We left the aire outside Ptuj and drove the short distance to Camping Kekec on the edge of Maribor. It’s a very nice site and great location for cycling into Maribor. We had an afternoon of washing and sorting out things – so not a lot to report on that day.

The next day we jumped on our bikes off to Maribor. Just down the road we stopped at the remains of a Roman villa and farm. Only the outline of the foundations is able to be seen after the excavation. It was a big compound with a large wall around and a tower on each wall.

Maribor has a long history from the Bronze Age up until now and is the second largest city in Slovenia.

We continued into the centre of Maribor beside the Drava River. We have been following this river for some time now.

We found the oldest vine in the world – from the 1500s. It’s in the Guinness Book of Records.

Wine is still produced from it and used as gifts to notable people. Unfortunately the wine is really sour so it’s not for drinking – just for presentation.

We then went to the Wine Museum very close by to find out more. There was initially only us there and we watched a little film about the Maribor wine area – mostly producing white wine. We were then told more information about the area and wine by the only girl looking after the museum. While we were checking out a few artifacts some Netherlanders and Germans arrived.

We then went downstairs to the cellar for a wine tasting – again with the girl. The cellar was not for wine but for storage for the house above, then a beer cellar. The house was destroyed in WWII as did half of Maribor.

We enjoyed the tasting of the wine selected by the Wine Queen – the girl who is elected every 2 years – but must come from a wine family. The Wine Queen then usually selects the wine for the next 2 years from her family vineyard.

This was this years wine.

We then moved on to lunch as we had a 4pm appointment for a wine tasting and wanted to get a base on our stomachs.

We did very well finding a restaurant serving good traditional food.

We both chose the same – stuffed peppers with plum meringue to follow. They were both very delicious.

We then had some time to spare so went to check out St Francis church nearby.

We also saw a large memorial to victims of WWII – and the fight against fascism – as all communist era memorials state.

It was soon time to go to the wine tour and tasting at Vinag 1846 – a huge wine cellar from 1847.

There used to be 2km of wine cellars until they were gradually sold off by successive owners. It’s still quite sizable now.

There are hundreds of vats – all empty now.. there were a few different types and sizes. They were made so people (children) could go inside through the small hole and clean them. The candles were on to monitor the oxygen levels in the cellar. Many lost their lives particularly children due to the low levels in the casks.

A winery is now using the cellars to ferment their sparkling wine – and is where the bottles are turned to move their sediment toward the cork for removal.

There was a concert hall there – an atmospheric place for a jazz club I would have thought.

We went back up the stairs tour of the cellars for the wine tasting. We had 4 wines to taste – all white as is produced in the region. We had bread sticks and a small cheese plate with it. The local favourite grape is either sipon or Chardonnay. We were in an international group who mostly chose the Sauvignon Blanc.

The amount given to taste is 0.1 cl – which means in total we had over half a bottle of wine. We left feeling quite happy and wandered down the street to the river seeing the yoga class going on beside the old water tower.

We walked back to our bicycles and kids were feeding the swans – so they were everywhere.

There is a sign indicating you have to give way to swans.

We got back to the bikes and pedaled back to the campsite.

We had a small bread and cheese dinner before falling into bed.