We go to the opera, which is not only excellently produced but crowded to capacity at prices ranging from £2 down to 10s. At the best hotel in town Soviet citizens are lunching and dining, although a plate of soup costs 5s. and a portion of meat and potatoes 8s.
At the British Embassy I am told that if they want to give a special dinner party they have to order the meal from an hotel in Warsaw and send a messenger into Poland to bring A newspaper correspondent who dines with me says the eggs which compose our omelette cost 1s. 6d. each, the carrots likewise. That, with black bread and coffee imported from abroad, composes our meal.
By special arrangement with the Soviet authorities, foreigners resident in Moscow are allowed to bring in an occasional hamper with drinks, tinned goods, and fruit, and this is really the only thing which enables them to carry on.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.