On the way home, I made a short stopover in Maribor today. It is a nice little town, but (to be honest) I expected a little more.

Maybe the city seemed so sleepy because of today’s Slovenian Statehood Day (which is a public holiday)? The Slovenes take their Statehood Day quiet seriously, it seems: Not only were all shops closed, but many of the restaurants in the city center as well. At half past ten, when I started my walk through the city, there was still a bit of life in the cafés, but by lunchtime it was more of a siesta mood.

Nevertheless, I strolled through the streets for about two hours to take a lot at (among other things) Slomšek Square with the cathedral, university library, and post office, the Main Square with the town hall and the plague column, the harbor district with the Drau river and the Old Vine House (with the oldest vine in the world), the city castle, and the city park.