Blogs from Moscow, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 4

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Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow April 15th 2018

Our stopover was Heathrow, which is a fantastic shopping mall, it's also an airport but that is secondary to the shopping. Our Aeroflot flight from Heathrow to Moscow was an older plane (so much for what I read that Areoflot has one of the newest fleets. The breakfast was inedible, but at least we got little salt and pepper shakers with the hammer and sickle. We arrived in Moscow about 2:30. As the plane pulled in, it was apparent that 80-90% of the planes on the tarmac were Aeroflot and unlike airports in the US a lot of the operational equipment like empty luggage carriers were sort of piled up in plain site. had read that passport control could be a mad-house. Instead, there were at least 24 queue and 20 of them were empty. Needless ... read more
Armenia2
Photo Museum in Moscow
Alice in Wonderland2

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow March 16th 2018

A captivating diversion from the main sights of Moscow is the open air Muzeon Park of Arts (formerly the Park of the Fallen Heroes or Fallen Monument Park). It is located across the road (Krimsky Val) from Gorky Park. it is around the side and the rear of the Krymsky Val building in Moscow shared by the modern art division of Tretyakov Gallery and Central House of Artists. The park often turns up on dark tourism blogs and it is easy to understand why. It is both incredibly atmospheric and wonderfully photogenic. The irregular and rather chaotic display is very arresting and provokes a strange range of feelings. The iconography used during the soviet era provides for a sense of nostalgic isolation, the sense of isolation further compounded by the few, fellow lonely tourists rapidly traversing ... read more
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Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow December 31st 2017

Very tired after all the walking yesterday. I am still blown away by the activity and nightlife along Nevsky Prospekt near the rail station. This is the area to stay when visiting Moscow. Anyways - another day another city. We pretty much packed before going to breakfast. Again - just settled for some cereal and toast and watery scrambled eggs. Still not turned on by all the other pickled stuff and the weird looking cheese and cold cuts. We took our bags down to the lobby where our transfer assistant was waiting for us. He wanted to know why we were going so early as our train was not until 11.40am. I replied that we were just cautious - not knowing traffic etc etc. Our driver also knew we were too early and, unannounced - took ... read more
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stbasils

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow November 28th 2017

Mosca e' essenzialmente una citta' di simboli del potere; dopotutto, per oltre 70 anni, da qui si e' governato su meta' del globo terrestre. Fortezze, palazzi, chiese, statue e strade, tutto qui incarna il potere sovietico che ha riunito sotto il suo dominio popoli e nazioni dall'Europa al profondo dell'Asia, fino ad un bel giorno di Dicembre del 1991. Crollato l'impero, ridimensionato il potere, Mosca rimane comunque una grande metropoli cosmopolita dove e' tuttora molto facile riuscire ad incrociare alcune tra le piu' belle ragazze orientali del pianeta. E allora: piu' Europa o piu' Asia? Dove puo' essere collocata esattamente? Qui ormai il capitalismo sfrenato del XXI secolo ha preso il sopravvento sull'economia pianificata del XX, in uno stridente contrasto tra la sfacciata ostentazione dei simboli del lusso e la tenace resistenza dei relitti di un ... read more
Monumento ai conquistatori dello spazio
Mi hanno convinto!
L'operaio e la kolchoziana

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow November 7th 2017

Town squares attract tourists all over the world. Recently, in Prague, the Old Town Square was filled with tourists, locals, restaurants, and food stalls, surrounded by beautiful churches and museums. In Budapest, St. Stephen's Square was a hub of action, leading to many other pedestrian only squares and streets, a well laid out plan for locals and tourists alike. But the two big squares, in my opinion, not necessarily the best, but certainly among the brightest and most famous, are surprisingly Moscow's Red Square, and venerable New York City's Times Square. And they both seem an accurate reflection of the countries they represent. Red Square looks like downtown Disney now, with the lights of the GUM Department Store, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Kremlin (and Lenin's Tomb), and squared by the Kazan Cathedral. It is very difficult ... read more
Times Square
More Times Square
Red Square

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow October 1st 2017

Und jetzt bin ich eigentlich fertig. Nur die wenigen Ereignisse des Rückflugs kann ich noch erwähnen. Zum Beispiel den tropischen Regenguß, der sofort einen verspäteten Abflug von Jacksonville verursachte. Die drei Stunden zum Umsteigen in Miami, die fast nicht gereicht haben, denn der Flughafen ist RIESIG, ich musste mein Gepäck abholen und alles neu einchecken. Ich erreichte das Gate gleichzeitig mit der Durchsage, dass dies der absolut letzte Aufruf für meinen Flug sei..... Das lustige Spiel mit meiner gefüllten Wasserflasche, die dreimal durch die Sicherheiskontrolle rollte und nur einmal entdeckt wurde. (Ich musste sie ausleeren, füllte sie aber hinterher sofort wieder, um meinen Feldversuch fortzusetzen.) Die Riesenüberraschung, weil die Aeroflot das Bordmenü aufgemotzt hat. Ich erinnere mich gut an die Zeiten, als es Hühnchen mit Erbsen gab. Egal wann man flog und egal, wohin... read more

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow September 12th 2017

This morning, I finally made it to the dining room. There was no overzealous wedding guest to stop me this time. The breakfast salon was quite busy with mostly English being spoken interspersed with German overtones. The breakfast was varied with a selection of cold meats and cheeses together with an array of hot foods (bacon, sausage, scrambled egg etc…) It is here we encountered the first of our co-travellers: Les, a construction worker from Wolverhampton, originally from Sheffield and his wife, Mary; both have signed up all the way to Beijing. They had managed to speak to other Brits over the past day but not met anyone else (until now) who are travelling to China. As requested, we all met in the hotel lobby at 10am where a Go Russia rep allocated everyone to a ... read more
Student festival logo 2017
Minin and Pozharsky in front of St Basils
Red Square parade ground with the Russian military cutbacks

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow September 11th 2017

It’s full steam ahead in Moscow. Today we met bright and early, at 9am, for our next excursion. All excursions on this trip are fully included. That doesn’t make you feel so bad if you decide to drop out of any part of it. Natalia, our Moscow guide, did mention that yesterday’s sightseeing would be by car but today’s excursion around the Kremlin and Armoury, followed by a tour of the most elaborate metro stations, would all be by that dreaded word in Roisin’s vocabulary, the MOSCOW METRO!! As our hotel is about an hour’s walk from the Kremlin and it was unlikely that we would be piling in to a bunch of taxi’s at ‘Go Russia’s’ expense, the next most convenient and by far the cheapest mode of transport is the metro. As we were ... read more
The assumption cathedral, Kremlin
The church of Our Lady laying the Holy Robe, Kremlin
3 of the 5 churches in the grounds of the Kremlin

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow September 10th 2017

‘I hate the rain’, I thought to myself as I ate my somewhat soggy Weetabix. I stared out of the kitchen window watching the rain dance off the garden path. ‘Do you realise…’ I started, turning to Roisin,‘ …it always rains on the day we start on one of our jaunts.’ Gesturing to the rain spotted window as if Roisin wasn’t aware of the weather situation!! ‘Like setting your watch to someone’s routine or habit, if it rains, the Hodgsons are usually going on holiday!!’ ‘But it rains a lot in these parts!’ said Roisin. ‘Exactly!!’... read more
...Sofa and chair designed by Dr Seuss!
One of the seven sisters, Moscow
The view from our hotel room in Moscow!

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow September 1st 2017

We felt comfortable using public transport in St. Petersburg and decided to use the bus and metro system to get to our centrally based hotel as it was a short walk from a station. The Presidents Hotel backed onto the Moskva (Moscow) River and from our 12th floor suite (!) could just glimpse the Kremlin. In fact, the restaurant on the 14th floor, which overlooked the river, provided a panoramic view of the city. We were shocked to see a statue of Peter the Great that was as high as the hotel! The hotel was large and had a cavernous reception area, the corridors were long, wide and spacious but always empty. It felt desolate and almost what one would have imagined a good hotel would have been like in the Soviet era. I have to ... read more
Statue Park
St Basil's Cathedral
Ivan the Great Bell Tower




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