Last Stop in Slovenia: Maribor

Maribor, Slovenia – 2012 European Capital of Culture! Multiple daily events year round! Art shows, street performers, public art installations, music, concerts, all mostly free.  Sounds great!

So we took the train to Maribor. Our arrival was ill-timed because we arrived on the weekend, and in a lot of places in Slovenia, everything shuts down on Saturday and Sunday.  Everything.  Unless you’re looking for booze or cigarettes, you’re out of luck.  We made more than a few Maribore jokes.

But Maribor was definitely picturesque, especially the view from the church tower. If you ever happen to be there, it’s worth the climb and the small donation.

And we got to see a 400 year old grape vine, just before its heavy clusters were harvested for the season.  It’s the oldest known grape vine in the world.

We saw some art, then attempted a concert, but there wasn’t a lot of seating and it seemed to be more or a local open mic night.  On Sunday, not even the grocery stores were open and so we had lunch at the “Mexican” restaurant in the mall.  And then the mall closed at 2 p.m. and we decided we were taking the first train out of town in the morning.

As we walked to the train station early Monday morning, it was amazing how the town that had seemed totally deserted for the previous two days came to life. It made us wonder if we would have felt differently about Maribor had we arrived on a weekday. But the tickets were bought, and we were ready to move on to our next destination.