Sunday 23rd October 2011, 10.15pm (day 59)
Looking out over the Moscow River (unseen in this shot) – this is the Hotel Ukrainia, one of the ‘Seven Sisters’, gothic skyscrapers built by Stalin (well, not personally) in the 40s and 50s. I’m in the Hotel Belgrad.
I always wanted a job where I could travel, right from being 16 or so. And now I have one, I’m glad enough, even if sometimes it seems a little excessive – I have 7 work trips abroad planned between now and mid-February (plus one personal one), and that does not even include trips within the UK.
But I think the chance to see how other cultures live, and realise that – unlike what the Daily Mail says, in its xenophobic little hate-fuelled way – Britain is not the centre of the world, are good things and has made me a better person, though others should be the real judge of that. Do I worry about the environmental impact? Yes… but I don’t own a car, so feel at least that I compensate in one way. Again, let others judge.
Being 42 
[…] back the curtains in my room stayed with me. The ‘spires’ are the Hotel Ukrainia, which has appeared before on this blog, and for me is one of the most spectacular buildings in this city – one day I will treat […]