Moscow - Tuesday 15 May

Our tour guide (or Honcho as they are called) met us at the train station and we all piled into an awaiting mini van to take us to our hostel. The Honcho told us the trip would take us 15 minutes but it took us almost an hour - not sure if it was her accent that I didn't understand or she underestimated the Moscow traffic. It was bumper to bumper mayhem. Everyone rushed to the showers when we arrived, then settled in to our home for the next couple of days.

The girls and I had been invited to dinner by my Mum's cousin James and his wife Olga, who live in Moscow. We were told to catch a cab to a restaurant 45 minutes away, called Shinok, and pay the cab driver no more than $15. We agreed on a price of $7.50 before we jumped in the cab.

The 3 or so hours to follow were absolutely amazing and the best introduction to any city, especially Moscow. The restaurant had large viking style table and chairs, and in the middle of the room was a large area enclosed by big glass windows. Inside was a big cow (real cow), ducks and geese being fed by a rather large Russian woman. Strange but true! As soon as we arrived James ordered us one of the best wines on the menu and we were literally forced to eat everything that was ordered for us. After 4 days of eating dehydrated food, we weren't sure how we were going to handle all the food, especially rich food, but we made a fantastic effort. Under James's influence, we had no choice. James and Olga ordered starters and we ordered our own mains.

The food:
Starters - cow tongue, aubergine stuffed with the most delicious creamy sauce and fresh herbs, a plate of pig fat in different shapes, textures etc with a horseradish dipping sauce, pickled vegetables, large ripe tomatoes that burst with tingling flavour in your mouth (similar to vinegar pickling but we were assured it wasn't vinegar, a secret recipe), small pies of mushroom/potato, liver, apple or beef and a plate of pickle mushrooms.

Mains - us girls shared between each two - roasted rabbit with white sauce and vegetables, and Sturgeon fish with vegetables.

Dessert - fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries...the freshest i'd ever tasted.

We were made to eat and drink until we were almost blue in the face. Just about everything we ate was typically Russian, of the best quality and absolutely delicious (and extremely expensive). The company, service and food was fantastic and we had a brilliant night.