This was my first ever Russian tour: I was amazed to find such huge crowds. There were so many books to sign that the ice bucket was resorted to by the time I reached Moscow and I couldn’t sign at all on the final event of the week. Russia has defeated Napoleon, Hitler and my right hand. I came away from the Kremlin with a few ideas for a future book. Oddly enough, the high spot for me was travelling from St Petersburg to Moscow on the overnight sleeper (about a nine hour journey). It was a luxury cabin with a big bed, heated bathroom floor and shower – the best nights sleep I have had in years, and got up at half past six to have a lemon tea and watch Russia go past. It appears to have an awful lot of trees, but I was unable to count them all.
