Day-9 May 24

Venice (Italy) to Ljubljana (Slovenia)

It is with mixed feelings we departed from our hotel in Venice. On the one hand the overwhelming experiences & beauty of Eastern parts of Europe that etched permanent memories in our heart & mind, while on the other hand the fact that this 9 day trip ends today.

Exiting Mestre, we head straight for the Motorway. Again an afterthought the previous night, courtesy- Google & Tripadvisor, that just before returning the bike, we will take a detour to Lake Bled in Slovenia which seemed a popular touristic place on google. So we blast our way on the E70 motorway which crosses into Slovenia and later becomes the E61.

With sunshine & clouds playing hide & seek, but no threat of rain we make steady progress swiftly cruising on the motorway towards Ljubljana. Anyways, just before the Slovenian capital, we bypass the city and head straight northwards to Lake Bled.

We exit the motorway at Lesce and whisked along a 2-lane road thru nice wooded areas and at a distance between the greenery, a large turquoise blue waterbody is coming into view. And what a place it turned out to be......absolutely jaw-dropping scenic views in all directions.

We follow the contours of this magical lake on the well paved tarmac that twists & turns its way until we reach the main tourist area. And being the weekend, I guess this is a very popular are for the local bikers and we see tons of bikes of every make & shape passing in both directions. Most of the eateries are also full of patrons enjoying their leisurely weekend lunch I guess. There was just a festive mood all around. Indeed with the calm turquoise blue waters of the glacier fed lake surrounded by some stunning greenery and breath taking rugged mountains, it would be difficult not to be in a good mood!

After lunch and a brief stroll around this beautiful lake, we ride a little distance further up this road to the mountain which is home to the famous Bled Castle. There is some high profile wedding happening with lots of security, exotic cars, women in expensive designer gowns etc and the place is closed off for all uninvited guests like us! The view from atop this mountain is even more adulating.

After the overdose of nature’s raw beauty, we finally head back to our final destination-Ljubljana. It was a deeply touching and special moment arriving back at the B&B Atticus in Ljubljana from where it all started 9 days back.

I drop off my long haired general & our luggage at the B&B and point the GPS to our bike rental place to return the bike. Here I am treated to a small un-wanted adventure, as the registered address of the bike shop was different from their actual office/yard and to make things easy…both are located at two different ends of the city!!!

After returning our trusty bike to the rental company, with more than 2,300 kms of unadulterated riding bliss coupled with rich experiences to last a lifetime, its time to switch back from biker mode to tourist mode and wander around town to finish off the evening on a relaxed note! The next day we fly back to India

We enjoyed sharing our Adriatic ride experiences here, and deeply thank you all for following us on this journey. God bless and stay tuned.....