Very rarely do places actually live up to their expectation that I have in my head. That’s what I reminded myself as the car door muffled shut. I climbed up a grassy embankment to the main road, and back down the other side. Lake Bled lay before me.  Immediately I was hypnotized by the tall white steeple of the Pilgrimage Church. The church sat on the island in the middle of the lake. Visitors rode Pletna boats out to the island and rang the church bells for wishes. The ringing reverently reverberated over the glass-like surface tension up to the peaks above. My imagination was immediately captivated by legends of…