Maribor

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016--Ljubljana to Maribor

We're still in Slovenia, but we are now in Maribor, the second-largest city of the country which is much smaller than Ljubljana.  To get here, we took two trains.  We were a little worried as we traveled in the first one, because we couldn't understand the pronunciation of the next stop over the speakers.  In checking Google maps via GPS, the details were very rudimentary.  No towns were named, lakes were just triangular shapes, etc.  Eventually, the conductor came through, and told me when I asked that it was two more stops to where we needed to change trains.  I'm glad he told me, because I never would have guessed that was a place to change trains.  It was such a small station in a very small village in the middle of the mountains!  Another problem is that we arrived just at the minute when the other train was supposed to depart (other than 7 minutes early as scheduled).  We rushed off the train and down and under and up again to get to the right platform only to realize that half our fellow passengers on the first train were doing the same thing.  The train waited for us and left two minutes late.

As we walked from the Maribor train station toward our apartment we had rented via AIRBNB, we turned up the final small street.  A car stopped and asked who we were going to see.  We told her, "Eva."  She said Eva is not home.  She had just been there.  She turned around and went back to the house where we had already arrived by foot during that time.  She took us up to the back terrace and told us to have a seat.  She tried calling Eva without getting through.  In the meantime, she talked to us about various topics.  She is a therapist who uses hands and a few non-electrical instruments to deal with physical and mental problems.  She was very interesting.  Eventually, she said she thought she might know where Eva was and would go there to see.  But before leaving, she realized she might know where a key to the upstairs apartment was.  She got in and told us to meet her downstairs.  She let us into our apartment and told us details we needed about locks, switches, etc.  Just then, Eva and her husband and grandson arrived.  They had misunderstood my message which told them we would be an hour later IF we missed the connection train so they had not expected us yet.  Anyway, it was an interesting turn of events and did not cause any problems.

Eva made a lemonade/grapefruit juice drink for us and served us fresh plums and pears from her garden.  We visited with her and her husband Francu.  They gave us tourist maps and brochures. Then we excused ourselves and left to explore the town.

Our first stop was Mestni Park just a few blocks away.  It is a huge park area with lakes, trails, playgrounds, etc.  We sat at a lake and watched fish and turtles.  Near us was a young man who had taken off his shoes and had his feet in the water.  Wes joked that the fish were coming to give him a fish pedicure where tiny fish eat the dead skin off the feet.  He raised his feet back out of the water, and we began to talk.  His name is Batiste, and he is a recent graduate with an MBA in sustainable management.  He is taking time to travel before getting a job if he can find one.  We talked, then we walked together further back into the park visiting more.  He is traveling in Eastern European countries because they are more affordable.  Also, he will eventually be in Russia where he has a girlfriend.  The most interesting part of his story was the fact that he comes from the French-speaking part of Switzerland.  He said the country itself is small and that the French part very small.  He implied it isn't easy moving out of the French part of the country to the German or Italian parts.  And since Switzerland is not a part of the EU, he cannot move to other European countries.  Therefore, he feels quite isolated by being restricted to such a small geographic area for living and working.

While talking with Batiste, we observed some interesting photography.  Two pregnant women were there with their husbands doing a glamour shoot.  The women wore tights and short tops so that their enlarged bellies were exposed.  Both also wore long lacy tops that went from their shoulders to below their knees and were open.  They pulled the tops back to expose their bellies for shots.  Then there were shots with their husbands holding and caressing them.

After separating, from Batiste, Wes and I headed for the old part of Maribor which is from 900-1000 years ago.  It has narrow streets near the river with an old synagogue, old water tower, an old round tower for defense, and many little homes. We also saw what is supposed to be the oldest living grape vine in the world.  One more interesting thing we saw was a "roving" band in the center.  It consisted of a bicycle with an extension carrying three musicians--a drummer, a didgeridoo player, and a guitarist--with the drummer also doing the singing as they pedaled their way around the center of town with attached cardboard boxes for people to deposit money in appreciation of their efforts.

We returned to the apartment and did a load of laundry while taking care of othr chores.  I called my credit card company to report to them that I had been able to stay at the hotel, so there was no need for the fraud report.  Wes researched restaurants and activities in the area.

For dinner, we bought a pizza and ate it at the apartment with can's of Lasco Beer, a local beer made in one of the towns we passed on the train today.  By then, it was bedtime, so we ended the day.