Tonight’s Aida. Mixed feelings. A staging strong on spectacle, but sometimes without purpose. Weaknesses in the pit. The Radames didn’t quite convince.

A couple of favourites from Verona. What a great day yesterday. A coffee or three, a pastry then off to the airport, bound for Catania.

I have friends who don’t get Trollope, but I think he’s one of the best writers of the 19th century.

View from my hotel bar in Taormina. Perfect place for a warm up spritz. 😎

An advantage of travelling without my sister or ex-girlfriend is that I don’t need to worry about the reaction when I decide to hike to a ridiculously high monument. 😂 When I went to Marseille a couple of years ago, my sister cursed me every step of the way up to the basilica.

Progress. Thank the gods for the water stop I’ve just found.

The Castello di Taormina.

Attempting to restore myself to life.

On the train home after another delayed flight. A wonderful sojourn to Taormina to celebrate the marriage of two of my dearest friends.

“Quanto? Il prezzo?” Is Oliver Mears' new Tosca a keeper? How was Anna Netrebko on her return to Covent Garden? My Opera Now magazine review of the season opener is already online: gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/revi…

Ticket nailed down for Abesalom da Eteri in Tbilisi on Sunday. 🥳 Then Monday is wine-touring, Tuesday city-hopping, Wednesday in transit and then Thursday/Friday some proper hiking in the north. 😍

Made it to Tbilisi! Journey was slightly awkward, but have scoffed a lot of khinkali and now enjoying the lovely Dadi wine bar. Just off Freedom Square.

This morning’s Tbilisi sightseeing. Rained off so having a lovely local wine under cover. Cable car next. 😀

What a treat to visit this gorgeous house at Tbilisi.

This evening’s entertainment. We ignore the gold reindeer which resemble Christmas at Mother Lowe’s.

Some photos from Gori. Stalin’s childhood home has been preserved, next to a huge and impressive museum with hundreds of relics. Included is his piano.

Uplistsiche - the cave town.

Bit of a journey, but now in Stepantsminda. What a view from my hotel.

Toughest walk I’ve ever done today, in Kazbegi. Seven hours, a climb of 1500 metres, most of it very vertical.