Maribor is not

As optimistic as I am, I have to admit that Maribor was a disappointment. I guess it was partly our fault. We did go on a Saturday (when shops are closed) and we did go to a border town rather than the capital city - still, the tourist office could have followed it's advertised opening hours!

Without a doubt, the best part was the train ride. We passed little villages covered in snow, (I am so glad Graz is in a valley!), expansive fields and beautiful forests. The only sign that we had passed into Slovenia was when our tickets / passports were checked about 5 times... at least they're thorough.

As I mentioned, the tourist office was closed, so we got a taxi into town (2 minutes away) and picked up a map from the nearest hotel. We found ourselves a place for lunch and attempted to order some Slovenian food (lots of meat and potatoes). We also had some 'Slovenian' hot chocolate, which is basically frothy milk, with a faint chocolate flavour.

Finally we braved the cold and tried to see some of the sights. With our trusty map, we first headed for what looked like a castle - we walked past it a few times, before realising it was really just a big building. Then we went in search of the fish and snakes in the park - that turned out to be a ducks in a pond and a closed (of course) lizard museum. A little disheartened, we made some attempts to find an earlier train (or other means of transport) to Graz, before finally taking refuge in another cafe. This time the hot chocolate was extremely thick and syrupy - around the consistency of thick pumpkin soup... even I couldn't finish it!

The day ended well though - we had dinner at Murinsel (Island in the Mur), an amazing looking 'architectural project' consisting of an amphitheatre and a cafe. With lots of glass, light and curves (even the toilet made you feel like you were in a spaceship). It's actually connected to each side of the river by a bridge and apparently it kinda 'floats' and is not affected by rising water. Apparently they're building one in Melbourne...