Slovenia surprised us with its beauty. A country so infrequently mentioned, so habitually forgotten, so overlooked. If we would have known how striking the forested hills and mirror lakes would be, we would have allotted more time to explore this gem. Instead, we casually planned for only 48 hours in Slovenia, neglecting the enormity of beauty that lay here. We arrived by train to Ljubljana, a quiet town with quaint squares filled with locals devouring ice cream cones in the afternoon light. It seemed like a mandatory activity, this hour of dairy enjoyment, with cafe upon cafe of people licking treats in the sun’s haze. We explored the capital on our first day in Slovenia, then took a train to the famous Lake Bled the second day. Lake Bled is nestled in the Julian Alps, home to many a swan and a slower pace of life. Bled’s castle perches atop a small island in the center of the lake, quite picturesque.
