We didn’t have time to go inside Bled Castle, but we thought that we’d walk the fifteen minutes up a huge hill (David Morgan would once again be pleased with me) to get to see the outside of it.
There it is, up there.
My bravery never ceases to amaze me.
Here the rest of the group comes, jogging up the mountain.
It wasn’t a technically difficult path to be fair, although there was quite a lot of it. As a natural hill walker, I rarely complained.
Having a little rest, waiting for the ladies, who were also doing a very recent pace up this mountain. We wondered how Richard would have got on and views differed on that.
Nearing the castle and the first recorded mention of a defensive structure being here is from 1101. This was when the German Emperor Henry II decided the Bishops of Brixen needed a little defensive structure to protect them, whilst also offering them lovely views over the lake. That feels like something of a win, the medieval bishops must have been pleased with this.
The castle arrangement looks pretty robust. For many centuries it was a symbol of ecclesiastical authority, but countries and territories changed around them. By the early twentieth century, this was very much a tourist attraction and the visitor numbers increased, so it was turned into a museum.
There are some lovely views from up here. I should mention as well that we’re in the Julian Alps here, which is very appropriate.
The moat and drawbridge, which as Steve pointed out didn’t seem hard to penetrate. Maybe things have been changed about a bit over the last few hundred years.
Imposing.
Susanna taking a photo of us….
Then it was the walk back down, but I’ll cover this excitement in another post. The anticipation for my two loyal blog readers really must be almost unbearable…..