After the festivities of Christmas it was nice to have a couple of more leisurely days in Irkutsk. We spent time sightseeing and shopping and resting. This beautiful city, draped in its white winter gown, is delightful. The churches are magnificent and we have seen several wedding parties. The brides look stunning in their white fur.

Fur watching has become a major pastime of our group. We ooh and aah and rate the style and choice. (Perfect for the younger long-legged lass, but will it take you to the next more mature stage of your life? Gorgeous coat, and the hat and boots match perfectly. Elegant. Ravishing. Oh oh, mutton dressed as lamb.) The coats really are amazing and the variety endless. The lengths vary, as do the colours, though the dark brown longer coats seem the most popular of the season. As beautiful as the coats are the hats - glorious furs or knits in an amazingly endless variety of styles, some as high and fluffy as any Grenadier guard would be proud to wear. And then there are the boots. These too come in endless styles, but most ladies have elegant high heeled boots that set their coats off to perfection. Somehow they manage to still walk tall and elegantly in them through the snowy streets.

It seems the locals invest in fur, but not in cars. The cars are mostly old and dilapidated and one must be careful crossing the street as road rules are not always followed.

Food is sturdy and well suited to such a cold climate. Potatoes and sour cream rate a showing at every meal. Thick meat stews are popular and we have enjoyed the delicious beetroot soup for which the country is famous.

Some treats we have enjoyed included a visit to an ice sculpture park in the middle of town and a visit to Prince Sergei Trubetskoy's house which is now set up as a museum. The prince was sent to Siberia in 1825 as one of the Decembrists who failed in their attempt to overthrow the Czar. After completing their sentences of hard labour many settled with their wives in places such as Irkutsk. Here we had an extra special surprise as the museum opened especially for us on a Monday when museums are usually closed and then were treated to champaign and a concert of fine singing and piano playing that included famous pieces by such geniuses as Mozart. All in all our time in Irkutsk has been wonderful. And did I mention the sun is still shining every day?