Night I went to the ballet with Mrs T

SoMe years ago, my late wife and I went to Moscow for a short city break and stayed in a large hotel on red Square. After we’d been there two or three days, we were sitting down to our evening meal at a large round table when the head waiter came over, made his presence felt next to my wife, stood to attention, clicked his heels, bowed and said: ‘Why you here, why you not 10 Downing Street?’ I should explain that my wife was often told she looked a bit like Margaret Thatcher. We started chatting to the waiter, who was astounded to learn that not only did we come from grantham — birthplace of Mrs T — but also that my wife had been to the same school as her (though not at the same time). To add to the coincidence, Mrs Thatcher had been visiting Moscow six weeks before our visit. I have to say that for the rest of our stay, our table received excellent service, with food that seemed more than a bit special and, at the end of the week, the waiter appeared yet again and presented my wife with a brightly painted wooden spoon, which is a traditional russian gift. one night, we decided to attend the Bolshoi ballet to see Swan Lake. We booked our seats for the theatre through the hotel and asked what was the dress code. We were assured that suit and tie would be fine. on arrival, we were ushered to our seats — at the front of a box with an excellent view of the stage. As we walked in, about eight or so people all stood up and waited until we were seated before they all sat down. on the way back to the hotel, it dawned on us that things must have been going on in the background unbeknown to us, and it seemed that, once again, we had been given a little bit of special attention. That trip to Moscow remains one of those lovely memories that will always be extra special. Maurice Arden,

Foxt, Staffs.