Europeans have several clear advantages over Americans. One, they serve hot chocolate at every breakfast, winter or summer. Two, bathrooms are private privies, being mini-rooms inside larger public restrooms. Three, most modern European places have built-in shades that slide over the window completely, blocking all light.
It was this last feature that made me surprised when the alarm went off – it was still dark, so I could not understand why the beeping started. It turns out it was 8:30 am, since breakfast only went until 9:30, but it seemed early to my eyes.
Breakfast was included in our B and B, and it was a continental affair, with granola, yogurt, breads, meats, cheeses, and so on. In an exciting international moment, what I thought was strawberry jam turned out to be some rather pungent meat puree. Happily, Meredith warned me to that possibility before I ate it.
After breakfast, we crossed over the river on the pedestrian/bike bridge, and we walked ten minutes along the river. Along the way, we spotted two kitties, one of which was very happy to have his head petted. We ended up at the local spa/water park. The spa has saunas and whirlpool tubs and swimming pools and… water slides. As one does. The park did not look open quite yet (it was 10:30), so we decided to go to Plan B – to go back and get the car and go to Maribor.
Maribor is one of my leading town candidates for 1950s film monster names (as in, “Release the… MARIBOR!”). Above and beyond providing me with some quirky humor, Maribor is Slovenia’s second biggest city (after the capital Ljubljana), with about 130,000 people. The downtown area is busy, but has some good walking sights, so we visited those.
After parking the car in a hotel garage (for about five dollars), we walked to a large square near the river, which is the same one that runs through Ptuj, the Drava. We took a look at a monument to plague victims that was in the square, and then we headed down to the river to walk along it for a bit. We saw a couple of swans, some ducks, some very lovely willow trees, a nice bridge with water fountains shooting into the river, and an old fortress that had been converted to a wine shop. It was a very pleasant walk.
We headed back up to the square and into the main pedestrian zone. It started to rain lightly, so we stopped at a café to grab a hot chocolate for me. Sadly, the mist kept falling, so we continued on to look at a Franciscan church. Meredith knows I am a St. Francis fan, so I like to see Franciscan churches. This one was made of brick, and was fairly new, having been finished around 1900.
Meredith’s trusty guidebook by Rick Steves recommended a small museum for those interested in history, so we checked it out. It turned out to be a very interesting museum. It covered Slovenia’s involvement in WW1 and WW2, with some focus on Maribor in the war. The WW1 and WW2 portions were presented side by side, so you could compare causes of each war, weapons in each war, medical treatment, women’s participation, propaganda, and so on. It was fascinating to do it that way, and we learned a lot. You could even send a Morse code message from one bunker in one room to another bunker in another room, assuming your partner did not confuse dots and dashes.
We finished up our tour of Maribor with a visit to its small cathedral. The cathedral’s main interest for me was its stained glass windows. Four of the windows were representations of the four Gospels, and they were created in 2004. Another window showed Pope John Paul II and was dated 1999. We thought it must have been to commemorate a visit, but were not sure. Meredith pointed out it was the first time she recognized someone from our lifetime in a stained glass window.
Back in Ptuj, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a bakery (it was around 4:30), before heading back to the spa. The water park was still closed because it was too cold out, but the spa was open. We changed in the free-for-all coed changing areas that happily had individual booths, and made our way into the spa. We spent much of our time there in one or another of the three hot tubs, but in between sessions there, we found one fun water slide that was attached to the spa itself, and it was running. The slide was interesting in itself – the slide was an enclosed tube. The top was illuminated with pictures of the Coliseum in Rome and the Parthenon and some random pictures of flames. The middle section was lit in an orange-pink light, and the bottom section was in total darkness, which was a bit freaky. We must have ridden the slide at least ten times, and as far as we could tell, we were the only people over the age of thirty going on it.
We did also swim in the pool, but I found it to be a fair amount of work to swim a lap, so the hot tubs won out over the pool. Mer wanted to try the sauna, and I cautiously agreed. We went to the least-hot sauna (around 120 degrees), and I opened the door. Dante yelled to stop letting all the cold air in, so I slammed it shut. Actually, there were already people in there, and the brief exposure to that much heat and steam caused me to take a step back. No, thank you! The hottest sauna was a whopping 210 degrees; why people would do that is beyond me.
The spa was a great treat coming so soon after a long airplane trip. I told Mer more than once that it was the best day touring ever.
After the spa, we walked back to the town to grab supper at a pizza place, where we ate outside, as we have most of our meals here. We were determined to find ice cream, but the ice cream places were all closed at 9:30 – who knew? We found a restaurant that served pastries, and we ate those out on the main (new) square of the town, which was almost empty. It was a quiet ending to a fairly mellow day. Here is hoping for a good night’s sleep in my very dark room.