Lake Bled, Slovenia

Aiden checking out the lake

 Uncle B showing off "his" palace!

 View of the city

 Uncle B and Jeff relaxing at a lakeside bar

 Kids' hot chocolate

 Aiden waiting to leave at the hotel

 Entrance to the castle

 Uncle B proving that he really was making the crazy climb to the castle

 View of the island in the lake from the castle

 Island in the middle of the lake

 The Hamilton Clan in its glory

 There was a wine cellar at the castle that you could bottle your own wine and you know I took advantage of that!  So the hilarious man dressed as a monk helped me through the process. You could do white or red, and I chose red.

 Filling the bottle

 Putting the cork in (I used my big muscles)

 Putting wax over the cork

 Sealing the tag on the bottle with wax

 View of the city

Part of the castle

          Chloe, Aiden, and Brinlee      

The lake was formed after the recession of the Bohinj glacier. It is up to 2120 m long and up to 1380 m wide, its maximum depth being 30.6 m and tectonic in origin. After the last Ice Age, the Bohinj glacier deepened the natural tectonic hollow and gave into its present form. The basin was filled with water when the ice melted. The lake has no large natural tributaries; it is fed only by a few springs.

BLED CASTLE – according to written sources, the oldest castle in Slovenia, first mentioned in a 1011 donation deed as castellum Veldes.


Perched atop a steep cliff rising 130 metres above the glacial Lake Bled is a symbol of Bled and Slovenia – Bled Castle. The image of the castle forming a dramatic backdrop to the romantic island and the church on it has earned the resort worldwide recognition through the centuries. Castle terraces offer spectacular views of the lake and the island, down the Dežela area with Lesce and Radovljica and over to the mountain ranges of the Karavanke and the Julian Alps.

It has been over a thousand years since on 10 April 1004 the German king Henry II conferred the estate of Bled located in the province called in Carniola on Bishop Albuin of Brixen and his church. In 1011 Henry II awarded Albuin's successor, Adalberon, the castle on the cliff (castellum Veldes) in a charter in which the castle was first explicitly mentioned. The Bled Castle was the administrative seat of the Brixen estate in the Gorenjsko region. Medieval documents refer to Bled with its German name Veldes. In terms of written documents, Bled Castle is the oldest castle in Slovenia. Castle buildings are arranged around the lower and upper courtyards.

The fame of Bled and its beauties was spread around the world by world travellers, including Janez Vajkard Valvasor and his Glory of the Duchy of Carniola of 1689.

Owing to its strategic geographic location, Bled has always been an important venue of high–level political and other official meetings. Its castle has been visited by a number of high-ranking statesmen who enjoyed the breathtakingly beautiful views of the surrounding nature.