Moscow Diary

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While our wheels are being changed at Brest-Litovsk I’ll take advantage of the pause to write this diary.

My visa came through after four days’ delay. The Moscow Foreign Ministry said, “Strange things are happening, particularly in the London Consulate. This is not the first time…” The official at the USSR Embassy asked me to come and collect it at the “KGB centre, 18 Kensington Palace Gardens”. This was either a slip of the tongue or refreshing candour on his part.

It has been a very interesting ride so far. The Belgian ticket collector said, “Moscow? Give my greetings to Gorbachev”, and the carriage laughed. Later, while I was killing six hours at Köln station, next to a fruit machine that played ‘Ode to Joy’, a Pole sitting with me said, “Gorbachev?” and made a fifty-fifty motion with his hand. The last person to comment was a West African in my sleeper, who said, “Give Gorbachev my best wishes”, before pulling the blanket over his head.

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