Slovenija~Maribor & More Claudia

This morning I got up at 6:30, got ready for the day, went and had breakfast and went to the train station to buy a ticket to Maribor.  I started out on the left side of the train and then moved to the right side when I saw the river on that side.  The countryside is so peaceful and beautiful.

You can’t tell very well in this picture, but we stopped in Zidani Most and there were deer in that little grassy area next to the yellow house!  There were about 5 of them.

There were so many fields of corn, and I liked these perfect rows of grapes with the houses up on the hill.

I got into Maribor a little earlier than I had planned so I walked down to Kebapci b/c I had been told that Hussein worked there.  He wasn’t there, but the guy that was working let me call Hussein on his cell phone.  Hussein said to wait and he and his wife would come see me.  They came, but I had to leave after just a few minutes to meet France at the train station.  I went back to the train station and found him and then we went back to Kebapci’s.  We got a kebap to eat and just sat and talked.  It was so great to see Hussein again, and he hasn’t changed at all in 7 years.

After eating, France & I went for a walk in the park.  I first met him on Facebook when he added me as a friend.  We have chatted for a few months, so it was nice to finally meet him in person.  We sat on a bench near this pretty pond and fountain.  Isn’t it pretty?

We had fun talking and getting to know each other a little better.  Time went by really fast and before I knew it, I had to leave to meet Claudia at the train station at 1:00.  We had to walk there from the park, so we were a little late.

Claudia said she was hungry b/c it was lunch time, so we went to McDonald’s and got a little something to eat and sat outside on the patio to eat and talk.  After that, we went to the mall so she could show me how expensive the baby clothes are.  We found a few cute things and then she took me to this jewelry shop, which was a bad idea b/c we found the discounted jewelry and I got a few things.  She was so sweet and bought me this really pretty pair of Hawaiian looking flower pearl earrings that I put on right after this picture b/c I liked them so much.

We went to her apartment so she could show me some cute baby stuff she had.  We took Lynne (the dog) on a little walk around the neighborhood.  I had to get a picture of her cute little baby bump.  I am so happy for her & Marko.

After our walk, we went back to the apartment and Marko was home from work.  We looked up the train schedule but the next train wasn’t for about an hour so we watched some of Claudia’s baptismal DVD.  It brought back SO MANY memories and it was so crazy to see Elder Walker and Maxfields and a bunch of old missionaries.  I was so excited to have my first (and only) sok (juice) in Slovenija.  After a while, they took me to the train station so I could go back home.  I am thrilled that I got to spend so much time with Claudia.  I just love her to pieces and am so glad that she is happy and doing well.

At the train station in Zidani Most where I had to change trains, a girl started talking to me and we sat by each other on the train to Ljub.  She was really nice & we talked about all sorts of things.  I was able to teach her a little about the Church b/c she thought Mormons were Amish and that we’re missionaries for life like priests & nuns in the Catholic Church.  She asked what makes us different from other churches and I told her that we have a living prophet on the Earth today and that we have the same church Christ had when He was on the Earth & a little bit about Joseph Smith.  I felt like a missionary again for just a bit and it felt great.

After I got off the train, I stopped at Ahmed’s store he has at the train station called Ali Baba.  I walked in and he just said, “Oh, Johnson!”  He remembered me right away and we had good little chat.  He is so nice and hasn’t changed at all.  I told him I still have the hat he gave me back when I was a missionary.  He gave me my kebap for free and it was the best one I had while in Slovenija.  He put a lot of the spicy oil that I love.  You know it’s a good kebap when your lips are burning at the end of it!

I went back to my hotel room and figured I’d better take some pictures so I can remember what it looked like.  It was a simple but nice little room since I only really slept there at night.  I like how simple the bedding was…just a duvet instead of sheets and a blanket.  And yes, that is a big old bottle of Multi Sola on the nightstand.

The TV shows here are not very good at all, b/c all they showed was Baywatch: Hawaii & Walker, Texas Ranger (the first ones where Chuck Norris had a mullet).  I  have made sure not to watch TV late at night so I can avoid any pornography channels.  This was the little closet and desk over by the door.

This is the bathroom, and it was nice that the shower had a seat in it so I could sit down and spray my poor aching feet.  I have a HUGE blister right on the ball of my left foot and have had to hobble around b/c it hurts so bad.  It was interesting b/c in order for the electricity to work, I had to put my key card in this slot inside the room.  It was a long day of traveling, so I am ready to snuggly in my bed and drift off to sleep.