“You have to see the view from up there” said Marko and directed me to the church tower, located on the Slomškov trg in Maribor. The tower that is adjected to the church offers the view of the Maribor, its buildings, streets, bridges. It IS great.

Walking up the steep stairs, you hold onto the rail. I hate towers with little staircases, which are small and improvised. Going up was easy. You climb the stairs, going in circles and then you come into this open space just below the main terace, where you see three bells. I thought “How cool…I can actually touch them!” and just a split second later, my ears almost flew off of my head. It was quarter past two. Time for two bell bangs. And I was standing only a few inches from them. Great.

With ringing in my head I moved on up to the terrace, where indeed, the view was spectacular. You could see the Drava river rolling throught the city, the bridges, houses, squares…Maribor lied before me like something you catch, gut and then open on the chopping block in your kitchen (trying out some new metaphors). I circled the terrace, noticing two teenage kids sitting on one end, discussing school, boys and life in general. And then it was time to head back down. Easier said than done.

For no apparent reason, I got scared of heights all of the sudden. And I cramped. My legs would not move and I stood there for a few seconds, like somebody glued me to the floor. My feet were literaly like blocks of concrete. After a while, the cramp wore off a little so that I could move my feet again and hurry downstairs.

My muscles still hurt and it`s annoying. Let`s hope tomorrow it`ll wear off completely.