A huge hail storm that recently swept through my hometown reminded me of a bit of hail storm hell I experienced while on a rowboat in the middle of an idyllic lake in the Julian Alps.

The tiny hamlet of Bled sits on a lake of the same name in the northwest corner of the Balkan country of Slovenia. Surrounded by mountains and a cliff-top castle, Bled’s fairytale setting comes complete with 17^th-century church built on a tiny island in the middle of a sapphire-blue alpine lake.

Visitors ride wooden pletna boats across the lake to visit the church. Powered only by the oarsman, the trip is a relaxing ride. My ride to the island was enjoyable but it was the ride back to the dock that was most memorable.

As we were about to leave the island, we heard a rumble of thunder and our oarsman said we needed to hurry to try to beat the storm.

We didn’t make it.

Just a few minutes into the journey, the downpour came. After we were thoroughly soaked, the hail storm moved in. The boat’s decorative canvas canopy did fine in blocking the sun, but hail was another story. Although the hail stones were only about the size of a quarter, it was still an unpleasant experience. We eventually found cover under a private boathouse where we sat to wait out the storm.

watching the storm from the safety of the boathouse