This is a BIG post so you had better get comfortable.

It was definitely cooler after the rain yesterday so it was time to move on from Lake Soderica.

We will start the gradual trip back towards France for our canal trip in less than 3 weeks time. We have a lot to see on the way.

Driving alongside the canal next to the huge Drava river there were lots of fishermen out as it was Sunday.

We continued driving along the Drava and crossed the dam with the Varazdin lake above it.

We then saw some strange hills erupting from the ground – and many vineyards going straight up. It must be hard to pick those grapes!

We then went through the border into Slovenia again – another deserted border post. I have a Croatian SIM card and Glenn has a Slovenian one to make sure we have internet wherever we are. So we switched again!

We soon arrived at the Markovci aire next to the Ptuj Lake. We pressed the button to get a ticket on entry through the barrier – the barrier went up but didn’t get a ticket. This is a problem as shower and toilet entry, payment and exit from the site all require the ticket barcode. There is a little cafe operating next door. The owners phoned the service number and we had lunch while waiting.

I had the local favourite – a spricer- a spritzer of half wine and half soda water. It’s quite refreshing once you get used to it. We shared a klobasa – the local sausage – with roll and mustard. The hibiscus in the garden were huge.

Just after lunch the husband and wife service team turned up and gave the ticket machine a going over and gave us the precious ticket, then left. Soon after a German motorhome turned up – and they had the same problem. We helped them phone the service people again.

We hung around waiting to see if a storm was coming before cycling the 6km into the oldest town in Slovenia of Ptuj.

We decided to beat the storm. It was hard work and it was only as we were climbing the stairs to the castle that the rain started. We made it in without getting wet.

The castle is also a museum with a huge number of items in different collections.

The tapestry collection in the elaborately decorated rooms were from the 17th century and the highest quality at the time from Belgium.

These are ceremonial items from the town including a painting of the frozen Drava river.

The rooms and items were stunning – and numerous. I like the old ceramic heaters.

There was a collection of painting dedicated to strong women

There was a room set up as if for the family having tea – and then the chapel.

We finished off that large collection and viewed the rainy weather from the balcony.

There were a couple of Roman tablets built into the walls – and metal rats all the way up the stairs when we went upstairs to the next collection.

There was a modern art exhibition with all items made from dust. This was ‘Dust Jacket’.

There were then decorative plaques made to store religious relics with bits of bones woven into them and very old religious statues.

I liked the garden dwarf statues representing different characters from the 17th century.

The castle had been owned by the Scottish Leslie family who brought their paintings including a set of notable women.

We had now finished the top floor – phew! There were more Roman relics on the ground floor where the exhibition of musical instruments was.

At last we were finished in the castle. We checked out the castle grounds.

We then went back to the ticket office in the old stables and for the next collection. This one was about the traditional festival every February and the characters in it. The characters are supposed to be from pagan times and are about chasing off winter and welcoming spring. They visit farms and do a little performance and get a reward from the farmers. It looks like good fun!

The last collection was etchings from famous local printer Luigija Kadimirja from notable places in Europe.

They are almost like photographs!

Then that was all the collections finished!!

We checked out the views from the castle of the old town and surrounding area.

We then went back down the steps to the old town and looked around – not too busy on a Sunday evening.

We found a gelato to keep us going – and for the cycle home. We went home via the bird platform on the other side of the lake.

It was rough going on gravel with puddles but it was worth it to see the birds.

We timed the crossing of the river at the other end of the lake perfectly with the sunset.

After the 13km total cycle we were quite tired so had a quick dinner of pesto pasta with tuna and eggplant and went to bed early for once.