With a companion who picked me up from the Südrast hotel at the Dreiländereck motorway service station near Arnoldstein at 10:00, I set off for
Slovenia again on Thursdays, this time in a rental car. Through the Karawanken Tunnel again with the short border control, which is unavoidable in this exceptional summer. This time past Jesenice to Škofja Loka. With a former travel partner from old days on the passenger side, with whom I have been to
Norway before, and who at least on this day made me a part of this journey, without wanting to serve a pluralis majestatis with this 'we' in this chapter.
Škofja Loka appeared to me as a particularly beautiful small Slovenian town. The area around Škofja Loka and further to the city of Kranj and on to Lake Bled is considered the cradle of Slovenian culture, and this is where we would already be at the main attraction of the day in terms of a pluralis modestiae: Lake Bled, which offers a well-known postcard motif with its island and the Baroque church of Sveta Marija.
Only with a special boat powered by rowing can you reach the island. However, when starting the return journey, you first have to pay the ferryman in cash, as there is no possibility to pay by credit card here. So, if you don't have cash, like my former travel partner from old days, you won't even be taken back to the mainland by the ferryman and, if you don't want to stay on the island forever, you may have to swim back to the other shore.
The crossing with the rowing boat costs 15 euros for one person, and there was a last twenty euro bill with a bit of change in my seemingly empty wallet. Which of course was enough for me alone, while my former travel partner from old days, who unfortunately could only pay by credit card, would probably have to take a swimming lesson. . . - With my last strength and great effort, I unexpectedly managed to scrape together some euro coins and several cents from my wallet, so that I could barely come up with the exact change for two people and save my former travel partner from old days from a swimming lesson.
