an hour before the tourist bus, so I had the whole place to myself.

When I arrived in Ljubljana, I wandered around town for a while and it was great to see the city when it wasn’t raining.

The walking tour was pretty cool, the city had a massive earthquake in 1895, so new town has architecture in the form of art nouveau, while the old town has baroque architecture.

I met some fellow Aussies on the tour and had a drink with them on the river before getting some dinner. It had been a long day, so I was looking forward to a sleep in before catching the train tomorrow.