Mementoes of Russia's secret police - and a last word to lastminute.com

Before I leave St Petersburg - and I may still not be finished - here are a few random images, taken on my mobile phone, of the fascinating little Museum of Political Police.

Just three rooms, advertised very sparingly outside, but containing relics of the various phases of Russian political police activity, from the beady eye Tsars kept on troublesome citizens (the last photo is of a recreation of the office of Nicholas II's political police chief) to the post-revolutionary zealots and Cold War KGB agents.

Well I've had my say about the way lastminute.com dealt with the issue of obtainina Russian visa for a brief trip to St Petersburg. Despite my kind words about the city, I suspect Vladimir Putin's invitation to the 2018 World Cup is not yet in the post.

The following response from lastminute.com does not fully answer my complaints and criticisms, but they have been detailed already so I shall leave the last word - unless they come back with more, and not in any way to rule out further comments below - to them:

We’re sorry that you feel we didn’t adequately signpost visa requirements during the booking of your recent holiday to St Petersburg, however we do ask our customers at two stages during the booking process to confirm that they are fully aware of any visa, health or other country specific information required to go to the holiday destination of their choice. We also ask our customers to confirm that they have read our Package Holiday Booking Conditions and General Terms and Conditions where visa requirements are highlighted before progressing with their booking.

We also provide a direct link to the Foreign Office Information page for those customers who are unsure of the entry requirements to the holiday destination of their choice.