Recap! Monday - Ljubljana, Slovenia

Alright friends, time for a little update!

I'm not quite sure where to start but lets rewind to Monday in Slovenia, just for fun. First day off! woo! We slept in, quiiiite nicely. ...too nicely, really. We were supposed to meet our promoter, Rok, for lunch at 1pm...however, I was the first to wake up, falling out of bed at 12:30, and completely oblivious to our meeting time.. whoops. Wasn't until I felt that weird feeling you get when you think you're supposed to be somewhere that I decided to walk down to the venue and see if he or the other Balms were there. Turns out everyone slept in but me. But hey, sleeping 11 hours after driving through the night--i should expect nothing less!

Anyhow, we had a great, relaxed day. Ate some Falafel (twice), hung out at a coffee shop where we met an American working in Ljubljana as a bee keeper! crazy. Large rolls of colorful tape hung from the walls of this place, which were filled with patron's little creations. kinda fun. Trav and Kendall left a little Balm trace for all to see.

Later that night, we sat down with Rok, our promoter, and Samo, a man who helped with the production of the show. This guy was pretty cool! The boys spurred what became a contemporary Slovenian history lesson for us all. In the middle of that, he fell into the story of the venue we played at just the night before. It was one of four or so buildings on the edge of a small courtyard. The outsides were covered in graffiti art and eerie, obscure sculptures. For you austin kids, from the outside, it had the feel of the 21st st. co-op, but was a space run by artists. In the early 90s, Slovenian artists squatted these buildings, which were once military strongholds.

The city government however, wasn't too keen on this. They spied on the property, searching for every opportunity to out the squatters, not stopping short of cutting of the electricity and water. But Samo, ha, Samo, he was the one who found a way to steal electricity from near by towers. He was also the one to run out in the middle of the night and turn the water back on after the cops shut it off, only to run out again the next night and do it all again.

This went on for a year and a half, the creatives fighting to keep this public space. And eventually, the city gave in. The artists (dancers, musicians, painters etc) were permitted to stay, hassle free. And since then, the area has been a hub for the arts in Ljubljana. The club hosts shows throughout each week and cooks a mean vegan dinner for its bands.

awesome.

If I remember correctly we stayed up way too late. Our bodies don't really know what to do since we drove through the night a few days ago. It's currently 2:40am. I've given up on trying to sleep any sooner. Today was swell. I'll tell you all about it soon! Check out Slovenia if you ever get the chance!

-aisha