Well here goes for the first proper post for this blog…

In two days I jet off to the sunny town of Yekaterinburg in Russia. Allow me to rephrase that ever so slightly; in two days I leave the moderately balmy British winter, all +10C’s of it, and exchange it for a mind-crushing -15C in a large, essentially industrial (from what I’ve gathered so far) city on the far side of the Ural mountains. To put this into perspective look at a modern map of Europe, then go right, and keep going and edge up towards the Arctic circle a bit too. I am reliably informed by Google Earth that the distance to Yekaterinburg is getting on for 4000km, being some 1400 km east of Moscow…thats a fair way. I read with some discomfort that whilst Europe ‘enjoys’ an unseasonably warm period of weather, Siberia has been hit by the worst weather its seen for some time. I know how to pick ‘em thats for sure, still – never been to Russia, and its going to bring some interesting sights and photo opportunities I’m certain. What I am missing though are the mountains around Chamonix where after too little snow, more walking than skiing and frustrated holiday-makers fiddle about in their chalets for their alotted time-share to run out, a hearty bout of -27C eeked in at the weekend. In conditions like these its important to wear the correct attire.

So, gloves, hats and dodgy rowing leggings stuffed into my faithful bag that I hope will be coming off the plane the other end despite the grumblings in the works, if not it could be a chilly few days to say the least! I’m keeping my camera tight to my chest – starting to wonder whether I should have invested in a notebook computer for travelling…oh well, too late now!!