To update from last time, St Petersburg definitely made a better impression on me as the ice hockey was brilliant. It was as I expected, a high tempo game between St Petersburg and Minsk (from Belarus, I'm sure you know who I was supporting following my experience in Kaliningrad) which reminded me of the NHL. The metro ride back to the hostel was interesting as Minsk won 1-0, Marsha (our Honcho) translated the chanting as "get us to the f***ing beer". Oh yeah (I almost forgot) Sarah struggled with the largest escalator I have ever seen, at least 50 metres deep, and it's even more disconcerting going all the way down facing the wrong way (trying to keep Sarah sane).

The next day it was time for the hermitage museum, which after skipping the queues with hundreds of angry looking Russians (we were not supposed to) and then queueing for thirty minutes to put our coats in the cloak room (as it's compulsory), was incredible. In two hours we were barely able to scratch the surface of this huge collection and the decadence of the building itself. I could write for hours about the collection as it was so impressive but haven't got the time or the space.

As we couldn't go back to the hostel as we had already checked out we were dreading the next few hours (at 10 below zero). Marsha suggested the cinema (which was showing a collection of short English speaking films) followed by a pizza (a traditional Russian dish). All in all it was a great day and that night as the train left the station I reflected on what I thought was a great city! that I'll look back on with nothing but fond memories (other than the maniac Lada drivers).

The train ride to Moscow itself was a truely memorable experience. It was cramped to say the least as the first two people in the four man cabin filled it. Once the bags were put somewhere safe it was quite cosy and the four of us relaxed (me, Sarah, John the Australian!, and Nicola). After a cup of tea with no milk but a lemon slice and sugar (odd combination but somehow works!) and a beer, we settled in for the night. One last look out of the window lead to two hours of watching the incredible world pass us by (a vision i'll never forget).

The other memorable part of the train ride (which I almost forgot) was the guy selling crisps and alcohol who no matter how much we asked for a beer kept offering us Vodka. And the Russian phrase book with saying to say for sex (including harder and faster, like you would stop to check the book!!!!).

Arriving in Moscow at 7 in the morning we emerged bleary eyed with the attendent ushering us off as the train was leaving straight away. After no shower and three hours sleep we got to the hostel and spent the morning catching up.

At 11:30 we started the long walk to Red Square to file past Lenin (which was very odd) and then to St Bssil's which is much more impressive from the outside than for the inside. By the time we got into the Kremlin Sarah was so cold that we had to find a bar to warm up. All in all today was so intense we are all absolutely naked so that nothing is happening tonight.

Also I have never been anywhere more slippy than Red Square in the winter. I also forgot to add this as I was trying to blank out the memory of the effort that crossing the square took. It was like an ice rink.