Once upon a time...

We rented a car in Ljubljana and drove about an hour to the Lake Bled region of the Julian Alps. From the moment we arrived I felt like I was in a fairytale.

Due to its proximity to the capital, Bled has always been a favorite summer and winter vacation spot for Slovenians. Old villas line the lakefront.

Alex and I walked the 6 km route around the lake the first day we were there. The views of Bled, the castle on the hill, and the church on the island were phenomenal and just kept getting prettier and prettier the further we walked.

The glacial lake is home to the World Rowing Championships and it was cool to get to watch some crews practicing. Its early spring, so we also got to enjoy watching the hatchling white swans and ducks paddle alongside their mothers on the lake's edge. I mean baby swans....adorable.

Morning two and we drove about 5 km to the Vintgar Gorge to take a famous hike along the river. This was cool.

We wound up in a tiny little Slovenian town and Alex and I poked around watching the locals stack firewood, cute hay, work in their vegetable plots, tend to their cows and horses. Again, I feel like I am in a fairytale. I had to get a picture next to one of these hay stacking thingies. We saw them everywhere. Basically summer here is all about preparing for winter. Every single plot of grass was either being cut, being raked, or allowing the grass to dry. The hay is then stacked on these wooden slats and is able to be stored for winter. We were seeing more and more regular round bales wrapped in plastic, the modern-non-fairytale way of doing it, but some people still opt for the authentic Slovenian way. 

Cute house-barn combo structures with the mountains in the distance.

We climbed up to the castle to get another astounding view of the lake and island. I love this picture. I feel like I am sitting in front of a fake backdrop its so pretty.

The castle. Enough said. Bled is gorgeous, pristine and totally picturesque. Wow.