So it's getting colder in Vilnius, and autumn is appearing. Rained all day today, and some yesterday as well. Also getting dark much much earlier. Yesterday I visited friends in their new flat in Antakalnis, a suburb close to the city centre (bit of an oxymoron that). They have just done up their flat and it is absolutely beautiful. Very modern, nice tiles everywhere, very colour coordinated and also a nice clean stair. Not like the one in my building which no-one takes any interest in.

Was waiting for the latest version of Viola News to be translated from English, but has not happened, so will have to distribute it tomorrow, seeing I will be elsewhere next week.

The Filharmonija still has not published this year's concert programme. The opera house and the other orchestra have had their plans published since May, and it has been possible to buy opera tickets since May (except I cannot, not knowing where I will be and when). I cannot understand why these things have to be done in the last moment. Yes, the organisations are busy but the filharmonija can be no busier than the opera house with about 6 performances per week.

Tomorrow the schools and everything will start again. Hope it does not rain on the smart school beginners in their finery with the large bunches of flowers. This will of course be the anniversary of the Beslan tragedy, too.

Yesterday went for my vaccination for yellow fever and a prescription for antimalarials for my trip to Rwanda later this year. It seems that the one drug which does not have nasty side-effects, and which the local mosquitoes are not immune against, Malarone, is not approved for use in Lithuania, so the doctor had to complete a complicated form stating why this should be prescribed and that I was aware of the risks I was taking. All the same, the drug was available at a specific pharmacy, and they managed to scrape enough together from different packets in different parts of the shop. Outrageously expensive, though, something like 5 quid a day.