Blue, Green and Bled

by Prayash Giria
(Delhi, India)

The picture was all thats left. Call me bullheaded, but in the quest to get that postcard-view of Lake Bled made me oversee the fact that I had nearly broken my hand in a mountain biking accident barely a few hours ago. One would think I'd hate Bled for doing that to my hand. I don't.

Not only is Bled amazingly pretty, it lived up to all its hype as Slovenia's foremost tourist attraction. We managed to beat the crowds because of our weekday visit, reached under a clear August sky, and spent a day walking along the crystalline lake.

Gazing at the romantic little church-on-an-island, cycled through countryside to visit spectacular Vintgar River Gorge, tumbled and wrecked my arm, and had beer to get over it. Then finally climbed an 800 mile high Malo Ostrojnica to get that satisfying picture of the place that made my summer jaunt in Europe way better than it was. My hand was in a sling, but there was a Union Beer can in the other and a jaw dropping canvas of blue and green in front of me. All was redeemed.