We decided to stay an extra day in Maribor as we wanted to explore this lovely city. It is the second largest city in Slovenia and the population is under a 100,000. That is our kind of city. The Drava River runs right through the city, with the older city (called Lent) on one side and the newer part on the other side. The river is an important part of Maribor's history and crossing it provides you with a great view of the old city and the surrounding hills, ski areas and vineyards. We decided to ride our bike around the city as we have found that it is the best way to explore a city, especially since the weather continues to be very hot. For several days it has been in the high 30's and it is just too hot to walk around. Maribor is one of the most low key cities we have visited. The locals are very friendly, quick to greet us and proud of their country and town. We are slowly learning to say some key words in Slovene and we appreciate their positive reaction and assertion that our pronunciation is ok. There are some historic sites to see, but there are no touts trying to get your business - people are just laid back and willing to help if asked. In fact, we went to the tourist office and asked to see some books and maps of Slovenia. They were quick to assure us that we didnt' have to buy anything. I wanted to buy maps but she gave me a very good cycling map of Slovenia. This will be very important to help us navigate as there is no signage for the EV9 in Slovenia and we only have a GPS track to guide us. The tour at the Wine Cellar has been recommended, so we'll go there later today and learn about this important industry in Slovenia, and have 2 samples of their wine. A ride along the river and through the town, with a stop for ice cream, should round out the day nicely. Not having had a quiet day for some time, we are really enjoying the low key and graceful ambience of this picturesque and historic Slovenian city.
We saw this motorcycle club ride right into the town hall. One of their members was getting married and the bride was being brought to the town hall by a bridal party of bikers
We wanted some icecream on this very hot day so we went to the same place where we had icecream the day before. We decided against the ice cream because inside was an amazing bakery. Barry is sampling a traditional Slovenian cake. Delicious!
A few years ago the sampling of the wine was done inside this massive wine cask. Unfortunately, one time some people got seriously drunk and they couldn't get them out through the hole. It took over two hours to get out. They were rolling around inside the cask. Nowadays the sampling is done upstairs.
In the centre of the city, below the square Trg svobode and further on, is one of the largest and oldest classic wine cellars in Europe – it boasts an area of 20.000 m2 and 2,5 kilometre long underground tunnels.
We had not eaten anything and the wine had gone to our heads so we went to an imbiss to get some food. Barry ordered a cheeseburger and got a massive bun, very thin meat patty and the "works". I guess in Slovenia this a typical burger
