Magical Slovenia and Amazing Budapest

We camped in Slovenia for several days and enjoyed exploring the area. Slovenia is magical with beautiful lakes and mountains. We spent the first evening at Lake Bled which has a very photographic church on an island. While John took photos Sara took a quick swim in the lake. 

The next day we explored the lakes and mountain roads, and on an impulse stopped to ride the summer toboggan - "Furious Pehta". For 11 euros each we got a ride up the mountain on the chair lift and a fast trip down on the toboggan! It was a lot of fun, and we would have ridden a few more times if we had the time!  We drove on up the mountain road to checkout the views, and found a Russian chapel built in memory of prisoners of war who died building the road during World War 1. 

While driving back to the camp site we amazingly saw a sign for a restaurant recommended to us. We had been searching on Google maps with no success, and the sign suddenly appeared. We ate a traditional Slovenian meal with a huge desert and local beer - wonderful.

On Saturday 14th we sadly left Slovenia (will need to return for sure), and drove the 540 km to Budapest. John is great at selecting places to stay, and after four days of camping we treated ourselves to a nice hotel right next to the river.  After a quick rest and very enjoyable shower, we headed out for night photography. We went to the citadel for some amazing views of the city, finally staggering back to the hotel around midnight. We realized our two nights in the city wasn't long enough so decided to add another night.

Sunday we relaxed a bit and got a late start to the day, heading up to Fisherman's Bastion to explore the area with great city views, monuments and quiet streets. We took the bus back to the hotel for a few hours. We ventured out later in the evening, walking over the chain bridge and risking traffic for John to get the shot he wanted. We found a local Hungarian pub close to the bridge and stopped in for what was meant to a late dinner. Since it was 11 pm the kitchen was closed we made do with beer and desert. We walked back over the bridge to the hotel around midnight again.  Budapest is definitely a night event!

For our last day in Budapest we took a boat ride on the Danube river and enjoyed the great weather.  Then we taxied up to the Buda castle and after ice cream and coffee wandered around the palace and castle area enjoying the evening. We returned to our local Hungarian pub which was very close and were early enough to enjoy a traditional Hungarian meal and beer of course.

Tuesday (17th) we left Budapest and drove to the High Tantra mountains in Slovakia, more to come on the next post!

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