Saturday, February 19, 2011

Moscow 2011: Last Day in Moscow

Moscow 2011: Last Day in Moscow

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The first thing we did was to go to Sparrow Hills which was a metro stop away from Novodevichy.  Sparrow Hills was supposed to provide a nice lookout for Moscow but never found the actual lookout point.  Nevertheless, the views were still stunning from the vicinity of the metro station:



Moscow 2011: Moscow Day 3

Moscow 2011: Moscow Day 3 - Aimlessly walking..

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“Aimless walking” pretty much summed up our third day in Moscow.  We could not figure out how to buy train tickets when we got to the train station. 

Moscow 2011: Moscow Day 2

Moscow 2011: Moscow Day 2

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The first part of the day was spent touring the Kremlin proper (after making sure we looked up the proper directions to the ticket booth).  We got to the ticket booth 15 minutes before the 10 am opening and got tickets to both the Kremlin Grounds and the Armory.  The Armory tour consisted of a self-guided audio tour of Russia’s royal family gold, jewelry, precious stones, clothes, etc.   There was A LOT of gold and diamond and wish I could take some home with me J  No pictures allowed inside the tour though.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Moscow 2011: Moscow Day 1

Moscow 2011: Moscow Day 1

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We appeared to be one of the last flights to get into SVO.  The airport was pretty deserted with most shops close.  The immigration checks went by pretty quick and we were waiting for our bags only after 15 minutes when we left the plane.  I was somewhat worried our bags might have gotten lost with the many layovers and flight changes (last time we saw our bags were in Hong Kong) but thankfully they arrived without any issues.  We pre-arranged a taxi from a website pointed out by tripadvisor to pick us up from the airport.  The taxi service was two times cheaper what the hotel was going to charge.  I would recommend this option for the cost and not having to deal with taxi drivers who may not speak English or try to rip you off.  (There is also a train service available from airport to downtown but this was not feasible for us due to our late arrival.  In hindsight, the taxi service was the better option as we would not have been able to deal with the luggage and the lack of English in the train/metro).  The driver was promptly waiting for us and within 35 minutes, we were at our hotel for the next 5 days – Novotol Moscow Center.  

We again got a good deal at our hotel thanks to the Accor 50% Super Sale.  Moscow hotels are generally really expensive and cost in the range of 200 to 300 USD per night.  For the price we paid for our room, it was somewhat basic. The room itself was pretty big (we might have gotten an upgrade to a corner room but can’t confirm) and there was plenty of space.  There was a sofa bed in the room but no coffee table – kind of weird.  The hotel itself is on the outskirts of downtown Moscow but this was not an issue as there is a Metro stop next to the hotel.  There were plenty of eating options around the hotel ranging from McDonalds, a TGIF, several Japanese/Chinese restaurants and our favorite Mu-Mu.  Some pictures of the hotel:



The first place we visited in Moscow was Izmaylovo Market.  We decided on doing this first as it was a Sunday and per the guide books, most stores are open on the weekend.  The trip to the market was pretty easy once we figured out the metro system. The market was not crowded when we got there at around 10.30 in morning with some stores only starting to open.  The market sells a wide variety of souvenirs ranging from Mastroka dolls, antiques, fur jackets and hats, Russian army uniforms, etc.   

Pictures of the market:





We got done with the market around lunch time and then took the metro to the Red Square area.  At this point, we were starving and found a food court in a shopping mall.  The stalls spoke some basic English and with some pointing at food we wanted, we had a Russian lunch of baked potato, borscht soup, herring salad and a pork chop.  

With our tummies filled, we next explored the Red Square area.  The main tourist attractions such as St. Basil’s and Kremlin are all within walking distance of this area.  We could not find the entrance to the Kremlin (it’s a “fortress” with a wall surrounding it) and decided to leave Kremlin for another day where we had proper directions.  We visited St. Basil’s Cathedral where each “dome” is a chapel by itself.  It was somewhat a let down on the inside if compared to Cathedrals in Rome.  

Pictures of St. Basil from the outside (no pictures allowed inside) & Red Square:





Before calling it a day, we visited the GUM shopping mall.  This mall seems targeted at the high-end market.  There was an impressive food store inside selling high-end stuff like Jamon Ham and $1000 aged bottle of balsamic vinegar. 

GUM shopping mall from the outside:


Moscow 2011: Moscow Overview

Moscow 2011: Moscow Overview

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To do Moscow justice, we’re going to breakdown the Moscow portion of this trip report to multiple sections.  This first part will be a summary of our thoughts and impressions of Moscow in general.  

We spent 5 days & night in Moscow and this was about the right length of stay to do the main touristy stuff.  If one were more interested in the many art museums (something which we did not appreciate) or plan for a trip to the Golden Rings towns outside of Moscow you might want to stay an extra few days. 

One of the main worries before we went on the trip was the winter cold.  It NEVER gets below 25C in Penang.  This was technically not our first trip to Moscow.  We transited through Moscow twice before on the way to Houston on the Singapore Airlines SIN-DME-IAH flight.  There was once when we transited during the winter and Lydia really liked the view of snow everywhere at the airport.  This experience was one of the main factors that swayed the decision to visit in the winter.    We did our research and bought new thermals, snow boots and down jackets on our trip to Melbourne (another trip report in the planning).  This turned out to be one of the wisest investments.  The weather was somewhat bearable thanks to them – there were no cold and wet feet and we were relatively warm.  It was ~-10 to 0C the 5 days we were in Moscow.  The nice thing about visiting during the winter is the lack of lines and crowd.  There were virtually no lines to enter any of the churches or museums we visited. More importantly, the views and scenery during the winter with snow covered roots and building was simply stunning.  Some initial pictures to share:







Please make an effort to learn some basic Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet before visiting Russia.  There were virtually no signs in English and the only people who spoke English to us were when we checked into the Hotel and the tourist stalls.  Lydia learned some basic Russian through some websites and that helped a lot with getting around. The metro is a cheap and efficient way to get around but all the signs were in Russian.  It was a struggle the first day trying to find which line to take and where the exit of the metro even was.  Another tip on the metro is to remember the line number and color of the metro station you want to go to. There are multiple ways and places to change to get to where one needs to go.

There are different views on whether a local guide is needed to visit Moscow.  In general, we felt Moscow was easy enough to get around especially to the main tourist attractions like St Basil, Red Square, Arbat, etc (if you know some basic Russian) and with a good guide book like Lonely Planet, a guide was not really needed. The one part of the trip that we regretted not getting a guide was to Sergev Possad.  Sergev Possad is a monastery about a 2 hour train ride away from Moscow which per online guides compare with the Vatican.   We arrived at the train station and couldn’t figure out how to buy tickets with no one speaking English and gave up!

There was plenty of ways to change money in Moscow and change only what you need for the cab to the hotel at the airport.  I was worried that changing money in Moscow itself was going to be hard with the possible lack of money changers and lack of English.  I decided to change all the money we needed for our stay at SVO when we got to Moscow and I got ripped off!  The exchange rate was a horrible 24 Rubbles to 1 USD.  In town, I found multiple money changers with rates for 30 to 1.  There are also automated money changer machines (similar to ATMs).  

Eating out and finding food was pretty easy in Moscow.  There are a lot of restaurants in Moscow with prices similar to what one would pay in US or Europe.  Muscovites also seem to like sushi a lot – there were literally sushi restaurants at everyone.  We tried one in Req Square and it was just ok for the price we paid.  A better value and a favorite of ours where we ate several times was a self-serve Russian chain called Mu-Mu.  A meal for both of us including beer was about 25 USD.  The best part was we could pick the food from the line and didn’t have to deal with language problems.  The quality of the food was generally good but lacked the spice or kick but that’s Russian food in general. Some pictures of food and restaurants we tried in Moscow:

Mu Mu Restaurant & Food:


 McDonald's in Moscow:

Russian crepes (blinis):

In general, we really enjoyed the short holiday in Moscow.  This is a city that should be everyone’s bucket list.  Would we come back? Don’t think it would be a yes for now but who knows.....