Slovenia and Lake Bled with Rob

After spending time at Lake Garda, we decided to expand our lake repertoire and head across the border to Slovenia for a couple days.  Lake Bled is a gorgeous little lake tucked away in the mountains and its claim to fame is a church on an island.

There's also a church on the lake that dates back to the 15th century.

We spent the afternoon strolling along the lake shore and taking in the incredible scenery.

Bled is surrounded by Slovenia's Julian Alps.  Here are a couple pictures Rob took from the backseat as we sped by.  

On the way home we swung through Trieste to show Rob the Miramar Castle.  The castle was a U.S. Army headquarters during WWII.

Sadly, Donovan had to get back to work, so we made our way home to Vicenza.

Croatia Day 7 - Spanjola, the Fortress of Hvar

Sadly, this was our last morning on the lovely island of Hvar.  We reluctantly packed our bags and checked out of our room, then began driving around looking for ways to prolong our stay.  We ended up at the castle that overlooks Hvar Town.

It's really more of a fortification than a castle.  Back in the 16th century, it saved the lives of nearly all the townspeople when the Turks attacked, and the site has actually housed fortifications as far back as the 1st millennium BC, when it protected an Illyrian settlement.  The current structure was built between 1282 and 1551, but was abandoned during the 19th century. 

Inside the fortification, there's really not much to see.  There's a room with a collection of amphora (big clay pots) that were salvaged from a shipwreck off the coast of Hvar as well as a section of the prison that's open to visitors, but other than that the main draw is the view of town and the ocean.  Oh, and the big cannons were pretty cool too.

By this point, we were about to get rained on, so we hopped back in the car and drove to the other side of the island to catch the ferry back to the mainland. 

Lake Garda

For the last day of our long weekend, we went up to Lake Garda with some friends.  It's about an hour west of us, and is the largest of Italy's lakes.  We walked around town, ate some gelato, and did a little swimming.  It's a huge tourist destination, so we probably won't be going there very often once summer really kicks off, but yesterday was a great time to go.  Not too crowded and perfect weather!

An awesome castle that's right on the edge of the lake

 

There are some really cool mountains here, but unfortunately it wasn't clear enough to see them

More of the haze - it seems to be a common theme over here