June 14, 2011: Slovenia Day 3 - Vintgar Gorge, Return to Ljubljana

June 14, 2011: I had only one more item on my "to do" list for seeing the sites in/near Lake Bled -- Vintgar Gorge. One of the owners of the pension strongly advised me to visit the gorge before I left and am I glad I did! I took the bus to the gorge and it first circled the lake introducing me to new views and angles of Bled Island, the castle, and all the great hotels surrounding the lake (One was formerly owned by Tito back when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia.) I eventually reached Vintgar Gorge and hiked along a roaring river that sliced through the gorge. The sound of the river was deafening, and the colors of the waters ranged from dark teal to navy blue. Below are pictures of my visit to the gorge. By the way, the gorge is also part of Triglavski Narodni Park.

top of the waterfall

On the path there was even an altar.

Before leaving Bled, I took a couple more pictures:

Summer tobaggon course down mountain

sculling practice

Before leaving the city, I decided to buy food for lunch on the train for the next morning. I noticed a food preparation for pork salad in the display case.

The following pictures were taken from the bus as I traveled from Bled to Ljubljana:

 After I reached Ljubljana, I roamed the city some more and took the following pictures:

Market Ljubljana

Cobbler's Bridge

Kranje(?)

Church of St. James

Church of St. James

Church of St. James

National Gallery

After I left the park, I heard cheers coming from the Parliament. I went there to see what was going on. Slovenians dressed in traditional clothing were protesting something. The crowd was quite festive and there were balloons and traditional Slovenian music (accordion and stringed instruments).

 As I passed through Presernov Square, I saw two people on stilts.

 
In looking at a poster on Presernov Square, I saw that there would be a free ballet in the evening at 9:00. I went to my hotel for a quick meal and returned to see the ballet. It was quite (as in VERY) modern. People were doing all sorts of strange movements. They were all very energetic and quite athletic but nevertheless, the ballet was "different".

Modern Ballet at Presernov Square

What a great way to end a perfect vacation to Slovenia!