Dear Miss Ella,

It's very exciting to be correspoding with another capital. I am Moscow,

Russia's capital. My human name is Dmitri Braginski. The reason I'm writing to you is that Russia wants me to... socialize with more cities. He says I'm a shut-in, and if I don't speak with new people, I won't be a good example of a capital. And then he wants me to practice my English.

You have an interesting history, Miss Ella. I started out as an old fort and spent a long time as a second-in-command to St. Petersburg. I have a question for you: Is Mister England as weird as he seems? I've seen him a few times whenever there was a world meeting in Russia, and he was so strange. He talked to air a few times, and Russia just said Mister England was crazy.

Sincerely,

Moscow, Dmitri Braginski

Dear Dmitri,

Firstly, you are so polite! I'm flattered! Mostly when I'm called 'Miss', it's condescending. Like when Arthur visits my flat, and says "You need to tidy up, Miss".

Socialising is an important part of life, you can't get by without being around people, especially as a personification. I think your English is very good – my Russian is appalling, but there are a couple of schools in the city where you can learn Russian. My best language is French, because contrary to popular belief, a language is usually compulsory in high school, at least until GCSE year. As the most popular language, French is taught at practically every high school in London and it's getting more frequent in the primary schools too. There is even The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, which is an actual French school! Paris is so smug.

Ah, my mad dad – even though I only call him Dad to tease him, seeing as I'm only five years younger than him. You probably caught him whispering to his 'fairy friends'. He never does it in public, I'll have you know, just in private. Arthur is a bit loony, but I think we all must turn that way if we've been around that long and seen so many things. And you know, sometimes I think I see things out of the corner of my eye, but when I look around, they aren't there, and sometimes I feel a sense of magic around certain times of the year. I don't know if that makes me mad too! So I think he's just as mad as the next old nation.

Just out of interest, I've heard rumours that your own father Russia is a bit off his trolley – that means crazy. Is it true?

Many kind regards,

Ella

Thanks to Nutty Nerd for her letter!