Blogs from Moscow, Northwest, Russia, Europe

Over the years, combined with my love for trains, metros, and public transportation, I have been fortunate to find some of the most beautiful stations in the world. Here are a few of my favorites (with help from tripsavvy): Komsomolskaya Station, Moscow (above) With its crystal chandeliers, marble pillars, and golden mosaics, you’d almost expect Moscow’s commuters to waltz through Komsomolskaya Station on their way to the platform. Constructed in 1952, the space was inspired by a wartime speech of Stalin, and the creative duo behind its extravagance (Artist Pavel Korin and architect Alexey Schusev) even won the Stalin prize for their work. Beyond its beauty is a blatant political mission. The station was also designed to promote Soviet propaganda, so you’ll find sculptures of fallen leaders and scenes depicting moments of Russian history. I was ... read more

I have been to some of the most beautiful metro stations in the world. Europe definitely has the best, followed by Asia. The US is a distant LAST! Syntagma metro station, Athens, Greece A transfer point between Athens Metro lines 1 and 2, Syntagma is not your average station. Considering the city's illustrious history, it maybe won't come as a surprise that the station is part museum. Located beneath the Syntagma Square, there are many antiquities on display at the station that were found during the construction. Aside from the ancient artifacts, there are also works from many contemporary Greek artists. The problem? It is a major transfer point, and everybody is running around like a Greek chicken with its head cut off!Szent Gellért tér Station, Budapest, HungaryAuthorities don't always​ need to spend ... read more

The first metro system built in Russia, the Moscow metro glorified the technological progress of the Soviet Union and is today one of the world's busiest subway systems. It is most famous for its extravagant and unique interior design, exalted as the 'Palace of the People'. Opened in 1935 with just 13 stations that Moscow Metro just keeps growing and growing - now there are over 180 stops and over nine million users a day. In comparison, the London Underground handles a mere 5 million journeys a day. Ploshchad Revolyutsii Station Ploshchad is decorated with 76 sculptures one cut into each corner of each column, arranged thematically moving from parents with their children to athletes, students to farmers, industrial workers to hunters to soldiers. There is also a frontier guard with a dog whose nose people ... read more

After flying through Novosiberisk again, and again at the airport hotel and bar, most of us continued on another 6 hour flight to Moscow, with a few going to St Petersburg. Here there were some changes as most people were returning to Dubai and waited to get the Covid rapid test before checking in. However, Luke and I were going to stay a couple of nights in Moscow to do some sight seeing. Initially, it was intended to not be rushed home, but now I was supposed to extend my stay as part of a 14 day quarantine to go to Saudi Arabia. We finally found the express train to the city center, getting business class tickets and having an empty car for the 40 minute journey. We arrived and found our way to the correct ... read more

21st March - Sokolinaya Gora District, Moscow #heygo http://www.heygo.com Within a few yards of where our tour started, was a KFC, Macdonalds Although not at this location we heard about the first McDonald’s in Soviet Russia. The Moscow McDonald’s initiative was a joint venture between McDonald’s of Canada and the Moscow city council, a plan first envisioned when George Cohon, founder, and CEO of McDonald’s Canada, met Soviet Union officials at the ’76 Summer Olympics in Montreal. And almost a quarter of a century later, on January 31st, 1990 it became a reality. At the time of its construction, it was the largest McDonald’s restaurant in the world. A venue with 900 seats with a staff of about 600 workers that were carefully selected from 35,000 applicants. Reportedly, it was expected to serve around 1,000 during ... read more