thin is...

• when you can wrap your sarong round your middle twice and still tie a knot (and have the security of knowing it won't unravel). Though I noticed on this windy summer's morning that sarongs are very ... fly-away?
• when delicate places don't chafe any more. You wonder why larger women tend to wear trousers? Here's your answer. Apart from large skirts looking like tents, and large legs not being that wonderful either!
• when therefore you suddenly have access to a whole different range of clothes, and on looking through the fashions in a shop you think - jeez, these clothes are all so large!
• when (not entirely sadly) you have to replace all your clothes because there is only so much that can be taken in (having had some clothes taken in two or three times, not terribly successfully). Is this another reason why poor people find it so hard to lose weight?
• when you look at food automatically in terms of fattening potential, and mentally review your day's intake so far ....and you have fewer courses in restaurants.....

Globalisation

Now we have two hypermarkets in Tbilisi. 'Goodwill' remains out of town (and is just developing a 'mall'); Populi is a chain of supermarkets which has now, in the town centre, opened a hypermarket. Goodwill is full of German goods, and, like today, sometimes contains the German conductor of the Caucasian Chamber Orchestra, Populi has Dutch products.

The weirdest thing is, though, that some of Populi's own-brand (??) products seem to have the same wrapping as those of the Lithuanian chain Rimi; except Populi's goods are labelled in three languages, one of which is Dutch, and Rimi's are labelled in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian. Now, how do they all hang together? Having spent a fortune in Goodwill, I had gone to Populi because last week they had that nice 'Actimel' which is supposed to be good for the gut (mine always needs pampering - come, oh friendly bacteria). Being Georgia, the Actimel was pomegranate flavoured. Unfortunately it seems it was not a great seller - today there was none, and it seems, no matching space in the shelves.

I wish I had gone to Goodwill (a taxi-ride away) after I had been to the baths and weighed myself. In Goodwill I spotted the best drinking chocolate ever, Suchard Express, which I got to know in Switzerland.... but the calorie count seemed a bit high. After finding that I have lost another 3.5 kgs since Christmas I could possibly have afforded treating myself!

This photo is of the building of the Bio-Shop, another type of shop altogether. The shop used to be downstairs, at street level, but has moved into a flat upstairs. No customers, naturally. I am not sure how many families live in this building, though I suspect each of these doors houses one - downstairs I spotted a container with at least 25 electricity meters. The roof looks new and plastic - I suppose any renovation should start with the roof.

Gadgets!

Two very interesting gadgets have popped up recently. At a bit of a loose end in Berlin yesterday I found myself in a large sports shop which not only had running gear in a colour I liked (black), but where I also found a heart rate monitor at a reasonable price. I had always thought this was something for hypochondriacs and/or wimps, but just a few days before I read something where it was pointed out that these are now cheaper than a pair of running shoes. A great point - and a great purchase it has turned out to be. First I learnt that different heart rates have different effects on the body, eg fat reduction, improving fitness, or something for serious athletes. The fantastic news is that for the fat reduction you only need a heart rate increased by relatively little - for me that's achieved by simply walking fast. Which probably explains why I have found it relatively easy to lose weight recently, since I have walked so much everywhere. And today, whilst out running, I found I ran much more slowly than normal, to remain in the next band up of heart rate - the fitness improving one - and so I was able to run for a much longer time than usual without killing myself. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

The other gadget, the Roku Soundbridge, is a serious cool piece of kit. If your house is set up for wireless internet, as many homes nowadays are, this thing connects into it. You then connect it to your hifisystem, and bingo, you can get almost all internet radio stations of the world playing on your hifi, even if your computer is switched off. Unfortunately the BBC with its realplayer requirement is not yet compatible with the soundbridge, but that should just be a matter of time. The soundbridge can also play the MP3s and other formats you might have stored on your computer. It's quite small, about 25 cms long, with a diameter of maybe 8 cms, and so quite portable. I will wait till I am at home for longer periods, by which time it might have sorted the BBC question - but it's been fun listening to Minnesota public radio (the classical band) in Berlin!

Disappearing into thin air!

... well, not quite, but a combination of careful dieting and lots of walking has caused me to lose about 13 kg (2 stones) in weight in the last 2.5 months or so (and long may it continue??? - even next week??). This has had inevitable sartorial consequences... I have always liked loose fitting clothes, such as chino type trousers, but now it's more like flags in the wind. Luckily in Lithuania it is fairly reasonable to have clothes made smaller, and the local tailoring shop has been a little busy and will be busier still after the new year, before my next trip abroad.

I thought, however, that it might be nice to buy some new trousers. A couple of days ago I went to every clothes shop in the Akropolis shopping centre, and did I find one pair that fitted? I did not. The fact that I like my trousers to end rather higher than the pubic hairline had something to do with it, apart from the inevitable handicap of living in Lithuania, where the girls have skinny legs up to their armpits. Thankfully today at last I was lucky at 'Buddelei', a German clothes chain which also exists in Vilnius. The only thing is that it makes me feel like a mature German lady - and I don't consider myself either mature or German! And tomorrow I will pick up my Landsend order in Germany - we know that American clothes need to be comfortably made ;-). In case this sounds like a contradition between wanting comfort and having lost weight - I have gone down two or three sizes!

Tbilisi in the dark

No, it's not a power cut, although that apparently is not unusual here.

Arrived last night, after a pleasant journey with Austrian Airlines via Vienna. Although I had been fasting most of last week, and was really trying to eat very little (having lost 3.3 kg in 6 days) I had to continue my Cafe Landtmann routine in Vienna. My heart nearly stopped when I saw the entrance boarded up, looking like a building site. Before I turned away disappointedly, though, I spotted a sign leading to the entrance round the corner - phew. Wuerstl were had and peppermint tea, in the interests of clean living.

Then off to the Musikverein for a concert with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Concentus Musikus Vienna, and about 6 soloists. The concert was of secular Bach music, including two funny cantatas. Of course I could only stay for the first half...the plane did not wait. It had been difficult to book a ticket on the Musikverein website; although it offers the opportunity to buy your dream ticket, the system then breaks down, so I took pot luck and got an orchestra seat ticket which I thought would be good, only to find myself in the sixth row (with a few rows at the same level in front of me - sightline = 0). I saw some people stood up at the far back, and stepped out of my seat to join them, thinking I could hide a bit behind a statue. However, we were told to sit down - there happened to be an empty seat near me which, through a gap between heads, gave me a good opportunity to observe Mr Harnoncourt in action. His conducting style in this setting, tiny orchestra, small choir, was very sparse and he generally left his soloists to get on with it. The 'production' was very funny - I wondered though whether in some places the tempi could have been taking a little more quickly. The first cantata was one about Pan and someone else, BWV 211; very funny. Harnoncourt spent 20 minutes introducing the rather lengthy cantata, so by 20.30 I began to sweat and wonder whether I would have to rush off the stage in the Musikverein in order to catch the plane. Luckily this was not the case and I made it well.

Tbilisi airport is very easy to travel through; after Lithuania the easiest in the former Soviet Union. No forms to complete, luggage comes through quickly and so I got out very quickly; met by the driver David who had excellent English.

Off into the hotel which is on a little road right up from the Opera House (in which will be a ballet performance later this month). It is a private house with a large central well, off which rooms go in all directions. My room consists of a sitting room, a bedroom part, bathroom and access to a balcony. It is a bit think on the windows department; one set of windows goes out onto the central well, the other onto a rear courtyard. My bedroom has a wee strip of a window high under the ceiling - I suspect another building is built against the side of it. Breakfast and dinner is included and both seem to be very nice, very Georgian - but of course I am still dieting severely. At dinner there was a coffee pot full of wine on the table!

Work is ok; office is freezing - it is rainy and foggy outside and the heating is not yet on (I am not very optimistic on that anyway), so tomorrow it will be the warm winter clothes to wear which thankfully I brought along. Otherwise there will be plenty of work to do.

Impresion of Tbilisi - so far I have only seen it in the dark; got home at 7 pm in time for dinner...looks like there are some quite elegant places, and some posh shops and hotels. Need to investigate further. The Philharmonic orchestra building looks fairly deserted which is a shame. One theatre has a show of the Three penny opera (the play) on. Must find a way to get tickets.