A visit in Moscow and the start of Trans Siberian |
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The city of Moscow is full of history and culture. It's a city where both wealth and poverty are mixed together. Moscow is the benchmark against the rest of Russia.
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The Kremlin from The Moscow river
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The city of Moscow was founded in 1147. It s a city living mainly from aerospace, chemical equipment and automotive industry. The old part of Moscow has a radial circular lay out. The Kremlin and the Red Square forms the major major part of the old city. Moscow with its 9million habitants is also famous for its 1980 Olympic Games.
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Fabberge Egg: The Trans-Siberian
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The Metro is an attraction in its own way. It's really a museum in its own right. The decoration in the stations is splendid, and also, not a graffitti in sight! The Moscow Metro system has got over 120 stations and around 250 km of tracks. The first stations opened in 1935, they are very deep, they also acted as bomb shelters.
The Kremlin, it is the apex of Russian political power and once the centre of the Orthodox Church, it is not the Kremel of Moscow, but also the one of the whole country. It 's from here that the Tsars, communnist dictators and democratic presidents of Russia have done their best and ... worst for Russia. Kremel in Russian means fortress, and every medieval town has one. Until 1995, the Kremlin was closed to visitors, most of whom before would have feared death by enterring under the Stalin era. You can visit the Armoury with its 700 rooms. The most famous collection is the Fabberge Eggs. The Assumption cathedral is also woth a visit.
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The visit to the Kremlin was my highlight but also walking around Red Square was amazing, with a visit to St Basil cathedral. Behind the Kremlin wall you can also pay your respects on the tomb of the unknown soldier. However the Metro was absolutly fantastic, that was my number one attraction! It is also the cheapest and quickest way to get around the city. Komsomolskaya has got huge chandeliers and gold incrusted mosaics. Not to misssed also are the stations of Sokolnicheskaya in honours of Metro workers, and Mayakovskaya with mosaic ceilings.
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On the Red Square G.U.M shopping mall is worth a look, but it is very expensive.
By the Univeristy on the hill, you have nice views over the city, and also over the Olympic stadium.
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I treated myself to the Hotel Ukrainia, one of the 7 "wedding cake" style building, from the Stalin Era, nice views of the city from the last floor. Old fashioned rooms but truly Soviet style. Very clean.
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Klub Kosmik; offers good value drinks and mainly Techno music.
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Yolki Palki; part of the Russian chain, offers good value food. The beer is very cheap, and mainly the toilets are clean!
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Sleeping Beauty at the Bolchoii
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The Bolchoii is worth a visit, I saw Sleeping Beauty, it was lovely, but it can be hard to get your hands on tickets.
Overall I did enjoy my stay in the Russian capital a lot, it was fantastic.
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Published on Wednesday January 4th, 2006 by frenchfrog
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