PREPARE Core Group Meeting & TREO Kick-off Meeting

Transcription

1 PREPARE Core Group Meeting & TREO Kick-off Meeting Time: 14/10/2013, 9:00 15/10/2013, 17:00 Venue: Hotel Piramida, Maribor, Slovenia ( Hotel Piramida Hotel Piramida (74 rooms) is situated just 400 m (5 min walk) from the Railway station of Maribor. It is a businessmen-oriented hotel in the center of Maribor. It offers a modern furnished Business club where meetings, seminars and press conferences can be held. There is also a small relaxation center available. This modern hotel is ideally situated in the city centre. With sweeping views of the city, the Hotel Piramida offers air-conditioned rooms with free Wi-Fi and High-speed Internet access. It offers many services including a suit press, a lift and a restaurant serving Slovenian and International dishes. Bicycle and car hire services are provided on site, and parking is available free of charge. The large and comfortable rooms at the Hotel Piramida have a private bathroom, Mini Bar, cable / satellite channels and a flat-screen TV. They all come with tea and coffee making facilities, a hair dryer and complimentary toiletries. Slippers are also provided for extra comfort. We have bargained a special price for PREPARE members which includes the half board (bedroom, breakfast and lunch), coffee breaks and conference room rental just for 88 /d (EUR per day). We shall take care of the reservation and you pay when you leave (credit cards are acceptable). We shall take dinners in the city. Travelling Maribor is the second most important centre and the second largest city of Slovenia. It has about inhabitants who live embraced by wine growing hills and the Mariborsko Pohorje mountain. Located near the Slovenian border with Austria, beside the Drava River and at the centre of five natural geographic regions, Maribor is the capital of Štajerska Region. You can reach Maribor by car, by rail or by plane. By car By car, you can travel to the Maribor region from the direction of Ljubljana (Slovenia) on the A1/E57, from the direction of Zagreb (Croatia) on the E59, from the direction of Budapest (Hungary) on the E59/E65/E71/M7, and from the direction of Trieste (Italy) on the E57/E70. Maribor is located only few minutes from the Austrian boarder: you can travel to Maribor

2 from the direction of Graz on the A9/E57/E59, and from the direction of Klagenfurt on the road B80/B70. In order to use motorways and express roads in Slovenia, a vignette is required. You can purchase the vignette at the border, at petrol stations in Slovenia and neighbouring countries, at post offices in Slovenia, at some kiosks etc. The weekly vignette costs 15 (for motorcycles 7,50 ). By train The Maribor train station is situated in the eastern part of the Maribor city centre (at Partizanska cesta 50). By train, you can travel to Maribor for example from: Vienna Meidling Maribor (3 h 30 m) 1 Graz Maribor (1 h) Zagreb Dobova Zidani most Celje Pragersko Maribor (3 h 30 m) Budapest Vienna Graz Maribor (6 h 30 m) Prague Vienna Maribor (9 h) You can find more connections and schedule information at Slovenian Railways (Slovenske železnice): By plane Although Maribor has an international airport, it does not provide regular flight connections but just charter flights. Nearby airports are in Ljubljana (Slovenia, 130 km from Maribor), Graz (Austria, 60 km), Zagreb (Croatia, 130 km), Klagenfurt (Austria, 140 km) and Vienna (Austria, 260 km). Airports in Ljubljana, Graz and Klagenfurt are also destinations of the lowcost carriers EasyJet (Ljubljana) and Ryanair (Klagenfurt and Graz). You are adviced to buy the tickets two months in advance to get the lowest price. Ljubljana Airport has a shuttle bus to Ljubljana city every hour (45 min drive) and a train from Ljubljana to Maribor (from 2 to 2,5 hours drive), at least one per hour; on Sundays, the time period between departures is two hours. You can enjoy the sightseeing when traversing half of the country. The Graz Airport is 60 km from Maribor; the bus to the railway (Graz Hauptbahnhof) leaves every half an hour (20 min drive), trains from Graz to Maribor leave six times a day, and the journey takes about 1,5 h. 1 From Vienna Airport to Maribor, there are just 2 suitable daily train connections: 1) 15:05 by bus (direction Westbahnhof) to Meidling station, arrival 15:35, (or 15:17 local train S7 to Rennweg station (15:39), 15:45 S2 to Meidling station (15:56), and 16:03 EC 159 Croatia to Maribor, arrival 19:38. 2) 07:05 by bus (direction Westbahnhof) to Meidling station, arrival 07:35, or 07:20 local train S7 to Rennweg station (07:42), 07:45 S2 to Meidling station (07:56), and 08:03 EC 159 Croatia to Maribor, arrival 11:38.

3 How to travel from the airport of Ljubljana to Ljubljana city? You can take a bus, see info: You can hire a taxi and we can coordinate to gather two or three of you for one vehicle. How to travel from Ljubljana to Maribor? When arriving to Ljubljana final bus station, the best choice is to take a train. Bus station is at the railway station. You can find some coffee shops and restaurants there, too. Here are the train timetables: When arriving at Maribor Railway station, you can walk from the train station to the hotel Piramida (400 m). How to travel from the airport of Graz to Graz? You can take a bus to Hauptbahnhof Graz, see info: an You can take a taxi and we can coordinate to gather two or three of you for one vehicle.

4 How to travel from Graz to Maribor: The best choice is to take a direct train to Maribor: How to travel from Vienna airport to Vienna railway station: You take the bus to Wien Meidling (45 min) and then continue with the direct train (4 5 h) to Maribor: 1 You can take another train to Graz but you have to switch the trains in Graz: On this web page of Vienna railway station you can search for destination (e.g. Maribor): Side events Sunday afternoon Visit to the ancient city of Ptuj (Roman Petovia), treasury of millennia, by car, 25 km from Maribor ( Sunday evening Common dinner at hotel Piramida for all the participants Monday evening Walk through the city of Maribor ( and dinner in one of its restaurants Tuesday evening Visit to Pohorje mountain by a cable car ( with a dinner Contacts PREPARE Secretariat Mr. Pavel Ruzicka Secretary General pavel.ruzicka@empress.cz University of Maribor Mr. Peter Glavic Emeritus Professor peter.glavic@uni-mb.si

5 About Maribor The Štajerska Region capital, the second most important centre in Slovenia, invites you to the embrace of its wine growing hills and green Pohorje. It is the foothills and the slopes of the Mariborsko Pohorje that are developing into the key tourist area which offers the experiences of wellness and congress center, and other tranquil and lively activities may it be in winter, summer, or both transitional seasons when nature awakens or prepares for rest. In the glimmering surface of the river Drava, on Lent Stara trta (the Old Vine), the oldest vine plant in the world, reflects from day to day. Bearing witness to a flourishing history is the rich architecture of past centuries, which reflect in the frontages of the houses. In spite of all the past stormy times the old town centre is well preserved with visible remains of the defence wall. The Slovene National Theatre Maribor, the rich Provincial museum Maribor housed in the monumental building of the city castle along with other city museums and galleries, the cultural-event centre Narodni dom Maribor, numerous amateur groups and varied cultural-entertainment life of the university students in Maribor enrapture visitors. A walk through the City Park, along with a visit to the aquarium and terrarium, brings refreshment but just a few minutes away from the city core is a sea of forests. Located here on Mariborsko Pohorje, is the biggest winter-sports tourist centre in Slovenia. Offering widespread mountain paths, tourist infrastructure and abundant, pleasant greenery Pohorje is attractive for lovers of animation as well as for those who enjoy peaceful relaxation - at all times of the year! Discovering Pohorje's primeval forest and pure waters offers an unforgettable experience for ramblers as well as lovers of horse riding and cycling. You can also try parachuting, hang gliding, ballooning and tobogganing on grass in the Pohorje Adrenalin Park, where overcoming obstacles is immense entertainment for both young and old alike. Particularly pleasant atmospheres are animated during special events; among the most resounding is certainly the already traditional Golden Fox, a competition for the World Cup in skiing for women.

6 Extensive vineyards, which rise from the edge of town over the hills of Maribor, are interwoven with more than 50 kilometres of wine roads. These roads are sown with wine shops and tourist farms, which with their homemade wine and food entice ramblers, cyclists and friends of the iron horse. The wine roads begin their way up the hills right from the city streets, where guests can visit the underground city cellar, which is one of the biggest and oldest classic cellars in Europe, to taste selected wines, a symbol of the wine culture of this merry part of Štajerska. City as well as wine growers and Pohorje caterers like to serve tasty Štajerska culinary specialities along with top quality wine. Mariborians are renowned as being good event organizers and hosts. The culmination of Slovene theatrical creativity is the annual Borštnik gathering, the international multicultural Festival Lent and events within the frame of The Embrace of the Old Vine, Music in September Festival, The Rafter's Christening, city's spring carnival and along with skiing and a number of other top sports competitions there are excellent opportunities for different kinds of experiences in Maribor. A casino Casino Maribor, enriches the nightlife in the city. Maribor is becoming a modern shopping place and one of the biggest tourist centres in the country. The Wellness & SPA-centre in Hotel Habakuk and the Medical-Recreational centre Fontana offer excellent opportunities for relaxing holidays. Surrender to Maribor's embrace, which offers you numerous opportunities for experiences let it be for an hour, a day, a week or more! You will always want to come back to Maribor!