Going to Cultural Events - or Keeping Fit the Georgian Way

Since I lost all that weight, people have been asking me how I did it. Apart from eating less, it has of course been the exercise regime. While at home I walked from my bedroom to my study, at first in Georgia I had a 3-4 km hike to work. Even now, in a different location, it's 20 - 25 minutes, well half of it almost vertically uphill on the way home (and going down takes much concentration not to slip on the very shiny cobbles or step into potholes. You can't just stride out!).

But that's nothing compared to a simple trip to the theatre or the opera. Today at lunchtime, on my fourth attempt, I was finally able to get tickets for next week's Autumn Tbilisi festival, having walked over from work and back (a good km in each direction, plus being thrown out of the Radisson building site when I strayed into it, trying to find a shortcut back to work).

So what is she whinging about, you may think?

It would have been nice to get tickets for all the concerts at one go - but today the ticket office (on the other side of the opera house box office, and with no connection to it) did not have any tickets for the last two concerts. It does not have these newfangled computers, but tears the tickets out of a book.

She said to come back on the 26th, when I have another concert anyway.

Oh, but it's better to come earlier in the day since in the evening before the concert she will be so busy.

Tonight I shot home from work, ate some goulash left-over from last weekend which I had forgotten to freeze, and shot back down the hill to see 'La fille mal gardee'. Funny, I thought, where is the audience? Usually they all mill outside the opera house, but for the last two weeks people have been working there redoing the pavement, and maybe they find it too noisy? (I did not think either that redoing a relatively small pavement would take two weeks..)

Oh, the show is cancelled? A young man speaking German said that I could come back for tomorrow's performance with the same ticket. Apparently a dancer was sick or injured but she would be fine tomorrow. (Hmmm)

To the same [wonderful] seat, I asked?

No. I'd have to return my ticket, get the money back, and buy another ticket. He helped me with that, which is just as well, since you needed ID to get back your money (with a signed statement). Of course I don't carry formal ID, and my student ID was insufficient. [I feel a management recommendation coming on].

And no, I could not buy a ticket for tomorrow. Need to come back tomorrow for that. Of course it's better to come early so I can get a good seat again. I suppose I can attach that little trip to my morning run. Maybe by that time they'll know if the show actually goes ahead. But it means running along the busiest street in Tbilisi in my shorts. Not a happy idea....