One thing I could never complain about is being bored in this business!! From the tranquil, heavenly beach bliss of the Maldives last month to the historical, snowy, Russian glory of Red Square in Moscow is mind-boggling!
Moscow is all that I had hoped for and so much more! Flying in, my eyes were glued to the window, desperate for that first glimpse of such a controversial and historical place and I was not disappointed; miles and miles of flat, snow-covered land which at first glance looked totally uninhabited, but actually housed hundreds of small individual, boxy, coloured homes with bare trees and long roads leading to and from. The airport was as austere as I had imagined, made more so by the falling snow. Once inside I loved watching a tiny, wee blonde Russian lady (airport worker) shout at a group of burly men whom she herded around as if she were 15 ft tall and wide! Girl-power Russian-style!
I am lucky enough to stay at The Ritz Carlton in Moscow, which has all the opulence and elegance that the name conjours up. I wasted no time in popping up onto my giant bed and scoffing the amazing strawberries from the welcome basket before heading out for a trip around GUM, (pronounced goom) which is easily the most gorgeous department store I have ever seen! (check it out on Wiki if you are interested). The shop on the ground floor has the most amaaazing range of food and is open 24 hours, 365 days a year! The range is vast, and as our host Timur Guguberidze explained, they cater for every taste and pocket: for example, if you need salt, you can spend £1 or £42, champagne for £20 or £20,000 yet every shopper has the same incredible shopping experience. (unlike somewhere like Harrods which is expensive in general) I enjoyed seeing the vast range of Vodka, which of course we sampled! (although being a total light-weight I had a very girly sip when everybody else 'downed in one'!). The GUM store is on Red Square, so after an amazing dinner (plus more vodka!) it was pretty special to walk out and see The Kremlin and Saint Basil's Cathedral in the snowy evening light.
I am in Russia for the launch of Bosco's Winter Games 2014 kit (they are also kitting out Russia, Spain and the Ukraine for London 2012) which will be hosted in the Russian city of Sochi. If the passion for the launch is anything to go by, then the 2014Winter Olympics is going to be one hell of an event and one I certainly hope to experience.
For now though, dinner beckons so I need to hop down from my huge bed and into the luxury marble bathroom. This city has not finished with us yet! Watch this space for more on my Moscow experience...