admin8570I have always been convinced that the beauty of a journey is not the city you visit but the journey itself. From the preparations to the departure, the arrival and the wandering around the city is nothing but the completion of the journey. (cit.)
Capital of Russia, largest city in Russia and the richest as well. An Italian proverb says: See Naples and then die. I say see Moscow and start living. Moscow is not the usual city, it is the capital of one of the nations that won the Great War. It is an emotion without end. For Moscow there was all the indecision possible. You don’t just book a plane and a B&B and go. I see Russia as another world, a world within this world.
When I made up my mind, the first thing I did was to do more research than I usually do. Then the journey began. Yes because the moment you say Next trip I will do it… there it all starts.
First step:
I went to the visa agency, yes because to enter Russia you need a visa. Not only that, the passport must be valid for at least six months after returning to Italy. this time I organised everything through the agency to apply for the visa and book the flight and B&B. Only after obtaining the entry visa I was able to book the B&B and the flight Twenty-five days, the time I waited to find out whether or not I could go to Moscow. Then everything else. During the flight from Rome to Moscow, I could hear people talking about more and less about the city, talking about the climate only the week before it had touched -15°.
Once I landed at Sheremetyevo airport, I could immediately see the efficiency of the staff. I learned to my amazement, from a group of people who were there, also on holiday, that there are three international airports in Moscow. I waited for my luggage and immediately headed for the customs, where the controls are very tight but I got through without any problems. At the exit this time I took a taxi, a regular one, in fact for only 11€ it took me straight to the B&B. Usually I do not take taxi. I move with local transport but, trust me, the Russian is incomprehensible and Moscow is definitely big. Once I arrived at the hotel, after getting settled, the first thing I did was to ask the reception where I could pick up. It was late and I could not find anything open. The lady kindly and translating on the phone showed me where to find the ATM, a bit far away but I got there in the end. Even though it was in the evening, not late in fact it was about 5pm and it was already dark, I took a little stroll. Obviously, the first stop was Red Square. A unique thrill to walk on it. The Square of Great Events, Stalin’s Square. But did you know that Red Square wasn’t called that way before? In fact, if you read up a bit you will discover that in the ancient Russian language, krasnaja ploscad meant ‘beautiful’, obviously nothing to do with the red walls or communism. Only later did krasnaja begin to mean ‘red’ hence the square came to be called Red Square.
Beyond Red Square in Moscow there is much to visit, for example the Izmailovo district. It is a popular district with tourists as it is home to the ‘modern’ Kremlin, but it is also the site of Stalin’s World War II Bunker and the Izmailovo residence in Tsarist times. The neighbourhood is also home to the famous Izmailovo market, the flea market, which is huge, covering 12 square kilometres and is one of the largest in Europe. There are many cafes and nice shops in the market, which is a great place to take home some souvenirs.
History lovers should not miss a visit to VDNKh.
The exhibition centre of all of Russia, its 70 pavilions were the hub of the socialist economy, in fact all kinds of products were on display. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some pavilions changed genres while some still remain faithful to tradition and continue to sell the same products.
Gorkij Park is now a modern and elegant park, completely renovated in 2011, but pieces of the Soviet past can still be found. The park has always been a family park, with many games available for children. In the adjacent park you can admire many Soviet statues and busts. If you happen to take the Metro in Moscow, you will be amazed, in fact they are true masterpieces. Moscow’s metro is very efficient, and very extensive; think of it stretching over 450 km with 265 stations, many of which are considered heritage sites.
Unlike the St. Petersburg metro, the Moscow metro is much more understandable and also easier to ‘manage’. In fact, in Moscow if you want to go from one place to another, you will find that the connections between
Also worth seeing are the Seven Sisters. Wonderful. They are seven skyscrapers wanted by Stalin, in truth there were supposed to be eight but the last one was never built, eight to symbolise the eight centuries of the Russian capital. The Arbat district, which is about a 25-30 minute walk from Red Square, but I am referring to the Old Arbat, yes because today there is also the New Arbat, a modern district that does away with the old quarter’s narrow streets, but in the Old Arbat you can find everything from souvenir shops to restaurants to places to spend a lively evening.
On the streets of the district there is no shortage of people dressed in the most varied ways to bring tourists to their places. The street is about 1 km long and full of lanterns and various places, more expensive than in other streets of the city as they are aimed at tourists. In the street there is also the Hard Rock Cafe. A place definitely worth visiting is the Georgian restaurant Genatsvale for its particular architecture, the restaurant was built in the style of Georgian restaurants.
Wandering around the city you will find many things to see because Moscow is really beautiful. Moving a little away from the centre, about an hour or so between metro and bus you will find the Zhivopisny suspension bridge for me for all the bridges I have seen is the most spectacular with its 105 metre high arch and for its longitude that is not perpendicular as it usually is. The Bagration Bridge, a bridge with a shopping centre inside, the bridge is named after a Russian soldier Pior Bagration who became very popular during the Franco-Russian war. The Bolshoi Kamenny Bridge is made of steel, a bridge that was intended for vehicular traffic, but which can also be crossed on foot and from where you can see some of the sights such as the Kremlin and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, as well as the suspension bridge over the Moskva River, which does not cross, but is V-shaped and rises about 15 metres out of the water. There are many other bridges to see and they all have a story of their own I highly recommend trying to see them all, if you go to Moscow in winter as I did it will be a bit difficult because of the temperatures but it is worth it.
For Moscow I could stay here writing for hours. It is a city that fascinated me a lot and area by area there would be something to say, put in your head that Moscow is very very big, and there is always something to see, even if you have not organized your trip, instead you should in detail. There is always something to see there is to walk every corner of the city has something hidden something that will capture your attention. To visit Moscow, I stayed 8 days and I must say that they were few, someone thinks that at least 4 days should be enough. Yes to see the main attractions, in my opinion to try to understand a bit ‘the city at least you should visit the city for 15 days so as to begin to understand how it works. Then if you want to know it better move there…. consider that it is a city of 20 million inhabitants and there are neighborhoods, museums, monuments, places, neighboring villages to see … in short, I repeat and I will never get tired of saying Russia is a world within this world.
Definitely worth seeing and researching a little bit of the history of the Library itself. Reading here and there without doing any real research, I came to learn that various books and writings from the 19th century onwards were stored in this Library, which in the 1980s counted around 25 million writings of various kinds.
For every photo I put above you could write something. I will just post a few photos to give you an idea of what a wonderful city Moscow is.For more photos you can follow me on facebook : http://www.facebook.com/aron.drum
Even the most enterprising and organised bloggers who have written pages of articles about Moscow and Russia say and affirm that to get to know it you have to go there several times and each time you will discover new things. I will return to Moscow this time with the knowledge of what little I learned the first time and with clearer ideas of what to do.
See you soon Francesco
