A quickie

After visiting Graz, we continue to drive to our next destination: Croatia. To get there, we have to drive across Slovenia.

This time, we will just drive through it. We will spend more time when we come back from Croatia.

But, as we are here, we might as well stop in a couple of towns to get the gist of this part of the country. Two towns are mentioned in our guide: Maribor and Ptuj.

Slovenia feels as hot as Austria. Central Europe may be going though a heat wave, who knows. It has been a while since we have checked the news. An outside thermometer marks 38C. The air, standstill, it feels we cannot breath. We stop for a brief lunch, but we don’t eat a great deal. Hunger disappears with heat. We only fancy laying down in Dora for a bit of siesta. But we have to move on.

Our visit to Maribor is as brief as it can possible gets. The town doesn’t have much to offer. Moreover, it is deserted. Is there a cooler place where people have escaped to? We feel we are missing out of something.

I feel I walk slower and slower.

Nice bridge, yes, but I have to sit down. I don’t feel very well. And indeed I am not. Suddenly, my stomach gets rid of something that it didn’t like. Despite the temporary relief that comes after throwing up, I was no longer in a mood for sightseeing. So we head off to our Ptuj.

I am sorry but I won’t be a very good company tonight. I said to Gary and I slept until the next morning.

Much better today, we went to see Ptuj.

There are a few churches and museums but we skipped them all. The town is pretty enough to walk around it.

There are not many people up yet. It is Saturday, 9.30am. The street market is waking up, only a few stands have opened. The owners are still preparing their stalls with the food.

Ptuj has a fortress. We don’t get in, we have simply come up to see the views.

The old way up to the castle still keeps the original cobbles.

Look left and right, the town is pretty compact, some places look abandoned, but they are not. I have just seen a woman coming out of one of these houses.

Pretty soon, we reach the town hall. A few people are already out and about. The buildings here retain the Austro-Hungarian architectural features.

Very weird sculptures made out of bulls skeletons are displayed all over the square.

After a slow one hour walk, we are back to the start of our tour.

The day is heating up, we better get some shade in Dora and drive down to Croatia, a country bathed by the sea.

Bye for now, Slovenia. We will see you in a few weeks time.

SM