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Metro

Moscow is cold. A very strange place to live, but a good many people do. The train from the airport (once they have let you in) run fine. They are extremely wide. They appear like a tardis, if such a thing existed. Their exterior has a functional form; there is no attempt at styling. The Metro on the other hand, is all about style, though not the trains, but rather the stations. These are fabulous galleries tracing the changing aspirations of the state from the interwar years and beyond. Andrew Graham Dixon, again, has done a programme all about the country’s art, and the metro features heavily.

Red Square

I did the tourist bit – Red Square, the Kremlin and even a mini-bus tour taking in such sights as the residences of Mikhail Gorbachev and the current incumbent, Dmitry Medvedev. The highlights included visits to the two Tretyakov galleries – one pre and one post-war. Extraordinary places. The art is sensational and, again, Andrew Graham Dixon can help with the translation, so-to-speak.