Moscow has been so much more than we expected. Since they got rid of the communist this massive power is moving. It has great wealth and no debt. Our paradigms of KGB and grey buildings are disappearing and certainly are not represented around the kremlin or red square. The museums display amazing wealth, thousands of big diamonds and precious stones, with gold measured by the tonne. Not much English spoken so a guide is essential but we have had a great look. ...

We left London early expecting trouble at heathrow airport but sailed through effortlessly. Plenty time to check out shops and enjoy breakfast. Our flight was easy until arrival at Moscow when some of our group lost their luggage so we waited two hours to organise recovery. This meant we were right into peak hour, horrendous traffic arriving at 7 pm for drinks and dinner. The country is very green surprisingly so They live in ugly concrete flats for the workin...