OK so I'm on the train. Gorky Park wasn't what I expected (the book I read mainly used it as a place to stash dead bodies) and was actually sort of fun. They'd turned all the pathways into a giant ice rink, with bars dotted around the place and (largely awful) music playing. I pop back to the hostel as I'm meant to be meeting my travel buddies for the next few weeks, but fortunately most of them are up for going ice-skating. Unfortunately I'm not as good at i...

It seemed like such a good idea to get an overnight flight, leave at 9.30pm, arrive at 5.30am, have a little sleep on the plane, brilliant. Oh but wait, there's a time difference. The flight isn't really long enough to have a sleep (instead I'll watch a film with Robert Redford on his own for 90 minutes, not speaking, on a boat). And my brain is going to be at 1.30am when I arrive. And Moscow is going to be dark. And cold. genius. well done. On the plus s...