Kilts in Kiev

well, sort of kilts. Today is the office Christmas party. I hate these things, and was relieved that a week ago (working on another project and not knowing about the party) I had bought a ticket for La Sylphide at the Kiev Opera House. I had often heard the title of the ballet, but never heard of the composer, one Jean Schneitzhoeffer, or the choreographer, Filippo Taglione. It was created in 1832, and it seems the choreography has not changed a bit since then. There is also something called 'Les Sylphides' about, a ballet created in 1907 based on Chopin's piano pieces orchestrated by Glazunov and choreographed by Fokine. All very bewildering.

Anyway, I was delighted to spot guys in kilts on the stage. Wow! Apparently it's about a farmer, James (wee Jimmy) who dreams of a sylphide (fairy) as he is about to get married to Effie, the neighbour's wean. He has a party in his rather baronial hall, or the Big Hoose, with lots of lads and lasses in kilts and checked skirts. The kilts are not quite kilts, the sporrans are attached to wide belts, and some of those kilts are far too long! (Kilts always do things for men's legs, regardless whether they are skinny or very well built chaps, but it really helps to see those bonnie knees). Also in this case, it seemed, something was worn underneath. Anyway, during the party the neighbour Gurn (Gurn???) and his maw, Madge arrive. Madge, being something of an old crone, not to say a witch (what does that say about old women?), who tells fortunes from reading hands, has bad news for Effie and indeed wee Jimmy. The sylphide flits about during the party and the dancing, only visible to oor Jimmy and finally nicks the wedding ring and floats off. Bad news! Wur Jimmy runs after her, leaving his bride in tears.

The second act opens in a woodland glen where Madge does a Macbeth act, boiling things in a cauldron, with a few handmaidens attending. Wur Jimmy and his sylphide are happily dancing about in love, when Madge appears again and gives Jimmy a scarf to help him keep the sylphide forever. As it happens, she poisoned it, and when he wraps it round his lass, she dies, and later so does he - with the witch triumphant.

'Tis but a short ballet of 1.5 hours including interval, rattling rapidly through the storyline. There is lots of nice dancing, including hints at highland flings, 8some reels (more like 24some reels) and sword dances, and there is no lingering about being soulful or even doleful. The witch (danced by a man) was wonderful! The two main characters did well - there was not a great deal of inspiration but all the steps seemed to be in the right places - a bit insipid, though. The synchronicity of the corps de ballet left a few things to be desired, particularly when small groups of sylphides danced. The orchestra had its rough edges here and there, but also got through the piece. But overall it was a fun and interesting evening. Another choreography I have seen.

Out in the Sticks!

Off into the far West of Ukraine today to run a seminar. Not the very far west, because there is a place called Chop which is signposted as 700+ km from Kiev, on the Polish border apparently. My place was only 300 km from Kiev (or so).

The project rule is that we do not travel by marshrutka (minibus) for safety reasons, and even the project driver is not allowed to make both trips on the same day. (Which reminds me of the days when I used to travel north through Scotland, leaving work at 3.30 pm, driving 400 km to Elgin, listening to a concert, and then driving 400 km back afterwards, arriving home at around 2 am. But never mind.) So we had planned everything, leaving this morning, workshop in the afternoon, returning home tomorrow. But then apparently the project rules changed, so we went by marshrutka. I am not convinced about the logic or the motivation of this all. So we went up by marshrutka in the morning, and returned with another one in the evening.

On the way we saw 3 accidents; one was a marshruta completely concertina'd from behind, the other a long vehicle lying across the full width of the motorway (which did not matter, since there was no barrier across the motorway, so we simply drove across on the opposite side to get around the obstacle - but with a barrier the accident might not have happened, we assume someone just attempted a U-turn across the motorway) and a further accident.

The marshrutkas have inbuilt entertainment - they all have DVD players, so the captive audience is trapped watching more or less appalling videos. On the menu today was:
an appalling Russian film about teenage boys trying to discover sex
a strange Russian film about some children and chases with snowmobiles
an American never-ending double act called 'Pure Women' set in the Civil War with lots of births, deaths, and diseases
another American film which I would describe as a 'God-film' where a doctor, who has been able to save a child's life, finds herself accompanied by an Angel or two. The Angel roles call for 'silent type' acting, with lots of significant looks. Truly dreadful. I thought I recognised the main actress. Since all films were dubbed in Russian I did not really get much of the content.

Planning law in Kiev

Looking at these two excrescenses one wonders how people get planning permission in Kiev. The building on the left is the new Hyatt Hotel, which fits with none of the buildings around it, and the design seems particularly pointless. It is being built by builders from the Caucasus region; I see them being picked up in a bus every evening to return to their accommodation? The building on the right, built generally in a style at least resembling the buildings around it, but grander - and it is two floors higher than all other buildings in the neighbourhood. This can be seen quite often in Kiev, as it does occasionally in Vilnius (the Novotel in Gedimino prospektas being a prime example).

Then again, one perhaps does not need to wonder how people get planning permission.

Grey December Hash

A slightly crazy moment on today's hash in Kiev. No, they did not fall in - though they did a pretty good imitation of teetering on the edge (of what - insanity???).

December, dreary December is not a great time to wander/run round the countryside, especially countryside as this, which would be better covered under a foot of snow.

It was somewhere near the edge of Kiev, a place where people find it convenient to dump their rubbish, especially building rubble - we have such places in Vilnius, too. I don't suppose there is any environmental police, or if there is, they can probably be paid off.

And a very long hash it was, too. Not vertically uphill, like in Tbilisi (which of course is ALL DOWN HILL!), nor like the one I had set in Vilnius, where folk rebelled after 45 minutes of walking - this was a solid two hours of walking and running through housing schemes, sliding on muddy tracks around two ponds, and then up and over and down and around through a forest, coming out at a cemetery, and having the final circle near a busy motorway junction. Since I was the only runner, I had the dubious delight of checking out all the false trails - especially the one that finished on top of a virtual cliff. Thanks, Sergey! There was also that 'fierce' guard dog whose bark got higher and higher, and whose tail went lower and lower, as I ran up to it....

When I picked the mistletoe I also realised that I might not have climbed a tree since I started wearing glasses... the tree nearly ended up wearing them!

Saturday in Kiev

Dinner with a friend last night at the Pervak restaurant, located near the city centre of Kiev. It's an ethnic Ukrainian restaurant, very much with a countryside theme, and very popular and busy. We were glad we had booked. The menu is very extensive - but make sure, if you eat there, that you also order the garnishes. Otherwise you will end up, as we did, with a plate of meat and a plate of fish and nothing to accompany it. Hint to waiters - tell your customers to order garnishes - and your tip will be bigger! To be fair, the foreign language skills of the waiting staff were none too good.

I had an avocado salad with mozarella and green leaves to start with, my friend had a mixed salad. The avocado salad contained 3 slithers of avocado, some quail's eggs, the cheese (of a factory-made rubbery persuasion) and lots of greenery. This was followed by fish for him, and veal stuffed with cherries for me - two pieces. It was nice, but a bit lonely. There was however bread with garlic butter, and dripping with onion or bacon, as we chose. No wine card, which was just as well, given one of the comments in the above website, so we stuck to beer. When my beer was finished and I asked for water, my friend was also given water to drink, without being asked. Oh well, it's better for us. As he was spooning up the last of his fish, we were asked about deserts or teas/coffees - clearly they wanted us out of the door! The food was nice enough, though, the ambience was good, and the price was slightly on the high side, but probably not for the environment.

My friend also gave me a copy of the Ukrainian Observer, and I was gobsmacked when I read this short story, which describes exactly what happened to me earlier this week. It's obviously very common.

Today wandered round Kyiv - needing that exercise - and lunched at the Sim Samuraiv (7 Samurais) ; a Japanese style restaurant on the side of the Besarabsky market (the market where the goods show no prices so you don't know how much you should pay). It was quite nice, but seemed more expensive than the Yakitoria chain, and with less of a buzz. Probably because the Yakitoria restaurants are always located in a bright building, whereas this is in a rather dark street. The sushi I had was good enough and the service was friendly and English speaking. It took an awfully long time to get my change, though. I still think the Yakitoria is the greatest, even though last time some of my little rolls were a wee bitty dry.

Still fairly lucky....

I thought I had got off lightly with my little incident in the street on Tuesday night, when it appeared nothing was missing..... except when today I wanted to pay for something, and could not lay my hands on my credit card. Then I happened to look at my bank account (thank you, internet) and found a transaction for about 3600 hrivna (500+ Euros) with a date of Tuesday - and luckily also a reverse transaction.....I think I might have noticed if I had spent that money in Kyiv. So the ****ers had taken my credit card whilst checking my bag! I have to be very grateful to whoever was at the cash register of the shop where my thieves tried to buy a lot of stuff. Lucky again!

Expensive, very expensive...

From What's on in Kiev:

'Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists in concert, Palace Ukraina, 14 December at 19.00 Arguably the world’s finest viola player, Yuri Bashmet together with his Moscow Soloists orchestra will mark their fifteenth anniversary with a special programme ‘We are Fifteen.’ A conductor, professor, and director of no less than six international music festivals, Bashmet’s reputation is one which truly stretches around the world. Smart dress recommended. Tickets are 80-1200hrv.'

Arguably indeed... you can just imagine the concert - people poshly dressed, there to be seen, applauding in all the wrong places... The ticket prices go up to 3 times the monthly minimum wage in Ukraine. I have heard various performances with Bashmet and his band, ranging from good to indifferent (most recently Nizhny Novgorod, also in Yerevan, Vilnius...). He did give a very highly acclaimed performance of the Schnittke viola concerto, though, at the London Proms this year.

I'll not be rushing to buy a ticket, or to loiter outside the door trying to get in.

Breaking into Mozart

This evening after work, strolled home, had a bite to eat, and then off to the Filarmonia for Mozart's Requiem - a must, and one of my favourite pieces of music. (A string quartet version exists which will just be perfect for my funeral, whenever it'll come...).



To my surprise it was sold out! Unbelievable - even standing tickets no longer existed, it seemed....so a few of us lingered by the door, but it was quite late and no-one was selling spare tickets - I missed the two that were going. The starting time came, and still people lingered, especially a lot of young people. Finally they were let in - I tried to get in with them, and was asked if I was a student. Of course I am, having just paid my huge OU fees, but I did not quite have the nerve to push it - here mature students are not very common, and I do not yet have a student ID.



So I was thrown out again....and the remainder of us wandered off...and I looked back, and there were these two young guys, who I had seen earlier, asking if I needed a ticket. Well, of course. I gave them the 30 hrivna for the ticket (about 5 Euros) ...and no ticket, but they wandered off towards the entrance. After previous experiences I stuck to them like glue, and right enough, they talked to the usherette at the entrance, slipped her some money (possibly more like 20 hrivna) and I was in, standing room only. Considering the thought of slipping her 50 hrivna had crossed my mind earlier I had done well. And it is possible to stand for Mozart's Requiem, no?



Could not see the orchestra or the soloists, which makes it quite difficult to judge the performance....Up at the back of the balcony it sounded a bit like an old recording, lots of bass but not many high sounds (or is my hearing getting that bad?). The bass singer was a bit heavy on the vibrato, and in general the music did not sound all that transparent - not much clarity, but it might have been due to my standing place. Anyway, it was a nice end to the Mozart year.

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Mozart was the Best!

Having slackened off a bit on the music scene, being 'too busy' on Monday, and 'not bothered' on Tuesday despite a Mozartfest in town, tonight I got myself together to go to the Filharmonia in Kiev. Tonight's theme for the concert of the Kiev Chamber Orchestra was Mozart and Salieri. The concert started with a Salieri symphony ('The national day' or something like that). It really was not a great piece of music; seemed quite thrown together, especially the last movement (although, to be fair, it was a Rondo) - the ending in particular was never-ending. This was followed by Mozart's 29th symphony. Both pieces were played standing up and with a fair bit of energy, almost approaching enthusiasm (but not too much). The conductor, Roman Kofman, managed to pull some nice peaks and troughs out of the orchestra. There were a couple of ropy moments in the French horns, but there are always ropy moments in French horns. I wondered though about the ladies in the orchestra, who wore the usual Ukrainian HIGH HIGH heels, and how they were coping standing up.



The second half was very interesting - it was a concert performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera 'Mozart and Salieri'. Have you heard of that? No, I had not either. It's a tiny opera with two protagonists - guess who - and a choir. It's based on Pushkin's verse drama of the same topic, and is a conversation between Mozart and Salieri - Salieri being the bass part, I assume, and Mozart the tenor. it is in Russian which is a bit unexpected, though probably it should not be. The music is fairly classical, and it ends with a big quote of Mozart's Requiem. So the story of Salieri doing Mozart in was already around in Pushkin's day. It was really interesting hearing this little opera.

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Brush with the Militia....

...or the penalties of being helpful!

Strolling down my street on the way home from work, a guy rushed past me and I suddenly heard a wee plop on the street. I looked and found that it was a bunch of tightly folded dollars! I shouted after the guy. Another guy had just walked past me and told me it was the man in front. He came back and thanked us profusely - the money had fallen out of his open wallet. Guy number two muttered something about 'crazy Russians' and we were still in muttered conversation about it, when...

A few seconds later he turned back again and said he had lost two wee bundles of cash, had we seen the other one. (Luckily, oh thank goodness, how luckily, the second chap was still there). We said no and the loser asked us several times; he seemed to think we had taken the money - but he was polite enough about it. We vehemently denied that we had the other bit of money. Then suddenly guy No 3 sidled up, and identified himself as 'Militia' flashing some document. Well, I nearly died!

He asked if there was a problem, we said no, the Russian explained the situation. We all had to show our passports; the Ukrainian had his, the Russian had his in the hotel, and I had my UK driving license, which was enough. We had to turn out all our pockets and wallets - they looked through everything, but did not find anything (I have so many pockets it was only half of them they found; they made me take off my backpack but realised that in that split second of the incident I could not have slipped it off, and put money into it). Thank goodness I did not have any dollars on me - but I noticed the Russian looked at the numbers of the Ukrainian's dollars and confirmed that they were not his. Who on earth memorises the numbers of their bank notes?

In the end the Ukrainian and Russian wandered off together, and the militiaman apologised to me. Gee, who would want to help a guy?

Kiev

It is 9.00 pm and the power has been off in my flat, my block of flats, since at least 6 pm. The computer battery is the only thing that works. Outside the street is bright and traffic is flowing.... Great!

Arrived at lunchtime - staying in the same flat as last time, which in principle is a relief, although without the 'leccy' it's a different story. Strange how in Tajikistan, with lots of electricity problems I had not a single powercut, apart from the self-inflicted one when I had the heater and kettle on at the same time, and here in Kiev, right in the centre of Kiev, I start off my stay with a power cut.

On returning home, I had planned to unpack, but, well; also had an idea to go to a concert in the music academy, not that far from here.... but then went shopping instead and got caught up in the supermarket; now I am generally sorted for the duration. I noticed that Yuri Bashmet will be playing here on 14 December; with his Moscow Soloists. I could not quite work out where, but somehow I doubt it is in the rather dinky Filharmonia - there was only a phone number on the poster.

A Russian acquaintance tells me that Nils Moenkemeier, the German violist, won the Bashmet viola competition in Moscow last week; also that an American, David Carpenter, refused to accept his joint 3rd prize. Maybe he did not understand how prize winning in Russia works.

Metro!

The trouble with not having a church hall for practicing our singing is that the singing club met at the opposite end of town; which is fine for folks with cars. I found the street on the map and decided to take the metro to near the person's home.

The metro in Tbilisi is like the metro in Kiev, Moscow and Armenia. Possibly the metro in Kiev has more modern cars. These cars, like the cars in Armenia, are old Moscow metro cars. If they were western I would say they are from the 1920s, but since they are Russian I expect they are from the 1950s. With a hint of art deco, and while they are old, they are in good nick - with gorgeous rows of wonderful lights under the ceiling. Unlike the Armenian metro. Also the stations are being renovated (unlike in Moscow - where they are probably protected, and Kiev and Armenia). Like in all three other metro systems, the stations are spotless, and at the bottom of each escalator a lady sits in a little glass hut, supervising all the passengers. In my arrival station the lady smiled and said good bye to every passenger. (I have noticed that in Georgia customer service assistants anywhere are much friendlier and much more smiley than in most post-Soviet countries).

On the way back from the singing someone told me horror stories about people being mugged and robbed and all that sort of thing, and not to use the metro - but you hear that about metros anywhere - Prague's system is quite notorious; I have had my own do on the tram in Warsaw, and I don't suppose the London Underground in the crush hour is much better.

Oh yes, and I had to ask only 6 people for the street of the 'singing' house; in the process I crossed the very street 4 times and walked up and down it about 5 times - but I found it in the end! Even better, I discovered that the No 4 marshrutka (minibus) which passes my house, has one of its termini in the same neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the Armenian family whose house we were invading are moving to the US shortly, so no more return trips there.

shlepping round Kyiv

Another Saturday in Kiev. Finished off some work in the morning and felt great when it was done. Then went off for a walk, to the supermarket in Podil to pick up the a few things for the last few days in Kiev. Took a stroll along Sahaidachnogo street in Podil, which is lined with cafes and restaurants and even has a Laura Ashley shop. Very nice street; then in the opposite direction along the river to the supermarket, got milk, juice, water etc - not that much, but since I usually use the backpack for such purchases, and this time only had the supermarket plastic bag, it was a bit heavy. Became much heavier because I had the idea that I might pick up a sushi for dinner, and maybe even pop into the Repriza cafe on the way home. Did not have a map with me but could roughly work out which way to go to get to the Yakitoria....

And very roughly it was, too - a long way out of the way at the river level, then up a very steep hill, and finally back towards the restaurant - a very very long slog. At the start of the walk I had thought that having a sushi and a cake would be a bit indulgent, but by the end indulgence was seriously required. Finally got to the restaurant, picked up a mega sushi to take home, then a lovely plum cheese cake in the Repriza and then home to put those very very weary feet up. Total hike of about 8 km, 5 or 6 of which with heavy shopping bag. Forgot to get another opera ticket for one of Helene's friends. Not sure that I really need to go to my hash tomorrow. Then again, it was lucky I was not wearing my new shoes - but I would never have got very far.

Glad to see on TV that the Oktoberfest is opened; watched the magic moment when the Munich Oberbuergermeister had to open a barrel of beer. Mr Stoiber was also there with his wife - no Bavarian politician could afford to miss this. The pope has sort of apologized to the muslims for using a 14th century quote. At least one senior Muslim cleric has said that it would be more useful for them to react rationally rather than emotionally. Let's hope someone listens to this.

After all that effort time for a total flake out at home. Watched 'La Gloire de mon pere' on DVD - what a wonderful film it is. What is it with these French films that they are so enjoyable? Is it the relaxed atmosphere, the beautiful environments and people, the relaxed meals?

Expensive Concert in Kiev

Tonight the next concert in the Virtuoso Planet series, in Kiev's stunning opera house. Tickets extremely expensive, 250 UAH, about 40 Euros - probably a third of the monthly minimum wage. Before the first half the hall looked quite bare, especially in the expensive front row. So slipped from the side of the second row to the centre of the front row. Found the same orchestra before me, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. First soloist was Clement Saunier of France playing the Hummel concerto. Orchestra was rather large for this, but they coped. Saunier could have been a bit smoother; he's not a Nagariakov, but he played competently enough - got the impression he was a bit bored with the piece. He was followed by Marie-Elisabeth Hecker of Germany, aged 18 or 19, playing the Shostakovich cello concerto. She has a passing resemblance to Ms Du Pre, and gave it all she had. The second movement was quite haunting; the first could have been played a tiny, tiny bit dirtier but really, it was a very very good performance. There was a bit of a strange audience; applause in the wrong place (only businessmen can afford the ticket prices), and in particular some guy high up in the gods applauding long after everyone had finished, and shouting 'bravo' into the silence. The conductor gave him several of his glares, but it took some time for the guy to stop...

In the second half the hall had suddenly filled up; not sure if they had come from upstairs, or from outside. The front row was suddenly filled by a bunch of very smart young men one of whom was carrying a bible. Hmm. I sat down on one of only two free seats (after the row had been empty for the whole first half of the concert) - the back of the seat was taken by the jacket of the guy behind me. He asked if I could move; I suggested he move his jacket, which he did. A young American conductor called Solshenitsyn conducted Shostakovich's 10 symphony. Very good, with lots of energy, and driving his way through the piece. This time the audience had mysteriously got it about not applauding between movements. Very strange.

Just now in the flat, watching on Arte (French) a film about the Kenneth Noye road rage incident. Must be 15 years ago, and was the first major road rage incident. Came into the film late, but it only took about 4 minutes to work out what it was about; something about the policeman in the British uniform, the range rover and an old guy attacking a young guy immediately brought that story to mind. I expect the incidence of road rage murders is much higher in Eastern Europe, what with life seeming to be cheaper, more drink, more drugs....

Another night, another concert...

First night of the 'Virtuosi Planet' concert series in Kiev. Sponsored by no less than UNESCO, and the world music festival association, together with JVC. The series is part of a deal giving young prizewinners opportunities to give concerts. Old people don't play virtuoso concertos, mostly....

So it was a long evening, Paganini violin No1, Beethoven piano 4, Mozart Clarinet concerto and Tchaikovsky violin concerto (which I missed). Yukie Manuela Janke, described as Japan, but I think she and her violinist brother are German, gave a very powerful performance of the Paganini; every note in the right place. The middle movement could have been a bit more 'schmaltzy'. Paganini really is not good at writing music for orchestras, is he? A bit like Bashmet, except Bashmet gets other people to write music for him, and as for his virtuosic abilities.... He does play Paganini, but only a very slow and careful piece. Not sure that he would cope with the sonata for the gran viola.

After that a Chinese pianist Rachel Choun Vay Chin (transliterated from Chinese into Ukrainian and into English), looked 12, was in fact only 15 and played the Beethoven fourth very nicely; again, there could have been more softness, more lyricism than there was.

Finally for me Olivier Pater, France, with a seemingly very long clarinet (or am I usually not as close as that to the stage); a beautiful rendition of the Mozart clarinet concerto. Occasionally the sound was a little rough (instrument trouble) and it felt as if the orchestra was not giving its best. The cellos in particular seemed to be struggling with sound quality, as did the violins with togetherness. But Mozart is always hard. I tried to identify the place where, whilst playing the first violin part in a concert, I enjoyed the clarinettist's playing so much that I forgot to continue playing the orchestra part.

race you to the end!

First concert of the autumn today - wow, I have missed them. It was the Kiev Chamber orchestra in the Kiev Filharmonia. This has just received fine new carpets which are very soft to walk on. In addition the staff have new uniforms, maybe the first ever uniforms, and very fine they are too - the ladies have navy blue capes with a little gold coat of arms, and the men have rather smart black chinese collared jackets. Both are good for having extra layers of clothes underneath in the winter. Geez, it's something when you recognise the changes in concert halls not in your home city.

So anyway, the concert was sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute in Kiev, headed up by a Professor ...Balloni (? - these Italians, are they all professors?); a very fine-looking gentleman not seeming old enough to be a professor. Music was Italian, of course. Started with Paganini's variations on a theme by Rossini adapted for strings and soloist. The soloist, Valentin Zhuk, not a minute below sixty, did amazingly well in this piece played only on the g-string! My wrist hurt just looking at him! Then 'Chrysantheme' by Puccini, a song (poem) with string orchestra by Respighi, and finally the four seasons by Vivaldi, with the same soloist. He played very calmly, gentlemanly, though there were moments when he was a bit hasty. The slow movements were a wee bitty on the fast side; in the fast moments he and the orchestra were racing each other. The continuo cellist was nice, but not as nice as Dainius of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. But a real tour de force, and an astonishing effort.

Unfortunately I knew no-one there, so no opportunity to gatecrash any parties. Chatted to a couple of Ukrainian ladies, who asked if I worked there and whether I would step up and sing there. Me???

Weather still beautiful and should be better. Productivity a bit doubtful at the moment; had a meeting today from which I expected a great deal more. Was not really in my control, though.

Another project success!

Now working on my other project today we had the proud moment of handing over 400,000 Euros worth of equipment to the social services departments of one region of Ukraine, including also the overall ministry. This included cars, minivans, computers, furniture etc.

Busy press conference - the Governor of Kiev Oblast was there, as was a senior representative of the Ministry. Some searching questions like 'why, if you have all this money, do you give equipment to the officials. isn't it easier just to give the money to the children?' One social worker stood up and said that now that they had the car, it was much easier for them to visit people's homes across her raion - a distance of up to 42 km. So these cars improve efficiency, and also could help prevent the admission of children into expensive institutions, if intervention and help is provided early enough. Plus small goods can be distributed with the cars etc. Anyway, a nice success for the EU and our Kiev Oblast partners. It is not easy getting it right when distributing EU funding; there are endless hoops to be gone through in terms of paperwork, and some projects fail in using all the EU funding available.

Tony Blair got a 23 second polite handclap today at the TUC conference, and some people walked out on him. Good for them.

a normal Saturday in Kyiv

A beautiful day. Dry and relatively sunny. Almost a total day of leisure, apart from finishing a report. Should have done a bit more on another report, but that'll keep till tomorrow.

In the morning hiked to another supermarket, www.furshet.ua. Same chain as the very posh one I used earlier this week, but this is for more normal people and not so much for foreigners. Seems to work on the principle - cram as many goods as you can together, as closely together, make it unpleasant for the customers, supervise the customers, and get them out of the door. Very tight aisles; goods stacked to the ceiling (about 5 m high), fairly grubby. Has a huge range of goods, however, decent-looking meat, fairly good vegetables (though it's more fun to buy them in the market), and now I have almost everything I need for the duration. Even had some Walker's shortbread! Back home on the metro; not too busy thankfully - had some concerns about being robbed, but in my carriage there was no such danger.

Popped out of the metro at the wrong end of the Maidan, Europa Square, and found myself close to an anti-gay demonstration. Very poor attendance, thankfully - maybe it was too early in the day, and not many people were around anyway. A bit further on were some soldiers practicing their goose-stepping, but I am not sure what for.

A further stroll out later in the day, to buy concert and opera tickets, found myself in B. Khmelnitskovo street looking at a bookshop which seems to serve as a cafe and foreign book exchange. Highly rated in Kiev in your pocket; maybe the food is good, but the books were the kind you'd leave behind when you move to another posting. In the same street, almost exactly opposite the German embassy, spotted another branch of the cafe 'Repriza' with the scrumptious cakes - I see they know a good marketing opportunity when they see one.

Strolled along Khreshchatik, on the way to the Filharmonija and popped into Tsum, the central universal store, of which there is one in each of the former Soviet capitals. The one in Moscow is so posh that normal people cannot afford it, and even most foreigners cannot afford it. Hugely tarted up all gleaming chrome, uniformed doormen, etc. The one in Vilnius is fairly ordinary; not the highest class of shopping centre, though renovated beyond recognition a few years ago. The one in Kiev does not seem to have been touched, bar a lick of paint, since independence, though at least the shelves are full. Contains lots of little businesses, including some stuck in unexpected little places. One of these was a cosmetics stall in the stair, which also seemed to sell wigs. The wig, on second sight, turned out to be the immobile head of the stallholder just above her counter; she herself was deeply immersed in a book she was reading.

The Pope is in Germany; all German TV is full of it. Apparently he is going to be there all week, and will visit all the places where he lived and worked (all are in Bavaria). That's something to look forward to, then.

Fished out!

So far, in Kiev/Kyiv, I have been here since Monday and had sushi 6 times this week. Going out for dinner tonight - hmmm, let's see what's available. I wonder, though, if all that soy sauce is good for you?

Discovered some gorgeous prepared tomato sauces made by an Italian firm called 'Barillo'. Comes in a jar, seems to contain no artificial preservatives, flavourings etc - the variety with basil went extremely well with some dinky little chicken livers I came across in the Bessarabsky market. So I have bought some more jars - between pasta with tomato sauce etc, and sushi I should have a fairly well-balanced diet while I am here. In Bessarabsky market also discovered some stalls which made some very delicate stuffed auberine rolls (possibly stuffed with nuts). When I heard the price, 15 hrivna - about 2.5 Euros - I turned my nose up and stalked off, but perhaps one can have these one day for a treat.

Also today discovered a fantastic cafe, Repriza on Artema street, which certainly had a 'Shvarzvald' cake to die for; the others looked fantastic, too. I see the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has an interest in it http://www.ebrd.com/new/stories/2006/060120.htm. Glad they are spending their money on the important things in life. Also it seems that the chief pastry cook has learnt her trade in Bulgaria; sounds like Bulgaria is definitely worth a trip. The cafe is on the way home from my office, except that from next week my office will be in another location; far from Repriza and far from the Yakitoria. I know where the Yakitorias are; wonder whether there is another Repriza near the centre.

Letter in the Times today http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2347795,00.html (will I ever learn how to do those direct hyperlinks?) signed by very senior musicians, outlining the dangers of the current airline carry-on policies to musical life in London. Since many musicians cannot carry on their valuable instruments, especially string instruments, as hand luggage, many soloists especially find life quite hard. Orchestras have huge boxes for their instruments, soloists have the chance to fly into London since other countries are not as paranoid about hand luggage (what is the point, after all, of all that checking at airports), but it's probably better to leave via the chunnel and fly from Paris or Brussels. This will add to travelling time and of course costs. So people like Sir Colin Davis have written a letter to the times to point this out. I hope someone will listen; but our government is not so good at that...

Music will start in Kyiv next week. Had I looked at the opera programme a bit earlier, I could have gone to see a ballet based on Mozart's Figaro last night; seems that it will not be on again during my current stay. There are also some interesting concerts; no startling new repertoire, but at least there are concerts. Next week there is a very brief festival of international virtuosos (the acrobats of the music world).

Weather today is warmer. Should rain tomorrow but after that it should be a nice week. Hope so.

In Kyiv (Kiev, Ukrainian spelling) for a couple of weeks. Have a nice flat this time (most times really), very near the town centre. Nearish the supermarket (about 1 km) and yet far enough to get exercise going there and back, especially when weighed down with heavy shopping. The Bessarabian market (old style) is next to it, and very nice, too. Beautiful displays of fruit and vegetables, lots of caviar for the foreigners and so on. Today prices seemed to be reasonably normal, given also the quality of the food. Maybe marginally higher than in Vilnius, but I have seen the quality of tomatoes in Vilnius recently.

In the flat the TV has the same programmes as in Lithuania - maybe a few fewer, but seeing I am going to Rwanda next month, it won't do me any harm to watch arte (www.arte-tv.de) in French instead of in German.

Met my friend Helene yesterday which was nice; earlier in the year we bumped into each other in the concert hall here (we know each other from Lithuania). All good fun. Helene is working on energy, I am on social stuff.

News today is that in the UK 7 junior ministers have resigned after signing a letter asking Blair to resign. He is not, so far, and spluttering about this letter saying that it is disloyal and discourteous. Mr Blair, you always talk about listening - we have always known that you don't listen (see Iraq), and it seems you will never learn to listen either. (Wasting my breath here).

This week my office is very close to the Yakitoria in Kiev (www.yakitoria.com.ua). It's a chain of Japanese restaurants which exists both in Moscow and in Kiev. The Yakitoria introduced me to sushi and I have never looked back. I nearly always eat the same meals, a mixture of different types of sushi and nigri and all those things. So far in 3 days I have had four portions of sushi, including one humungous one on my first day. I introduced my co-worker to the yakitoria, and she loves it, too. One of the soups there has a total of 11 calories. Unfortunately next week I have to work in another location, but I'll probably live. There is another type of sushi restaurant not far from my flat; two different ones in fact. Once I tried sushi from the supermarket in Vilnius, and it was fairly disgusting. I don't like to make it with raw fish at home, but smoked fish is fine, as well as shrimps and all that sort of thing.

Yesterday I tried to email a posting to the blog, but it does not seem to have arrived. Since I have also been experimenting with email programmes on my scandisk cruzer (a memory stick with 2 GB of memory, and an ability to run its own programmes) and failed on that one, it's lost. The world will probably continue to turn.