I don’t exactly know what I expected from Moscow, maybe some kind of out-dated, eastern style. Instead, I saw a modern, opulent, grandiose, glittering, never sleeping, clean capital.
My remarks briefly:
- people usually don’t speak English, maybe a few words in the restaurant and in the hostel
- the police is helpful: on my first day, they showed me the directions to my accommodation, they even accompanied me for a bit. Another day, they explained me why the Lenin mausoleum is closed
- the streets, squares are wide and spacious; the cars and people get lost in them, hence all seem empty
- all traffic lights has a timer, even for the pedestrians; however, it’s recommended to look around even at the start of the green, as cars and buses don’t always care about having red light
- our shopping centres seem like mouse-holes compared to the Moscow department stores, like the famous GUM: they are not only 3-floor high and incredibly long, they consist 2-3 wide line of corridors, crammed with the most expensive and luxurious boutiques. You can find some old-fashioned ice cream and lemonade stands, some fancy restaurants, and all this visual experience is topped by some soft music. And there is more than one of them…
- there is a separate department store exclusively for kids: toys, clothes, shoes and other various accessories on several floors and corridors
- there is no supermarket in the city centre, maybe a small one hidden somewhere; the locals go shopping by car to the suburbs. As a tourist, however, you have to walk quite a few miles for a bottle of water
- cafés, restaurants are everywhere, from which loud music filters out, making the streets vivid and lively
- the city of culture: plenty of theatres and museums. I’ve visited the Bolshoi Theatre and the Leo Tolstoi museum to get a taste (you can read more detailed descriptions about them in the next post)
- the Moscow metro network is one of the world’s biggest with its more than 200 stations, and it’s also held the most beautiful. Surely not because of the metro carriages, but some of the stations are architecturally nicely decorated
- safety: police are everywhere, and there is no place without security clearance at the entrance, which means security gate and bag inspection (at the entrance of the department stores, in the theatre, the library, the metro, the railway station, etc.)
- many important people: in every 5 minutes, there is a convoy of black cars with blue blinkers accompanied by the police
- there are plenty of churches and cathedrals: onion-shaped cupolas emerging all around
I’m just wondering that after seeing the luxury of Moscow, how it’s going to feel like in Irkutsk, or the places I’ll see from the train?