After all of the activity in last week's blog, I thought that I might have a quieter week to write about - especially seeing as we were going to the UK.The strike had been called off, we had rebooked and all seemed to be going smoothly.Not so…

We woke up on the morning of the 21st to see the snow falling thickly - again, not a cause for concern in Moscow.What might cause Britain to shut down and cut itself off from the outside world simply means that life goes on in Russia.The photos that we took from our apartment window show that: cars and people on Leninsky Prospekt moving around as normal, albeit a little more slowly.We finished our packing, ate some lunch and shortly before 1pm, the taxi arrived.

Taxi Global have always sent us excellent drivers and this occasion was no exception.Our man knew the short cuts and was cautious enough to drive without taking risks and still get us to Domodedovo in an hour: quite something bearing in mind the traffic and the amount of snow.Getting down to the junction of Kashirskoye Shosse and the MKAD was the hardest part; after that, it was easier.There were, of course, accidents, due to дураки (idiots) trying to drive too quickly for the conditions, but our man was sensible.He got a decent tip for his troubles.

BA's excellent online check-in facility meant that we were all sorted out and ready before we got to the counter at the airport, so logistics literally took about 5 minutes as all tickets were printed beforehand.We therefore had some time to kill, so went and had a small meal in the Viennese-style cafe in the duty-free area.At 5pm, we were all ready, the plane took off and we were heading for the UK!

All was going well - perhaps too well.3.5 hours later, we made our approach to London, touched down and were informed by the captain that we would not be able to move to a stand for at least an hour - an hour! - as it was taking a long time to de-ice the planes. This caused great disbelief amongst the Russians who could not believe that the British were unable to organise something so simple as de-icing an aeroplane.So there we sat....for over an hour...with small amounts of information filtering through to us, including a message coming through on the iPhone of the passenger behind us to say that all international and domestic flights after 7pm had been cancelled.He duly quizzed the duty officer about this, to be told that, "you know more than me in that case!"Once again, instant information trumps radio coms.

Finally we taxied to a place on a stand, but at a different terminal.Buses took us to Terminal 5.The captain was apologetic for not being able to give us any further information but she gave us all she had.Once we got there, it was "an experience" to put it mildly.We got to the UK border and the first man told us that there would indeed be no flights: we should clear the border, then go to a designated belt to collect our luggage so we could proceed onwards.Two hours later...still no luggage.What he, and all of his colleagues, failed to tell us was that any luggage for transfer to an onward flight were not included in that first announcement.They were automatically sent to a different place ready to be sent onwards (to Newcastle in our case).So we wasted about three hours trying to get luggage and find out what was happening.

Whilst appreciating that the ground staff were being asked the same questions by hundreds, nay thousands, of people, it was rather worrying that there was no consistent message and that no-one had a clear idea of what was happening.Having just come from Moscow, where it was -10 and the snow was deep, to see hardly any snow on the ground and feel a pitiful temperature, and then hear the excuse that everything is cancelled due to snow and cold weather, didn't sit particularly well with myself or Mrs. Barnes.Perhaps BA and BAA should send representatives to Sheremet'yevo or Domodedovo to see how cold weather should be coped with by an international airport?I know that Heathrow is a much larger airport than either of these, but that's precisely my point - it is a major global hub and therefore needs to have facilities such as snowploughs, de-icing trucks etc in place on a much larger scale.

Due to searching for the bags, we missed the first and second buses for Newcastle, and ended up taking the third bus.Or should I say, the fourth - the third one actually broke down, and another one had to be requested!Passengers for Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen all got onto this bus and we all headed North, united in our situation.BA gave out fleece blankets and foil blankets, sandwiches and water, to keep us going.It was 3.30am before we eventually got going!Neither Nataly nor I have any luggage, so our second priority after arriving in Newcastle is to go into the city and get some clothing.The first priority is to go to the BA desk and try and get our cases back!

I am typing this on the bus, somewhere between Wetherby and Scotch Corner - basically to try and stop myself from falling asleep.It hasn't quite been the start to the holiday that we anticipated, but life is, after all, about experiences.The girls from school went to Malta for a week and also had issues with cases - some of them only getting them back the day before they left.I do know that the cases are in London, so all things being equal, we should get them back today or tomorrow.

What concerned me more than anything, was the seeming lack of preparedness.In Russia you get used to the mentality of 'fly by the seat of your trousers and see what happens'.It's not something that you're used to in Britain, but for some reason where weather is concerned, we as a nation are quite happy to sit back and absolve ourselves of responsibility. "The wrong sort of snowflakes", "not enough grit" etc etc, went the newspaper articles.Rubbish.The fact is, we did know about it and will not accept that we were badly prepared.

Russia might still make cars that look the same as they did back in 1979 but I'll say this - they certainly know how to deal with snow and cold weather.We can learn a lot from our Russian brethren if we are not too proud.Some things are (really) common sense; others are more practical.Let's hope that organisations such as BA or Eurostar will be prepared to look East to find the answers they desperately need.

Looking forward to seeing the family now and enjoying a more peaceful Christmas!