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Grinding poverty, grey squalid buildings and Lada cars would be most westerners' idea of Russia but this could not be farther from the truth in the centre of Moscow in spring. The car seems to be king - controlled oil prices make this the form of transport aspired to by the Muscovites.

Rolls Royce's, Bentleys and Porsches are mixed in with old battered trucks and rusty cars held together by bits of wire and string. The MOT has not arrived here.

On Red Square western boutiques inhabit the quaint old fashioned corridors of GUM, the ex state departmental store, which at night is illuminated with thousands of light bulbs reminiscent of Harrods at Christmas. This is where the rich oligarchs take their young mistresses to deck them out in the trappings of western capitalism. This is where the Russian equivalent of the "yummy mummy"� comes to shop, gossip and show off her wealth. The mix of very rich and very poor comes together in this city in a paradox that is today's Communism.

The immense square in front of GUM is strangely menacing even when crowded with tourists and you can almost see and hear the ghosts of the marching soldiers and the weapons of mass destruction that follow behind at their military parades. In the centre of the square is the sinister edifice of Lenin's tomb that is often masked by the gaily decorated podium on which is seated members of the Russian government alongside their western counterparts.

A strange juxtaposition to this arrogant show of military might is the Disney-like St. Basil's Cathedral at one end with its onion domes tiled in a rainbow of colours that seem to add a dash of the burlesque to the sombre scene. With a little imagination you feel that Santa Claus could fly onto the roof to deliver parcels to the children of Moscow. At the other end is an equally unlikely building topped with mini spires and guarded by men in oversized military hats overtly carrying machine guns where you feel you could be snatched and delivered to the Lubyanka prison.

The threatening red stone walls of the Kremlin unmistakably remind us that the dark era before glasnost and perestroika is only a few decades ago. This city certainly lives up to its spy thriller image with its mixture of mystery and menace.

St Petersburg ... another age

Travelling by train to St. Petersburg is like taking a time capsule into another age. An age of grandeur and sophistication is evident in the city which was built by Peter the Great in 1703 to give Russia a gateway to the Atlantic. It was conceived as one grand project and constructed on the bleak marshes bordering the River Neve.

By Jay Cassie

• Moscow City
• St Petersburg Guide