We couldn't have had a better flight. Time flew by, largely because we spent most of it trying to fill out our visa entry forms. (There should be a webpage devoted to this.) For a start, the forms are tiny and you can't make a mistake - I don't know what the punishment might be but going to the end of the queue at Immigration could be the least of it. We couldn't decide whether the duration of our visit was according to our ticket dates or our visas, which provided for another five days in Russia... Anyway, ten visa forms later we made an executive decision and decided to go with the ticket dates. And as you can see, we were allowed in.
On arrival, Sue, being the paragon of efficiency that she is, marched us off to the taxi desk and organized transport into the city, which cost a fraction of the price it would have done otherwise. (Almost every taxi ride we've taken since then has cost 1000 roubles, whether we've come 40 miles from the airport or three blocks round Red Square (both trips taking the exact same time - the traffic in Moscow central has to be seen to be believed: despite 6 lanes in a one-way system, it's bumper to bumper and you need to think thin.)
Our hotel - The Savoy - is gorgeous. Edwardian grandeur beautifully renovated. Very clean. I want to take the bathroom home with me. We can see the domes of St Basil's Cathedral in Red Square from here, and we are almost across the road from SUM (not GUM) a Barney's/Harvey Nicks kind of store.
Breakfast at The Savoy is served in the Sistine Chapel, or at least a look-alike, with painted cherubs flying across the walls. They're obviously very civilized here and you can breakfast until 11 am. I cannot tell you what Sue and Gail had because they were leaving as I arrived but I can tell you the smoked salmon and black bread was fab.
But to backtrack.
We had our first meal in Moscow at Cafe Pushkin. And we nearly didn't. Our BA captain had informed us on landing that Moscow was two hours further forward than the UK. This would not have been a major problem had we not booked a table at the restaurant for 8 pm - and 8 o' clock means 8 o'clock. Thus, at 7 pm we were happily idling in our rooms when reception rang "We have dreadful news for you...!" - had someone stolen our passports, had England been taken over by the Vatican? No, our taxi had been waiting half an hour for us and it was now 8 o'clock.
Everyone we knew who had been to Moscow said we had to go to Cafe Pushkin, and it did not disappoint. Housed in a 19th Century mansion, we ate in the Library Restaurant on the first floor - which does indeed feel like eating in a dusty, candle-lit library. Our table was perched between a brass telescope and the musical duo (harpist and flautist; selections from The Magic Flute, Rosamunde and Don Q). Reading the menu took us nearly as long as deciphering the visa entry form, and explains why we spent nearly three hours there. The Russians do not seem to 'do' wine. There was a wine list but the cheapest bottle was around £70. (We thought about the cranberry juice but settled for two glasses of nice Bordeaux - a mere £20 - and a beer - really cheap at £8. The food was excellent, and worthy of its comparison to London's Ivy: we all chose Boeuf Stroganoff , which we could have eaten twice over, it was so good, and three unbelievably delicious desserts, which probably provided our entire daily calorific quota in one mouthful.
Cafe Pushkin
Taxi home: 1000 roubles. Time taken: 10 minutes.
Night-night.
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