First of all I want to say it was lovely to have some of us meet up at the 3 Magpies at Heathrow the night before the flight . And to have Cindy and Sally join us too. :thumbup: I think it's a great idea to do this and have a nice meal in convivial surroundings. Far better than sitting in your hotel room on your own. Thank you Mick for thinking of it.
Early the following morning, Sue, Mick and I caught the free bus from Bath Road into Terminal 5 and were soon checked in and on our way through security. We met up with everyone else at the gate including our TM Mark. Only a small group (16) and I think it was fairly obvious almost from the start that most everyone was going to be friendly.
We flew into Zagreb to pouring rain and it continued raining all the way to our first hotel at Ribno just outside Bled. The hotel is small (57 rooms) and more of the ski lodge type in the middle of a forest. Beautifully quiet (I even heard a cuckoo). Lots and lots of darker wood. My room had a balcony (I was lucky) which looked out on the pine forest, and down to a beautiful outside terrace. Dinner that night indeed all the meals) was buffet style and we all sat at one reserved long table which was nice. There was a good selection of food at each meal I thought, but no choice of dessert except for cake. I think the main problem most of us had was that invariably the food was only luke warm most of the time, and I personally found the vegetables to be undercooked. It is all down to personal taste I suppose. Staff on the whole were friendly and efficient, and the chef made me a lovely small heart shaped cake for my birthday whilst I was there.
There is a mini bar in each room, but no personal safe, although you can leave everything very safely at reception. Sleep quality personally for me was pretty good. The bathrooms are small, and there is a hairdryer of sorts. The showers are very small and there doesn't seem to be a shower head as such but the water was consistently hot apart from one morning.
Apart from the problems above I liked the Ribno but one major issue is that the bar closes at 10pm although you can get a drink from the night reception and perhaps more importantly there is nothing to do at night apart from walking into a very small village.
So the following morning we took the short drive down to Lake Bled. The weather was very bright and sunny. Bled is a bit more commercialised, with shopping, bars and cafes. We took a small boat across to Bled Island and most of the group went up to the church (quite a few steps). We also visited Bled Castle. Do be aware here that it is a bit of a steep hike up to the Castle and correspondingly down. I personally didn't do it. Good footwear is essential here. Reports were that it was really good with some stunning views.
We had free time too in Bled and some of us did some shopping and then lunch. Prices are not too bad at all in Bled.
The following morning we went to Lake Bohinji. I had visited before and it was awesome to me to see the lake again in such beautiful weather. The clarity of the views across to the Julian Alps was amazing. We were joined by a local guide and took a lovely journey on an electric boat down to the end of the lake and then a walk to a 1st Wold War cemetery. The path wasn't too bad mostly but you need good footwear again. We came back on the boat and had some free time which consisted of lunch. Awesome pizza.
On our return most of us dropped off in Bled, and some of us took the little train around the lake, and some of us (including yours truly) walked around it. It's flat walking, but a bit of a hike! We took a taxi back to the hotel from Bled.
The following morning we packed up to take the journey to Portoroz. As an unexpected stop Mark had arranged that we had some free time in Lublijana. I had only driven through the city on a bus so that was really lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It's a lively city but great just sitting in a café people watching, although some of the group took the funicular up to the Castle.
We arrived at the hotel (Hotel Lucija) in Portoroz mid afternoon and got checked in. This is a very modern type of hotel (180 rooms) and I had a smart room with a balcony on the 3rd floor. No mini bar in the room this time but there was a safe. There is a lovely indoor seawater pool which sadly I didn't get round to using but reports were really good with a grassed area for sunbathing. The bar was a lot bigger but I don't think the staff were that friendly. Drinks prices were very good with a happy hour each evening and a nice outside seating area. The hotel was very busy whilst we were there with coach parties coming and going. More choice on food although it was very much of a muchness but at least it was hot! Again no choice of dessert apart from cake.
Portoroz itself is a nice resort town. Shopping, cafes and bars and some nice restaurants. It is very flat, lots of safe walking, bikes for hire and crazy golf. Some of the group went to a club one night which they said they enjoyed. No beach as such.
We were taken on a boat trip the following morning to the Salt Pans, which although interesting I found underwhelming. Then back on the boat to Piran which although small is a very nice place with a lovely Cathedral and some great views. Some of the group walked back to Portoroz and said it was a fairly easy flat walk which they enjoyed.
The following day most of the group went off on the optional trip to the Caves. Asti and I had been before so we had a nice few hours in beautiful weather exploring around (including a local free outdoor sculpture Park) and enjoying a nice lunch together.
The optional trip on the Friday was supposed to be the wine tasting but Mark had informed us earlier on that it was not viable to do it as only 6 had booked on it. So he arranged for us to do an alternative trip to Trieste just over the border into Italy. We visited the Mirimar Castle and gardens and with a local guide had a short walking tour around Trieste visiting a couple of the churches (Greek Orthodox and Serbian). We then had some free time in Trieste itself which was very easy to find your way around in.
So to summarise. I really enjoyed the holiday in such convivial company. A nice small friendly group. The problems with the Hotel Ribno are as stated although it is in a stunning location. One thing that people need to be aware of and I will state again when I get my questionnaire is that the transfer times to and from the airport are a lot longer than stated by JY originally but then I had always thought that. Please don't let that put you off going. Slovenia is a beautiful country, the people are friendly and prices are good. Cleanliness in both hotels was spot on. Also I felt totally safe everywhere walking about even if I was on my own which wasn't often.
One final thing. Our TM, Mark was SO good :thumbup: Friendly, approachable, there at all times if needed and just a genuine nice guy. It was so good that he tweaked things so that we could see Lublijana and Trieste. Thank you Mark!! :thumbup:
