Diary. Trans-Siberian journal, entry 30. Moscow!

1 Dec.

Moscow! Well, not quite. About to set off from the flat and catch the train to the capital for my city-break holiday with Sam. I’m told by Evgenii that it is -25C today – WTF. I am literally scared to step out.

Made it to Vladimir station – about as ugly as they come. Before that I stopped off at the Torgovy Center and bought a pair of brown leather winter shoes with a fluffy lining. Hopefully these will achieve the dual purpose of preventing my toes from falling off with frost bite, and allowing me to gain entrance to Moscow’s exclusive clubs and bars. Somehow I think my walking boots wouldn’t go down to well with the ‘face-control’ policy.

That was tense! Made it onto the train but not without a stressful few minutes running between the platforms trying to locate the correct one! It was bloody confusing seeing as the departures board said platform 3 but the train to Moscow actually arrived on platform 2 where it stopped for all of 1 minute. Wouldn’t want to miss a train at this stage in my trip! I am now sitting opposite a rather large woman with an incredibly ugly rat of a dog. Now just need to get to Moscow, pick up the keys, located the apartment, by vodka, lemons & tomato juice, have a big old drink and wait for Sam to arrive from London.

Made it! Sam’s done well in choosing this place! Big old apartment, smartly furnished on Tverskaya St, close to Mayakovskaya metro. I went out and had a little look round our area. Bought some provisions at the local, very swanky (expensive), supermarket. It seems we are staying in quite a swish part of town. I suppose we should expect to pay 3 times as much for everything here. Moscow is certainly massive, that’s for sure.

(c) Richard Breeson,
photos are taken from Richard's archive

Sky lanterns in Moscow on the 1st of June

Yesterday, on  the 1st of June - the Day of  children's defense - in Moscow there was a flash-mob 'Sky Lanterns'

Thousands of sky lanterns were released into the sky. This event broke Guinness' record!
Let's see a photo-report and some video

all photos by malinovskaya for Moscow walks
more photos at the community 

Moscow from old poscards

Chudov monastery

The Chudov Monastery (Чу́дов монасты́рь) (more formally known as Alexius’ Archangel Michael Monastery) was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. Themonastery was dedicated to the miracle (chudo in Russian) of the Archangel Michael at Chonae. The Monastery was closed in 1918, and dismantled in 1929.


View of the Kremlin, Levinson Co (c)

The chapel of Virgin Mary Iverskaya, Kushnerev and Co (c)

Next few photos are taken from the album of the old photos collectioner Nicholay Naidenov. All photos below show Moscow of the year 1891

Okhotniy Riad

Kitay-gorod, the monument to the heroes of Plevna

Kuznetskiy most, view from Rozhdestvenka street

source - community 'Photos of tsar's Moscow'

Moscow is ... Places to eat. Upside Down cake

A very nice cafe, project of Isaac Correa, creator of Correa's restaurants, situated on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya, 76 in Moscow - is a paradise for candy man!
Based on English and american recipes menu offers you loads of cupcakes, tarts, pies, cakes. Cosy atmosphere in pastal colours and interesting design created a new type of city cafe which is worth visiting when in Moscow

To learn more about the cafe go to their web-site http://upsidedowncake.ru to enjoy the views of cafe and cakes

Moscow is... Places to visit. Part 1. TO EAT and DRINK. 'Chokoladnitsa'.

Шоколадница or 'Chocoladnitsa' is a chain of coffee shops, which in Russian are called 'кофейня'. It may be found all over Moscow in tiny lanes or crowded avenues like Tverskaya street, you may check the address here, but usually there is no need, as it happens usually like this: you walk on foot in the center, feel 'ready' for a cup of coffee and..usually you see it)

The design is very nice,  recently, by the way, one of coffee shops won the prize for the best DESIGN of a coffee shops. And according to the hit-list, it is the best coffee-shop in 2011.

Let's visit one of the кофейня and choose a drink and dessert. MUST-TRY in Russia is coffee glace (кофе гляссе).Sounds French, but indeed it exists only in Russia. Usually is it a big cup of hot black coffee with few spoons of ice-cream upon it. While the ice-cream is melting, coffee becomes milky, ice-cream not so cold, and you drink coffee through this ice-cream foam. Very delicious! it used to be my favourite dessert everywhere in Moscow. In 'Chocoladnitsa' you may try a cup for 149 rubles (180 ml, around 37 hkd) or 179 rubles (270 ml, 45 hkd).

Traditional cappuccino and americano is also found here, you may check the prices in the coffee menu . Among latte the candy boys and candy girls are advised to choose Banana-Caramel Latte, which is 189 rubles for 160 ml (less then 50 hkd), 199 rubles for 250 ml (50 hkd).

Chocoladnitsa exists in Moscow for a long time. I remember well when at the age of 12 first time went there with my mum, who remembered classic choco-panckes exactly there. Now you still may try this dessert.

A portion of pancakes is around 50 hkd, traditional chocolate pancakes look like this

Besides, now you may found renewed lunch menu there, so enjoy not only sweets and desserts, but something else. It will cost you around 100 hkd.

Приятного аппетита! 

Memory Watch 2011

Today is the 22 of June. Why this day is important for Russians? not because it is one more day-off with no routs!

This day, 22 of June 1941 was the beginning of Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union. The largest, hardest and memorable war in our history. Still sometimes it seems that whole Russian history is history of wars!...

And now we have got one more new, but already important and sincere tradition - the Memory Watch - Вахта памяти.

The idea of this activity is that the participants (usually the youth) meet at night and from different parts of Moscow (or other cities. Me myself, I participated once, it was in Moscow) different groups walk (on foot, at night) towards the center of Moscow, to Alexander's garden near the Kremlin, where is the Tomb of the Unknown soldier and the Eternal Flame.
Usually by 3 o'clock you are there. You get a flower (usually carnation) and a candle. Then at 4 o'clock - exactly when the War started - you silently walk to the Tomb to put the flowers there. Such a sincere and strong ceremony

Moscow is... Places to visit. Part 3. Entertainment

What you can visit in Moscow in the coming two months? Exhibitions, museums, events. Of course, no doubt that you SHOULD visit the museums, that Moscow is famous for, that is the Tretyakov Art Gallery of Pushkin Fine Arts museum, or Kremlin.

Here I will tell you about the new events, also worth visiting but less known especially abroad.

1—20 June 2011- Exhibition of photo by Segery Prokudin-Gorsky 


He is famous for that he was the inventor of colour photo in Russia, one of the first in the world. The emperor sent him to make a collection of view of Russian Empire of the beginning of the 20 century. This is an exhibition of category 'MUST SEE' 

Where: 
Москва, Дизайн-завод FLACON, Адрес: ул. Б. Новодмитровская, д. 36,
тел.: +7 (495) 790-7901, email: info@flacon.su


June - July 2011 - Open Air photo exhibition 'The world through eyes of Russians' 


Where: Tverskoy boulevards, the center of Moscow, metro Pushkinskaya

8 июня—15 июля 2011 года - Nikolay Kulebiakin. Platinotherapy. 

The exhibition of a master of 'nature-morte' 

Where: 

Россия, Москва, Галерея «Меглинская»,
Часы работы: 12.00-20.00, ежедневно, кроме понедельника
Адрес: Россия, Москва, 4-й Сыромятнический переулок, дом 1, стр.6,
Проезд: м. Курская; Центр Современного Искусства ВИНЗАВОД

Moscow, places to visit - Part 2. To WALK. Kamergersky pereulok

Summer in the city! Besides it's time to think of the vacation, and perhaps you have already chosen Moscow or some other cities as a place to travel. Recently we gave you an example of some nice restaurants, and we will go on sharing this interesting info with you. For example, where to drink coffee and eat delicious cakes.

But today I'd like to tell you about one of my favourite places to walk in Moscow.  Камергерский переулок - Kamergersky lane, see it on the map. 

Kamergersky lane is a lane that leads from Bolshaya Dmitrovka to Tverskaya street, 2 more minutes - and you are near the Red Square. It is an old pedestrian lane closed for the traffic. Here are many beautiful old-style building of high cultural significance.  Here lived such famous people as Leo Tolstoy (writer), Edward Bagritsky (poet), Mikhail Sholokhov (writer), Lubov Orlova (actress), A.Tropinin (artist), Sergio Prokofiev (composer) and many others. 

Now the lane is also famous for that here is located one of the most known theaters in Moscow - МХАТ (Moscow Art Theatre).  It is know not only because of good talented actors, famous actor's school, but also for that the plays of Anton Chekhov were staged there.  


Besides, if you have read 'Doctor Zhivago' by Boris Pasternak, you of course remember the poem 'A candle burned upon the table, A candle burned...'  SO according to the plot of the novel, Yura Zhivago wrote it when he was passing the Kamergersky lane and saw a candle in the window frozen by winter frost, there behind the window Lara and Pasha were talking. 

As for the present-day lane, it's a great place to relax, of course. To walk, to visit some shops, among which is a large book-shop. Then you may relax in one of the cafes there. Pasticceria Pinocchio (в переводе "Кондитерская Пиноккио") is a cafe of  Italian pastry,  bakery  "Le Pain Quotidien" ("Лё Пэн Котидьян"), the restaurant 'Ancient China' (it would be funny to meet chinese culture in Moscow, if you have come from Hong Kong to meet Russian culture!!)) and many other cafe. I would suggest you to visit Moscow's traditional coffee-shops, that in Russian we call 'кофейня' - 'Chocoladnitsa' ("Шоколадница").
But I'd love to focus on it in our next post...


Enjoy your walk! 

Flying over Moscow

Novodevichiy monastery 

view to the Kremlin and Red Square, St.Basil's Cathedral is seen ahead 

click photo to see more 


and bonus! 3D Virtual Tour over Moscow