Moscow:

It took an hour to drive to the hotel and I dozed in the back seat listening to some quiet music whilst the river was on the phone all the time. I had stayed in the Marriot Grand for many years and spent weeks at a time there, so from previous times, I knew many of the staff and the hotel in detail. The hotel was exactly the just the same as I remembered but people were almost completely changed and on entering the hotel it felt empty and seemed soulless from the last time I was there. Of the original staff only the deputy manager, one front desk manager and one concierge were the same They welcomed me very warmly but it was not the same experience and level of feeling at home. The reception area and bar were both empty and lifeless. I was told that the whole team had changed and the new staff were untrained and inexperienced. Half the hotel was empty and I was one of a very few foreigners (I only saw 3 during the time that I was there). They had lost all their non-Russian staff (mostly from the Caucuses and Caspian countries) during the first Covid wave (returned to their countries of nationality) and after being returned to a hotel from a covid medical team base, the hotel was building up again and having the train new staff (if they could recruit them). Just the same problems as we have at home. The eight days were taken up by meeting old friends and their families (talking with them, catching up and going for meals and at last no business meetings at all. such a relief). Most of the meetings were in the hotel and restaurants but some of them were in people’s apartments as well. It was good to see very close and familiar faces again, people who were and, in many cases, still are good close friends. I am proud of our friendships and closeness and enjoyed just being with them and appreciate our common bonds and experiences. I also visited the graves of two people that I worked with and sadly they passed away in the 3 years since I last left Russia. I went with their family and friends and felt that it was respectful to spend a little time with the family and connections of people that I had a close connection with. It meant a lot to me and as far as I know also to them as well. No one spoke about the issues surrounding the future, we all concentrated on family and friendship (and its importance to us) and also reminiscing about the past. This was a relief for me as I had experienced situations of regional stress in the past and did not want to relive this again.

Everyone understood what was most probably coming to Europe without expressing it, we just concentrated on other matters which were much more important to us, but I could not escape from the feeling of impending serious diplomatic, military and economic disasters just days away. I learnt that sometimes close friends understand things very clearly without talking about them and this was certainly the case in Moscow. It did however increase my cautiousness and care when walking around Moscow and eating in restaurants or coffee shops as there was a lot of anti-European, US and UK sentiments in the press and also on the internet which was significantly worse that I remembered during Georgia and Crimea (where I did experience serious and challenging issues in Moscow). Walking through familiar places. I had forgotten that walking on ice laying on marble pavements was a challenge and my first walk into the fresh air was short and sharp slipping on the ice, falling on my back, breaking my phone along the way and the surrounding Russians laughing at me. I had a vision of them scoring my style quite highly as it was quite a tumble and almost gymnastic. Thankfully there was no damage to me (apart from my pride and the broken phone as well. After that it was a more cautious walking style for quite a while and thankfully there were no cameras to record the scene.

I spent a lot of time walking through Moscow carefully after my first fall of the trip, (even though it was very cold and snowy) to visit places I knew and used to frequent. Of course, I also tried to go to familiar restaurants and shops as well. Sadly, over the Covid pandemic (as in the UK) many shops, restaurants and cafés had closed, or moved, which was a sign of the times but very sad as these all had strong memories. The memories are there but the places not. There was the same problem with empty shops and units just as in the UK. Even though I know the main areas of Moscow very well, I decided to go on a few private walking tours (which were very interesting) and I learnt more about the city that I lived in for many years. Why did I not do these tours earlier? As required, I had to take three further PCR tests (one was a faulty test and had to be retaken). I had no control over these tests and was concerned about a positive result as that would mean isolation in the hotel, additional costs and also the trip having to be delayed for that time. As I know my way around the central area of Moscow and learnt over the years how to dress down and conduct myself, I had no issues or concerns about walking around (but was always mindful of surroundings). I also registered with the relevant bodies in case of changes in the situation and made a few other arrangements so that people knew where I was and how to contact me. Additionally, as I found out afterwards, one Russian friend was also keeping track of me in Moscow and on the whole trip itself right through to Vladivostok. Very reassuring and also a sign of his relationship with me. I walked, reminisced and took lots of photos on my walks to act as a memory for the whole trip. Memories of people and different emotions flowed through me as I walked down familiar streets alone in my thoughts. These became more frequent during the whole trip as I became more isolated There were too many photos in reality but here are some of the more tourist spots in Moscow.in and around Tverskiya and down to the Kremlin.

The following photos are from the Patriarch Ponds and Mikhail Bulgakov statues in central Moscow near Tverskiya and close to the apartment of one of my close friends and advisers. This is one of my favourite places, where I used to sit, talk to friends and watch the world go by, drink tea and eat in one of the numerous places around the Pond. The park has an area dedicated to Bulgakov’s stories with statues illustrating the animals in the stories. Some of these are shown below. This has very fond memories for me and I visited it a few times during my stay in Moscow. Unfortunately, as can be seen from the photos, it was not as busy as it used to be but the peace and quiet allowed my mind to reminisce about people, emotions and happy relaxing times when I was spending a lot of time in Moscow working. This was my haven and go to place.

The following photos are from the 2 sightseeing walking trips I arranged with a guide, Sveta, who took me to some interesting locations and she was a wealth of information about the various buildings and history of them. These areas are not often seen by tourists and are to the east of the centre of the city and really fascinating (three metro stops from Pushkinshiya metro station). There were some important business groups based in traditional non-descript buildings in this area and I surprised Sveta with some details about one of the business groups in particular which she was unaware of.

It was fascinating to learn about the history of a part of Moscow I most probably had travelled through but never had time to learn about. I did regret not taking a sightseeing trip like this earlier but in reality, when living in Moscow, work was the main focus of my life. One of the trips also covered a visit to an old industrial building complex (covering 6 blocks) that was totally converted into offices, photo studios, travel companies, internet development companies, dentists and doctors and even fashion houses. We saw a number of photo sessions and one fashion show as well. It was fascinating to see how old buildings can be repurposed but the main history of the previous use is still kept and preserved (historical connection and context is important although I am certain for the people working in the building it does not mean anything. internally the main fabric of the building was untouched but the separate rooms and halls had all been repurposed and renovated although not to our standards. The fashion designers and photographers were very interesting to see how the photographer created the image that he was seeking whilst guiding the model to pose exactly as he wanted. This really impressed me and gave me a much greater pride in how Ben worked when he was a fashion photographer. I even had a few photos taken of me as well for a laugh by a well-known photographer as a favour to Sveta.

I was keen to just walk around, get used to the weather and cold and also refine my walking style on snow and ice. Here are some of the sights from those walks mostly around the middle of Tverskiya and Pushkinskiya.