Day 10 - Sunday and Day 11, Monday

Our free day in Moscow.......everyone was up early and raring to go on our walking tour of Moscow accompanied by Ted, one of the Russian Mini Club who met us to escort us into the city.

Ted, we found out during a pitstop in the afternoon, used to live in Reading and worked in Bracknell. Its a small world after all!

We walked for miles around the famous sites....the Kremlin, St. Basil's, the market streets and Ted took us for a ride around the Moscow Metro to see the world famous stations, which, in many cases, resemble palaces and are fine works of art in their own right. We left three of our party behind on the platform at one point as the doors closed rather abruptly and they wait for no-one.......they got the next train and caught up with us at the next station. The train rides were a superb people-watching opportunity - especially for the men!

Everyone did their souvenier shopping on Sunday morning buying dolls and t-shirts, hats and crystal.

We saw the amazing Moscow University which is located in a part of the city with panoramic views providing us with a fantastic photo opportunity. Our feet were getting a bit sore by then but we soldiered on and eventually made it back to the President Hotel around 7 p.m., just in time to turn ourselves around for our Gala Dinner.

The evening was a great success and attended by representatives from the British Embassy and the AEBRUS, the Russian equivalent of the SMMT. A number of people got to their feet and said a few words, each in their own way, but collectively everyone said they'd had an experience of a lifetime, in great company, and wouldn't have missed it for the world.

A small group of ralliers decided sleep was for wimps and stayed up all night, taking a leisurely walk to Red Square at 5 a.m. (another photo opportunity) and then back to the Hotel for breakfast and packing for our return journey.

Our coach picked us up at 1 p.m. for a hour-long journey to the airport, check-in was smoothe, as was passport control and our flight left on time, arriving at Heathrow on schedule. We said our farewells in Terminal 1 and parted company, all the better for the experience and the opportunity to make new friends.

We hope you've enjoyed keeping track of our journey - keep an eye on the blog for an update on the return of the vehicles to the UK.