Wobbling Winos: Day 26 - Ptuj to Svecina.

Day 26. Ptuj to Svecina. 48 km, 3h30.

A feast of a breakfast, including pumpkin preserve and a great view over the Drava River Valley, at our friendly overnight stop, Panorama Rooms. Then we had a flat cycle along the river and flood plain to Slovenia's second city and centre of its wine industry, Maribor. We passed numerous small villages with roses in full bloom, and the odd white stork nesting on top of a telephone pole.

Maribor is wedged between the Drava River and the hills covered in vineyards behind. Large portions were destroyed in WW2, as it served as the headquarters for occupying Nazi forces. The old town, which has been rebuilt, was easy to explore as it's closed to motor traffic. They are very proud of having the oldest vine in the world - it is claimed to be 400 years old - growing against an old building, now a museum of wine, on the river bank. The helpful tourist office provided us with cycling maps for our onward journey.

All the towns in Slovenia have dedicated cycle lanes, mostly as part of the pavement. There are some gripes about these on cycle-touring websites, but we have enjoyed them as we are not in a hurry. We are able to look around at the town without worrying about trucks, we can stop to take photos or look at the map easily, and nobody can open a car door in your face suddenly. Today we even had a long section of paved cycle track through the countryside.

The car drivers have become increasingly cautious as we've traveled north through Slovenia and will often wait a considerable time to overtake on narrow roads. Perhaps the Austrian influence is responsible, as opposed to the Italian one further south. The fine for traveling more than 70 km/hr in a built-up area, with its 50km speed limit, is 1000 Euros and one month of license suspension. However, no one seems to take much notice of the seatbelt and cellphone laws - 120 Euro fine.

From Maribor we had a gentle climb, between the hills to the small village of Svecina, which is in spitting distance of the Austrian border. Again our accommodation is high up on a hill, but this time we had to get off and push our bikes with considerable encouragement from the thunder and lightening above. We made it in the nick of time before the heavens opened. We are staying at Valdhuber Winery, a modern wooden building with great vistas across the rolling vineyards.

We were greeted with a glass of excellent Sauvignon Blanc, a big surprise to find here (WWS 8). Later in the evening we tried their Renski (Rhine) Rizling (WWS 7) which we enjoyed with our self-catered gourmet courgette and pancetta pasta - a one-pot winner.