What remains after two thousand stories
January has one peculiar characteristic. It compels you to pause. To look out the window at the gray morning and reflect on what has transpired and where you are headed. This thought has also struck me this year. Perhaps because it was a turning point. Perhaps because things are finally falling into place. Or perhaps simply because it's cold in January and you have more time to be alone with your thoughts.
When I look back on 2025, one number keeps popping into my head. I took more than two thousand people through Maribor in one year. Two thousand faces, stories, questions, laughs. And you know what's crazy? Not a single one of them said, "Eh, that was pointless." Not a single one. Some were more enthusiastic about the city, others a little less – that's normal. But we always ended on a positive note. From school trips to birthdays, from business guests to couples from America who wanted to see what lies between the Drava River and Pohorje. Maribor worked. Always.
And then I went back a little further. Where did it all begin? After college. With one opportunity that I didn't perceive at the time as the beginning of something bigger. The idea that the city is not just a backdrop, but a stage. That you can combine culture, theater, text, and the street into one experience. That was when I first really saw how interesting Maribor is. Not through textbooks, but through stories. Through small, human moments. Those that we locals take for granted, but which are the highlight of someone else's trip.
Take my favorite joke about spritzer, for example. When I ask foreign guests what they think "real men" drink in Maribor, they answer: whiskey, brandy, beer. Then I explain to them that it's spritzer. And that almost everywhere else in the world it's a women's drink, but here... well, I don't need to go on. And it's these little stories that have become more important to me than dry facts. Because who really cares that we have the only example of Rococo architecture in Maribor on the main square if you don't understand why that's cool?
For a long time, it was all rather sporadic. Someone would call me, I would respond, and then move on. But over time, you realize that you can't make a living that way. That you can't wait for others to do the work for you. And two years ago, I said to myself: enough is enough. Now I'm going to be the one who picks up the phone. I'm going to be the one who organizes. Who looks for people and ideas. And everything I do today is based on those ten years. Travel, conversations, mistakes, bad experiences, and good surprises.
Today, ten years later, I can say without hesitation: Maribor is ready for any guest. If they see it through the right eyes. If they are accompanied by someone who loves the city. Who does not embellish, but understands that bad things also have their weight. And that sometimes it is precisely the consequences that define us. Just like with me. You cannot erase bad experiences, but you can learn something from them.
And when I look back today, I am proud. I have inspired two thousand people to fall in love with Maribor in just one year. Who knows – maybe there will be five thousand of us in 2026. I believe this is just the beginning.