The Third Time Lucky Tour: Day 20

My left arm has been getting a good workout over this tour. The foreign bikers are so much more friendly than those back home, so I find myself constantly raising my left hand to acknowledge them as they go by. I even had a police motorcyclist acknowledge me the other day!

A short day riding today, only 103 miles but those included a stop in Ljublijana and Bled, and a fantastic ride over the mountains.

First stop, fuel. Slovenia's fuel prices must be set by government, because every petrol station sells for the exact same price, €1.44.4 for 95 Unleaded. That's about £1.23 per litre. I did see one place that said discount, at €1.44.2! Some discount.

Getting into Ljublijana was a breeze. It's not like any other city we've been to. Sittingbourne is busier! We found a parking space no problem, as I'd already identified one or two beforehand. It was then, just a short, though very hot and sticky (30 degrees again) walk to the main sights. The main one seems to be, the Three Bridges. It really is 3 separate bridges but you'd be forgiven for thinking they were just one, as they are so close together.

Look closely, there are 3 bridges

Besides bridges, there was a small fountain, a golden girl with a jub. Very pretty.

Girl with a jug fountain

Even the government building was an impressive bit of architecture.

Mestna občina Ljubljana

We were dripping wet by the time we came to leave the city. 30 degrees really isn't the weather to be walking around sightseeing in biker jeans, base layer and big boots!

The ride to Bled was only about 40 miles but took us over the mountains, which meant some tight and twisty, and on the way up at least, very bumpy roads. The views on the way up though are quite worth a bit of bouncing in the saddle.

Not bad, eh?

Bizzarely, when we reached the summit, where there seemed to be a mountain bike competition going on, the road down was billiard table smooth, which makes the twists and turns a lot easier. On the way down, I was passed by 4 German GS BMW riders. They are, to put not too fine a point on it, feckin crazy. One went by just before a left hand hairpin, threw it on its side, so far, his panniers were practically scraping the ground. I had no idea a GS could lean that far over or how on earth he made the corner. By the time I was upright, he was gone and his mate went by.

Once over the mountains, we made a scheduled drink stop. Strangely though, the petrol station was closed for lunch, 13:00 to 13:30, meaning by the time the guy opened up again, he had a massive queue of people waiting to fill up.

We then had a short hop to Bled. That was just like going to the seaside back home. With the blistering temperature, the banks of the lake were crowded with sunbathers, something I really hadn't expected. We parked up, had some coffee and then took a stroll a little way around the lake. A whole circuit is 4 miles! We took some photos, then made our way back to the bikes and on to our hotel.

Lake Bled

Dinner was had at a mexican restaurant just along the road, because our hotel didn't start serving dinner until 9pm! Too late for us, so that's why we ventured out.

Wildlife Watch - 2 things today. On our way to Ljublijana, a black moggy, carrying a rather large rodent and seemingly in a hurry to get it back home, stepped into the road but with the Peugeot in front of me bearimng down on it, it stopped in its tracks. I slowed right down just in case it made another dash for it but it stayed put. It wasn't a big pussy, so an impressive catch, whatever it was.

Secondly, at Lake Bled, we came across this mum and her 6 babies.