Because of our delayed flight we really only had one day to explore Maribor. After a trip to the grocery store for breakfast supplies, we spent the rest of the morning walking through the center. Two blocks off the center square we discovered a (free!) church tower that was only open on Fridays and Saturdays from May through September, offering nice views of the roofs below.

Later that evening, we walked along the river walk and saw the oldest living vine in the world at 450 years old.

Next we stopped at Tower Bar for a glass of wine. Eric had the Šipon (furmint) – rich and full bodied, dry, very nice. I opted for the rose which was a bit too sweet for me so Eric finished it and I got a blaufrankish as my second. We sat outside under an old tree and enjoyed the river views and people watching.

Our meal at Rozmarin was one of the fanciest we had during our entire trip! We started with a bottle of Dveri Pax DP Brut Rosé sparkling and ordered a main dish each. Pork tenderloin with dumplings for Eric (beautiful presentation), and the beef pappardelle with spinach for me  (surprisingly light, I finished the whole thing). Since we had some wine left, we capped off the evening with the raspberry tart: whole raspberries, raspberry cream, and a raspberry sorbet, yum.

It started to rain for our walk back, so we opted to return to the room, but plenty of people were still out and about on a Friday night.