We Do Adventure

AVNOJ stands for Antifašističko Vijeće Narodnog Oslobođenja Jugoslavije, or Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia. If you were to take a visit to the AVNOJ museum in Jajce – and understand enough of the different languages the information panels are written in – you would come away with the impression that the establishing of Yugoslavia was a very organised affair. I've not come across anything to suggest this wasn't actually the case. That this organisation happened under occupation, while fighting a resistance movement is impressive. It provided the basis for a establishing a country that lasted fifty years, give or take. Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the meeting in Jajce that saw Yugoslavia signed into existence. Today more people will pass through the museum's doors than probably will on any other day of the year. The local news are reporting more than a thousand visitors in town for today's commemorative events. We went out ear...

Having posted two photos of a people-free stage I thought I should end the run with this: us in action. It comes from an album of photos of the AVNOJ event uploaded by Jajceinfo.com . The album really captures the feel of the event so I'd recommend taking a few moments out to browse through them over a nice cup of tea...or similar beverage. And talking of drinks...it was only last week that Rowan was reading that Somersby Pear Cider was coming for Bosnia and Herzegovina, as their Apple Cider was apparently a huge hit over the summer. I still maintain it tastes like vaguely alcoholic Apple Tango and am concerned it might damage the image of cider to first time drinkers over here, but the announcement of the arrival of its pear counterpart is good news. I found a bottle in Croatia this summer and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was. So it put a smile on my face when I stumbled across some in a supermarket earlier today...hopefully they'll still be stockin...

After posting yesterday's empty stage picture I thought it good to give it some context with today's image. This is how things looked late this morning before everything kicked off outside the AVNOJ Museum. We were responsible for that kick off, rocking out as the assembled Partizans, anti-fascists and other onlookers processed back across the bridge over the river, after a wreath laying ceremony at Jajce's Partizan memorial. If there was any disappointment from the crowd it was we didn't squeeze another song in, or accept suggestions as to what it might be, before we made way for the rest of the program to continue. I did, however, get a truly Bosnian busking experience, filling in on bass guitar with a local folk singer, his school music teacher keyboard player and the sound man on drums for an interesting rendition of a traditional tune. The song was in 7/8, which might not mean much to some of you, but others will understand the challenge these presen...

Tomorrow, Saturday, is the big AVNOJ commemoration here in Jajce, remembering the founding of Yugoslavia on 29th November 1943. ( AVNOJ stands for Antifašističko Vijeće Narodnog Oslobođenja Jugoslavije or the Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia.) We were asked to be part of proceedings again. Last year we gave an enthusiastic performance of some ex-Yu rock songs (plus a few international numbers) as part of the organised programme of events from the stage outside the AVNOJ Museum. And so, with a slightly-rejigged line-up, we will reprise the spirit of that performance tomorrow. The stage is set - I photographed it earlier today - it just remains for us to turn up early in the morning and hope it isn't too cold for guitar playing fingers!

'Danas je Dan Republike'. So went the chorus of one of the songs we played on Saturday. Today it's actually true: today is the Day of the Republic. It was much like any other day in Jajce when we wandered to the supermarket in the early afternoon. Saturday, however, was a different prospect altogether . Hundreds of people had gathered from across the former-Yugoslav republics to remember Tito and Yugoslavia. As if they had arrived through some rift in time, proud communists and uniformed Partizans gathered in the areas close the the AVNOJ Museum. AVNOJ stands for Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia and the Museum is housed in the building that played host to the meetings that led to the forming on Yugoslavia. Like in much of post-communist Eastern Europe it is not hard to find people nostalgic for how things were. For these people Saturday's events are a reminder of the togetherness and sense of identity that gave them a place on the world stage...

It's wrong to blow your own trumpet, so to speak, but after viewing this particular incident perhaps you'll forgive us this once. We were playing at the AVNOJ event outside the museum in Jajce today when disaster struck in the form of a falling PA speaker. As reactions go we're pretty proud of our apparent unflappability! (The whole events deserves a proper post which it will get some time in the next day or two.)