Aug 18 2015 Gozd Martuljek to Lake Bled or Blejsko as they say it here.

The room at the Hotel Rute was nice but there must have been 50 kids there and they ran around making noise till 11PM.  In the morning we went down to breakfast and there they were so we went back up to our room and waited till we heard them playing outside.  Most of the good food was gone now.

We got started late but the first 13km on the bahntrassen biketrail were downhill to Mojstrana.  It took us over some old metal train bridges   When we reached Mojstrana we  went to info and talked to a nice girl who told us 2 ways to get to Bled.  One involved a long hill and the other riding a while on a busy traveled road.  We took the 1st option until we saw how steep the hill was.  We turned around and went back down and ended up talking to a local.  He said the best way was up the hill and that it was scenic.  Back up the hill. we went The climb was close three km up  with a few flats along the way through part of  Triglavski National Park .When we reached the pass there was the magnificent Triglav Massive right in front of our eyes, That made the climb worth it.From  the top there were two really steep pitches down into Radovna .There was a little restaurant.  We met a couples of kids from Florida and sat with them and had beer and some chocolate-nut cake.  Back on the bikes the road turned to gravel and largely downhill.  There were beautiful views of the Triglav valley and Triglav mountain and the meadows were lush.  The trail followed a turquoise alpine stream clear to Krnica.  From there we were on a well traveled road into Bled the town.  We ended up on the right street and rode right to our Hotel Trst. The hotel has seen better days but it was reasonable and across the street from the lake.
We took a short walk on the promenade along the lake. The Pletna boots were taking people to the church on the Island in the middle of the Lake. We saw the castle way on up a cliff  above the lake.
We looked for a place to eat and wanted Sovenien food, That was a bit of a disappointment, it was sort of like bad German food. The cremschnitte ( a traditional pastry) was very good. We noticed later that  everyone in the place had ordered just that. Will go back to Italien cuisine while here.

bike trail to Mojstrana

old steel bridge over river 

Mojstrana

along the trail

views from the trail

from the trail towards Triglav

looking towards Triglav

gravel trail down to Bled

another view of Triglav

trail to Bled

Alpine meadows along the trail

arriving at lake Bled

Lake Bled

the castle above the lake 

Island with Church

Pletna (flat bottom boats)

view from our window

the lake

church inled

villa on the promanade

Slovenien rolled dumplings traditional Slovenien food

Traditional  Sovenien food

cremscnitte really delicious, you get it only here.

.

8-17-15  From Tarvisio to Gozd Martuljek
We left Tarvisio in a light rain, stopped at the tourist info and got a map from a pretty young woman, who spoke English,German, Italian and Slovenian stopped at EuroSpar mercato for some  provisions.
Quickly found our way to the Kronprinz Rudolf Bahntrassen ciclovia.It soon stopped raining and we could see the mountains coming out of the mist. The trail is pretty new and was built on the abandoned line from Tarvisio to Ljubljana. The line was closed down in 1965. It is a beautiful trail all paved crossing deep canyons on high bridges. We hardly saw folks until we reached and passed  the villages of Fusine, Ratece, Podkoren and arrived in Kranjska Gora.where there were a few tourist, but nothing like yesterday in Travis. Kranjska is known as a popular ski resort and every year the men's skiing world cup takes place here Ted Ligity won here numerous times..It is a really mellow place The trail took us through some wooded areas and beautiful green meadows with wildflowers still blooming with views of these magnificent mountains
We stopped in Kransjska for some lattes and post cards and rode on to our Hotel Garni Rute about 5 km down the way.Nice friendly girl at reception and beautiful room  . People are very friendly and helpful here more so than in Austria. Things don't cost as much here either I love this trail all the way from Salzburg. It is spectacular and we are not done either. Tomorrow on to Lake Bled through Dovje and Mojstrana. The highest mountain is called Triglav 2864 meters I would love to be here in the winter and I would love to do this trail all over again.  Todays blog is a spellcheckers nightmare.
"That is not very nice of you Mac"

Start of Bahntrassen Bike trail

bridges over deep canyons

along the trail

bike trail we ride

canyons on the way

riding over high bridges

mountains in the mist

along the trail

entering slovenia

the border crossing

Ski area

racks for drying hey

Ski area 

men's world cup  lift area Podkoren- Kranjska Gora 

world cup course with list of winners

view from our windo in Hotel Rute in Gozd Martuljek

On August 15 which is a katholic holiday here Maria Himmelfahrt (Maria goes to heaven)

we left Schwarzach im Pongau and decided to take the train to Spittal on the Drau. The reason for this were some very steep uphills and one really steep downhill. Mac was concerned about the brakes on the bikes and rather to have an accident we played it safe and had a nice ride in the dining car. The train was packed, but we enjoyed the ride and the beautiful scenery through the Gasteiner Tal with views of the Hohe Tauern while having cappucino and cake. The station Master in Schwarzach was ever so nice to help us get the bikes onto the  train but we got a ration from the conductor for not having reservations for the bikes. He got nicer and helped us unload at our destination. We quickly found the trail, having been there two years ago and were on our way to Villach. We found a cheap place, that was a little strange, with large rooms which we think was once a beer cellar. But the price was right and we had shower and WC, but no internet..We were lucky to be in because in minutes a thunderstorm started.

Later on after it had stopped raining we rode into town for dinner.We could only find only place open

and we had to wait a long time for our food. In the meantime they served us a little wooden box, saying a friendly greetings from the kitchen. Never seen that before. But it made waiting not so bad. Inside the box there was a tiny little roll and some herb butter and some carbonara.

We finally got our dinner Mac had Schnitzel with Salade and I had Beef Tatar which I love. 

Rode back to the strange lodging and turned in. The rain in the night woke us up. In the morning it was overcast but not raining.

This morning the 16th of August we left Villach and our goal for the day was Tarvis or Tarvisio in Italy. We rode along the beautiful Alpine river called the Gailitz with views of the high mountains.

We reached  the town early and found an Albergho right away. I am looking forward to some Italien food. 

Tomorrow we are being challenged to find our way to Bled without a guide book and map.

wish us luck.

.

Checking the bike sign out of Spittal.

Trail along the Drau

Scenic vista along the Drau

Villach on the holliday

The mysterious boxes before dinner

inside the box 

mac's wiener schnitzel

Beef Tartare

at the river Gailitz

river Gailitz

Pilgrim chapel in Arnoldstein

feeder trail to Via Alpina at Arnoldstein

family with three young kids on the way to  Grado.  The boys wanted to swim in the Adriatic so the dad said they would have to earn it.  So they are biking from Salzburg to Grado.  No "just drive to Grado and junp in the water"

hiking and ski runs around Arnodlstein

Karawanken

entering Italy

Karawanken

little  village of Coccau along the trail

the mountains in the mist

church at Coccau

Along the trail to Tarvisio