Shaha Shenanigans: Visiting Maribor, Wine Country

Last Saturday my kids were supposed to attend a primary activity at the district primary president's home out in Maribor, in Eastern Slovenia, a good 1.5 hour drive from Ljubljana. Being the good little ambassadors my kids are, they invited a couple of their friends from school to go with them. It was a great opportunity for us to visit this part of the country, famous for its vineyards and wine... Perfect time of year too as the vineyards are in full bloom!

Then the activity got cancelled because none of the other families could make it.

But I said, screw it, we're going anyway.

Cosette brought Marielle and James brought Dante. Caroline begrudgingly tagged along grumbling that as a twelve year old she was too old for such nonsense as primary.

And Emily had other plans with school friends so she got left behind 😞

The Fidler family was gracious to have us over, even though the official activity was canceled.

Before we went to their home, we visited a beautiful spot in the vineyards famous for its overlook of a road that is naturally shaped like a heart.

Can you see the 💚 ??

James, not quite feeling the 💜

Aww, these two girls are so cute together!

The heart-shaped road was a cool photo op, but I was more enchanted with the surrounding views:

Then we drove a little ways and climbed to an overlook tower. There was this walking group that was out with their poles trekking along the narrow roads that weaved through the vineyards. One lady was super friendly and invited us to join them. They were off to some wine festival in a nearby village. When we told her we were from the states she told us the funniest story:

She was a foreign exchange student at a university in Arkansas when Clinton was governor. He hosted a reception for all the foreign exchange students, and when he asked her where she was from upon meeting her, she replied, "Slovenia." He said, "Where the hell is that?" She had the audacity to say, "You know, if you're going to be running for president, you really should know your geography!" And he said, "Aww, I know enough" which apparently was true since he went on to be elected president! 😂

Views from the tower

Then it was on to the Fidlers home where we enjoyed čevapčiči, chicken wings, apple crisp, horseback rides, and good company. They live on seven acres of land and have chickens, horses, cats, and a dog. Marielle was terrified of all of them... even the chickens! 😂 I admired (and a little bit envied) their garden. I'm so mad I didn't think to get a group photo of our two families. The Fidlers are such nice people. She's from Salzburg, Austria, and he is from the Maribor area. He converted to the church as a young adult and shortly thereafter served a mission to California. He is the branch president over the Maribor branch, the only other branch besides the one we attend. So, just he and Ben are the only branch presidents in the whole country!