Though we set out for a long journey, it proved to be more pleasant than expected.

The crew: Simona Motogna (UBB), Valentin Borza (UBB), Mihai Nadas (UBB), Daniel Ghita (UBB), Ovidiu Sabou (UBB), Todi Pruteanu (Microsoft Romania), Ionut Balan (CHIP Magazine Romania), Tudor Salomie (UTCN)

The means of transport: by mini-van, 2 drivers from Romania The itinerary:

- van starts off from Giurgiu
- pickup Todi from Bucharest
- pickup Ionut from Brasov
- pickup the rest of us from Cluj (we all met at Mihai’s place in Cluj)
- exit Romania through Bors
- enter Hungary and cross the whole country towards Pecs, the border with Croatia
- cross cut Croatia for about 150km
- enter Slovenia and head towards Maribor

Once arrived in Maribor, the impression of order and openness hits you. The country’s second largest city after Ljubljana (the capital) presents both history and both a wide variety of modernism. A city placed at the foot-hill of a FIIS skiing slope, with a beautiful fortress and a mixed attitude of Venice and Brasov, Maribor hosts one the best technical universities in the area.

Impeccable driving directions allow one to cut through the city and reach any desired destination, even in the heart of the down-town.

Once having reached the Pyramid hotel (the place where we were supposed to be housed), we came to find that the hotel was overbooked, and this led us to being housed in a +1 star (=5 star) hotel, a little bit outside of the downtown, right at the bottom of the ski slope, having a most incredible view and services. Sometimes bad news tends to turn into good events, and today’s inconvenience has proved to be such a thing.

[ back with details in the next blog entry ]