Symmetry is the key. As is sushi.

Couple of facts that I have learnt over the past couple of days.

1. it's true, mozzies really do love me. In fact they are getting damnably artistic about their craft, 1 shiny red lump in the middle of my stomach, 1 on each (facial cheek). Awesome.
2. Russian men are generally unattractive. Russian boys have potential but completely waste it.....mullets galore.
3. St Petersburg is beeeyoootiful. Grand, stunning, elegant, steeped in history and strangely for a hot city...not smelly. Still messes my hair up though.
4. Learning the cyrillic alphabet is HARD! I look like a 3 year old reading street signs phonetically.
5. Russian woman all have superhuman bodies through copious consumption of sushi. And not much else.

Other than that all is well on the eastern front, gearing up for our visit to Moscow (have heard nothing good from the locals here) and our 85 hour trip to Lake Baikal.

Last but not least, anyone who knows me at all will have heard my rant about HSBC....local bank my a%)e. You'll all, no doubt, be pleased to hear that we cannot use our HSBC cards in the one HSBC bank here as they don't accept our particular chips. And you cannot withdraw money from the bank teller. Who isn't in work anyway today. Was about to explode into volcanic anger when Al beat me to the post. Which of course cheered me up no end. Anything to do with money......