When in Moscow....

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If you can't have a lie-in on the first day of the holidays, in a comfortable hotel bed, on Christmas Eve, when can you? Some of us went down to breakfast but we were only ready to leave the hotel at 1.

I made a table reservation at an Ethiopian restaurant for 8 o'clock, which was the most confusing phone call I have ever made. The man's accent was much stronger than mine; as I was about to hang up he said "do you know about....", and then something that I didn't understand. I said that we did, hoping I wouldn't regret it when we arrived!

We took the metro to the Lyubyanka area. Clare needed to buy a balalaika case from a music shop and Chris J wanted a case for Rodney his guitar, so we walked around trying to find them. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch then continued the search.

While they were looking, Chiara, Michael, Chris W and myself took the metro to Izmailovskii Rynok, one of Moscow's biggest markets. It was dark by the time we got there and the traders were packing up their stalls, but from what I saw of the place it was fascinating. There were millions of Russian dolls, old army hats, KGB hip flasks, chess sets and other crafts, set out in 'streets'. Most of the items are old war memorabilia; people are making money out of Communism.

Then another journey across town. All the metro stations in the middle of Moscow are like art galleries, so in the two minute wait between trains there is always something fresh and different to take in.

In the evening Chiara looked for a midnight Mass. She found that the French Church had a service at 6.30 and myself, Chris J and Michael went with her. I just about understood the French parts but what meant most to me was being in such a calming and friendly atmosphere, after a very stressful week. We sang Silent Night in English, French and Russian, and Amazing Grace just in Russian. At the end of the service a French lady wished me Happy Christmas, and an Indonesian man shook my hand. After four months of the Russian attitude of "ours or not ours" it felt good to experience multicultural Moscow. Many of the congregation were from central Europe and Asia.

We were an hour late for our table but Clare and Chris W had kept the barmen busy in the mean time! And Ethiopian food was worth the wait. It is pots of meat and vegetables that you scoop onto a huge piece of sticky bread. Once you have given yourself a bite-sized piece you break it off, then roll it up into a sort of samosa before eating. The skill of folding the bread properly becomes harder depending on how many cocktails you have had - in our case quite a few.

We took the metro back to the hotel, wished each other Merry Christmas and went to bed.

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