Welcome to Maribor

I was one of the last students to arrive in Maribor before the beginning of the first semester in October. People were so excited and anxious about accommodation, parties, the university and so on, that most of them were in the city 5 or 10 days before the start of the semester. Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia. It has a river, Drava, and a mountain, Mariborsko Pohorje, which is also a ski resort. Maribor is extremely beautiful at the end of the summer. Everything is green and the weather tends to be good most of the time. In the winter, however, you can expect snow and cold wind.

The best places to be during the warm sunny days are the Mestni park (the largest park in Maribor), around the river (there are tons of cafés and bars) or up in the mountain. Pohorje is a small mountain. You don't need any special equipment to go there. It offers some exciting opportunities. There is a mountain bike trail, a fun park with wooden buildings for climbing, and a train that goes all the way down. The train is actually a steel trail with small cars, attached to it. You get in one of the cars and you can control its speed. It is exciting and scary though. In order to get to Pohorje you need to catch a bus and in 15-20 minutes you are there. The river and the park are more accessible. Both are very very near the centre. You should also visit Piramida, a small hill with a tower on top. From Piramida you can see the entire city.

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When it comes to eating, you have a great choice. In Slovenia you buy a SIM card with a local number. Then you go and register this SIM card. You get 22 student coupons per month (they could be less in the case of vacations) and you can use them to eat in many restaurants. The state pays 2, 60 Euros (I think) of your meals and you pay the rest. You can go to fast food places and get a sandwich for free. You can get Chinese for about 1, 60 Euros, and you can eat in most restaurants for about 2 to 2. 70 Euros. For your money, you usually get a salad, a soup, something to drink, a main dish, and sometimes a desert. The University of Maribor is also a good place to study. In my faculty (FERI), I don't have any classes, since they are in Slovene. I see my teachers and they give me assignments, books to read, essays to write, and so on. They are all very nice.

When it comes to accommodation, you have three choices. First, you can live in a private flat and pay between 150 and 300 Euros per month with the expenses. It really depends on the room, the location, etc.

There are student dorms. I have been to three or four of them, visiting friends. The dorms are cheap. They cost between 90 Euros and 140 Euros (the newest one) with expenses included. You usually share an apartment with 6 people. You have one roommate in your room. What you share with the rest are the kitchen and the bathroom. There is cable internet. Anyway, the dorms are a good choice if want to meet people and attend parties. If you prefer to have more privacy, you should choose a private apartment.

There is a third option, but I wouldn't recommend it. There are private dorms, which cost between 150 and 300 Euros (150 for a shared room). The price includes all expenses. I wanted to get into one of them, but the owner lied to me. He promised me a room and when I arrived, I found out he had given it to somebody else. A friend of mine, who has lived in the private dorms, also complains about them.

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