Doves through the window

I like my attic window. The doves come and walk along it, looking in quizzically the the occupant below.

Anja's Café

Anja is opening a café in Maribor. It was meant to be ready by September for the Maribor Festival and my 2009 drawings of festival musicians were to hang on the walls. However, a city bureaucrat went on holiday for the month of August and neglected to pass the paperwork on to a colleague. So the café will be finished in October instead.

Anja is using all natural materials and the café will serve local food. She will cook and her husband will serve. I wish I was going to be here to support her. Maybe next year!

Remarkable canvases

The walls of the Ptuj Castle are covered with painted canvases. They are nailed to the walls along the edges, floor to ceiling. I decided when I saw them that I could do something similar in my new abode ... where ever that may be!

Hasty drivers

There are pedestrian crossing here in Maribor, but you have to look the drivers in the eye to make sure they are going to stop. Generally they don't. Apparently they don't stop for other cars either. These cars came to grief directly outside the hostel .... at a pedestrian crossing.

Percusion Players in Ptuj

Ptuj and the Scots

Several centuries ago the Leslie Clan from Scotland bought the Ptuj Castle and married into the local aristocracy. The castle remains the most well known castle in Slovenia. The red horse and rider in the courtyard reminds that the Scots wore red and rode red horses. Many of the 17th Century paintings in Ptuj Castle feature the Leslie family. Others are of Turkish overlords/ladies as the Turks occupied Slovenia on their way to Vienna. Churches remained as churches though and were not converted to mosques.

Maribor Interiors

Maribor shops have cosy interiors. The pizza shop (above) and the tea shop (below).

Posters with children

There are flags and posters all over town promoting the Maribor Festival .... and posters on the pavement, like this one in the town square. Richard Tognetti is a household name here.

The Irish and the Attic

There is a big football game on in Maribor tomorrow night. The hostel I was in was booked out for the 2nd/3rd and the owner (a native Liverpudlian who has managed to live here for 3 years without learning the language) asked me to move out for the two nights. She appeared with a towel-wrapped head yesterday when I handed back the key and was apologetic about keeping me waiting. She had just peroxided her hair. In the meantime the town is filling with football fans. I can't understand their lingo but their shirts are bright green. Even the Irish couldn't get greener shirts.

Oh, what's that? It is the Irish? Right, that would explain not understanding the lingo.

My new abode is a cute little attic room in the Uni Hotel on the town square. It is a real pleasure having a space (and bathroom) for myself instead of sharing with ten others and I have decide to stay here for the duration.

The new Slovenia

“When the wall fell we poured millions and millions into East Germany," The German woman in my hostel commented. "Here the people did it by themselves, and look what they have created. This place is amazing and East Germany is still the place everyone wants to leave.

Come on Vodafone!

For all its vaunted global roaming, Vodafone doesn't have coverage here in Slovenia. Come on Vodafone, come across the border!

Wine on the River Drava

Maribor is in the center of a wine district. The hills behind the town are planted with grapes and wine is served in many eateries for a Euro a glass. This wine bar on the river must be one of the nicest places to drink a glass.

Maribor metal door and shutters

Maribor is a rich mix of old and new. Here is someof the old ... metal doors and window shutters.

Sunflowers from the Mayor of Maribor

Maribor. It is nice to arrive in a town that feels familiar. Nothing has changed since last year, except the hostel has become much busier... all credit to June from England whose home it is.
Yesterday sunflowers were being given to the passers by. A present from the major of Maribor I was told.

To Graz,to Graz

Footprints in the sand

Yesterday was wet wet wet. Today the sun shines between showers and this gentleman was carfefully brushing away every last pine needle.I was sorry to have to leave footprints in his perfect sand as I walked by.

Tomorrow I set off for Slovenia. First stop Graz: twelve train hours away.

Nespresso

Wonderful what you can do if you have a quid. Launch a 'luxury'coffee brand complete with special coffee machines that 'extract' the coffee from little dinky aluminium one-cup containers. Nespresso coffee from Nestles. The machines (there are lots of options) are sold through upmarket specialty shops which have tables at the back where you can have a tasting (ie a free cup of coffee). No milk though or the shop would have to register as a cafe. Instant espresso coffee!

(Ahhhh... Modaks. How far away you are.)

Klövensteenweg, Hobökentwiete

Klövensteenweg, Hobökentwiete …. yes I am back in my second Heimat. The names are remnants of the German once spoken in the flatlands to the north and east.The houses here are aesthetically pleasing and I am reminded of Paul Keating and his view that architecture is important. Beautiful surroundings do affect the psyche. How unfortunate that Keating's is a minority view in Australia.

The big old brick houses here often house several apartments. Between them are newer Scandinavian wooden houses ....

.... and some with glass fronts which keep out the winter cold but let in the light. Tall oaks and chestnut trees line the streets.

The Train From Frankfurt Airport

A Frankfurt landing

"... hat sich beschwert!"
"Echt? (Really?)"
These were the first words I heard in Germany, an overheard conversation between two women walking along the corridor from the Frankfurt airport to the railway station beneath it.
Sich beschweren has several meanings, among them to attach blame or to complain about something.

How very German, I thought to myself. But it was thought with a smile as I love being in Germany. It had taken me only 20 minutes to get through all the airport formalities despite long queues.