Arriving at Moscow Domodyedovo

It was four in the morning in early December...oops almost strayed into a Leonard Cohen classic then, but enough of famous blue raincoats and building houses out in the desert and giving a lock of your hair to some woman called Jane.

I thought you just said enough about a Leonard Cohen classic, even if it was performed so beautifully by the wondrous Luce Dufault, then you go on about famous blue raincoats and building houses out in the desert and giving a lock of your hair to some woman called Jane and the raincoat being torn at the shoulder.

Hang on, I certainly did not mention anything about the famous blue raincoat being torn at the shoulder and acting decisively I'm not going to mention anything more about it. It was just that the flight from London Heathrow to Moscow Domodyedovo landed at precisely 4.00 am and it was certainly in early December and the cadence of that statement made me think of the song, The flight was uneventful apart from being punctuated by the serving of snacks and hot and cold beverages and trying to fill in a customs declaration in very subdued lighting. I wouldn't care but nobody asked for it when I eventually went through the customs .
Before collecting my suitcase and going through customs I had to submit my passport and visa for inspection. I took special care of the small sheet of paper the young lady handed me with my passport, yes, my migration card.

You're not going to include the words to "Immigration Card Blues" now are you, just in case some poor soul out there hasn't heard it?

I hadn't thought about that. Quite a good idea, but no, not at this juncture. I did have to open my messenger bag so that the customs officer could check one or two items, but was waved through without further ado.

I was planning to stay in Domodyedovo Airport until about 8.00 and intended to catch the Aerexpress into Paveletski station. The airport was very warm - very, very warm. I was wearing enough layers to ensure survival in below zero temperatures but although it was a couple of degrees below freezing outside, it must have been about 30°C in the terminal. I first found a туалете and then looked for somewhere to relax for three hours.

Airports are strange places at 4.00 a.m. Eerily quiet with the majority of people there trying to sleep on seats not designed for sleep. Most seemed to be groups of young men and whether they were there to catch a flight or take advantage of the warmth it was not the most comfortable situation. Discretion being the better part of valour I moved to a coffee shop and enjoyed a 'strong cappucino' with a tastefully designed piece of art-work on the surface of the coffee. It was very pleasant indeed, but did nothing to reduce my body temperature.  I sat there for about 30 minutes and the decided to find the Аэроэкспресс terminal. Moving towards the exit there was a distinct reduction in the temperature, so I found a seat and attempted to acclimatise myself before leaving the terminal building. To say that I was perspiring heavily would have been an understatement and the cold started to react with my Beth Hart V.I.P T shirt, which was basically wringing wet.

I finally decided to catch an earlier train than intended so wheeled my laden luggage trolley out to the platform which had a dusting of snow covering the exposed parts. The train arrived and I boarded. It wasn't long before it set off and about 40 minutes later I alighted and went into the Paveletski Station building which was very busy. I was swiftly and successively approached by taxi drivers offering transport at knock down prices. One is advised not to accept, and I didn't need a taxi anyway, so practised my gruff est and hard man  "Нет. Мне не надо такси. " ("No. I don't need a taxi"), whilst scowling.