We are ready to leave to go back home and what a great way to end our trip, at the relaxing and scenic Lake Bled.   What a beautiful spot against the  back drop of the Alps and blue sky.  

 

We took a Pletna boat to the island to visit the Church of the Mary Queen.  A Pletna boat is rowed by one man who leverages his body into the oars to make the boat go.  At the island there are 98 steps to top where the church is located.   There is a gift shop at the church.  This is the place to buy locally crafted souveniers.  We bought a crystal bud vase.  Everything I looked at was handcrafted in Slovenia and many of the works in this shop were created by local artists.  I wish I allowed myself more time to shop here.  It was full of unique and beautiful items.    We took the Pletna boat back to the mainland.  We had the rest of the day to explore the Lake before our farewell dinner this evening.    

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Jim and I walked around the Lake.  5 miles.  Fun.  We even went to top of Castle but didn’t go in.  We were castled out at this time and hiking up the hill was a great way to get exercise and admire the view.   The Lake is also home to the Slovenia Olympic Rowing Team.  

  

We hung out at hotel after our big walk and began packing for our train trip tomorrow to Vienna where we would catch our flight to the United States the following day.  

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We had our farewell dinner with everyone.  Such a fun group.  I had trout.  Our party was in full swing and we decided to say our goodbye's while on a high note while we were laughing and having fun as we did on this tour.  It's always sad to say goodbye.  I like to leave when the party is good.  

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I put my final entry of the tour in my travel journal after dinner.   I paged through my little journal and was amazed at how much we saw, how far we traveled and how much we experienced and learned during this 15 day tour.  It was truly an incredible time. 

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