We spent the first week in Moscow in thermals, negotiating piles of snow, but when we returned there had been a big spike in temperature, up to 20+ degrees (shorts and t-shirts weather to me, although Muscovites still in trousers and coats). We asked the hostel manager if this was normal; she said "Nothing is normal in Moscow!", meaning, apparently, the weather is very unpredictable, particularly, according to her, over the last few years. Now that most of the ground is dry there is dust everywhere, and lots of state workmen and women, or shop and restaurant staff, all conscientiously sweeping the pavements. It doesn't make that much difference, however - after a day out of doors I came back coated in a layer of grey dust. Since there was sunshine and it was our last
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