Moscow is the capital city of Russia known to be the political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and all of Europe. It is located in the northernmost part of the earth. It is the 6th largest populous city in the world and is the most populous city in Europe. Based on Forbes magazine, Moscow has the largest community of Billionaires in the world. Despite of its imperial and Soviet past Moscow is a beautiful city with numerous museums, Soviet-era monoliths and post-Soviet kitsch. How worthwhile is it to take a vacation in Moscow? Just imagine Moscow is like a historical graffiti wall, that those who have come and gone all left their mark as part of its history. If St. Petersburg is considered as Russia’s imperial crown, Moscow is its familial heart. It is a contrast city of its finest and all that is most frustrating in Russia. It is in Moscow where the Soviet past collides with the capitalist future. The new Moscow is marked by a strong appreciation of the city’s rich and varied heritage, a heritage of the Soviet rule. The city today is how it embraced the Western culture but keeping in revival its own traditions. Ancient cathedrals are being restored and opened for religious services, innovative theaters are reclaiming leadership in the arts, and traditional markets are coming back to life. Moscow is once more assuming its position as the capital and mother city of the ancient state of Russia.
How Russia preserved its traditions as it embraced the western culture is a part of discovering in experiencing a vacation in Moscow. These are some of the popular destinations when in Moscow.
GUM and TSUM Malls. Shopping definitely is always a part of a trip wherever you might be. The most popular place for shopping in Moscow is the GUM and TSUM which are are the largest and most over-the-top shopping malls in Moscow. GUM faces Red Square while TSUM is across the street, just opposite Karl Marx Place. It’s pretty expensive shopping here, though everyone should make a point of stopping by GUM, strolling through the capacious, architecturally stunning hallways lined of signature brands such as Burberry, Joop!, Hermès and Moschino, and then moving on to TSUM. TSUM department stores in Petrovka Uliza, which is usually compared to Barney’s in New York where you can find more sophisticated brands like Givenchy, Peter Pilotto and Christopher Kane alongside Italian classics such as Giorgio Armani and Prada. After all the window-shopping, Café Tsum, on the fourth floor, is a perfect place to unwind.
Patriarshy Prudiy. It is the Patriarch’s pond, where those who read the famous Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita will be interested to see for themselves Patriarshy Prudiy, just off the Garden Ring and not far from Mayakovsky Square and Tverskaya Ulitsa. It is more than interesting place to go as there’s no better guide to Stalinist Russia and the surrealism that, in some sense, still pervades Russia. Patriarshy Prudiy, which means “Patriarch’s Pond,” is a square-shaped pond surrounded by Stalin-era apartments; this is where you can also find, neoclassical restaurant called Pavilion, most popular in the city. It is great to visit Patriarshy Prudiy in the morning of fall or spring. Take a book, allow yourself a little time, walk around the pond, make sure not to miss the sculpture garden. Feel the freshness of air and quiet morning that makes you begin a day fully inspired and refreshed.
The Bulvar. The Bulvar is the four-lane road split down the middle by a park, to the Chistiye Prudiy metro station. At the end of Bulvar is Pushkin Square, considered as the very heart of Moscow. Experience feeding the pigeons, reading the papers and checking in on the great and grand statue of Alexander Pushkin, whom Russians universally consider the father of Russian literature. If you walk a bit farther down the Bulvar, you’ll eventually reach Jean-Jacques, a great French-Russian restaurant that’s a favorite among the city’s young and beautiful.
Before finally calling it a night in Moscow, try to head to Café Pushkin on the Bulvar, not far, strangely enough, from Pushkin Square. The café, which is really a five-star restaurant, is open 24 hours a day and is situated in a building that was renovated to look exactly like a Russian aristocrat’s home circa 1825. The staff speaks a beautiful, pre-Sovietized Russian but are well versed in English too serves some of the best fare in town. You’ll want to get the blinchiki known as Russian Pancakes with black caviar, borscht and pelmeni , before moving on to the famous Tsar’s Sturgeon and, of course, one of Pushkin’s many, many desserts. Make sure your meal includes a spot or two or three of vodka. Every gusts are treated well and that makes Pushkin more popular among tourists, because they are comfortably feel at home here.
35 MM. Experience Moscow’s most storied cinemas while on vacation in Moscow. One of Moscow’s best art houses, the former Novorossiisk Cinema was taken over by the Central House of Entrepreneaurs in the 1990’s and was re-named 35mm Cinema. It is located at the corner of the Garden Ring and Pokrovka Ulitsa. There are variety of films to choose from which include American films in the original language with Russian subtitles, and last full show is until very late at night. There’s no surround sound, 3D or stadium seating at 35 MM, and has a seating capacity of 200 but it is the history that you want to take part with in 35 MM, for decades Soviet and Russian film aficionados have constantly been in and out to watch movies here and it has made history over the years.
O2 Lounge. For a night in Moscow, it is fine to go out and for once feel glamorous and experience a night in O2 Lounge. If you find Ritz-Carlton at the base of Tverskaya Ulitsa known to be the busiest street in Moscow, and on the 12th floor of the hotel is the O2 Lounge, which Russians insist on calling the Oh-Two Lounge and not the Oxygen Lounge. The O2 Lounge is meant to make the people who go there feel important, rich and sexy. In fact it is a place where celebrities hang out while on vacation in Moscow. It is known to be an expensive and extravagant cocktail lounge and sushi bar. Where beautiful girls serve and whose job it is to make eye contact with patrons for just a little too long. After dropping 5,000 rubles which is aboout 200$ for a little California roll and some Ruskiy Standart vodka, try to get some fresh air out in the balcony and witness the beautiful evening sight of Moscow where you can see the panoramic view of the Kremlin and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Krysha Mira. Krysha Mira, krysha means roof, as in the roof of a building and the “roof” one pays a mobster for protection , has the best atmosphere. Top of the line night club in Moscow. This venue actually has the internal electronic database where the preferred guests are assigned unique numbers with a photo ID. This is the place that brings a more underground and relaxed atmosphere to the guests with the focus on high quality electronic music. It’s slogan states that the “Comfort People” are welcomed. What’s unique about this place is that it takes the Soho Moscow or Imperia Lounge types of crowds, mixes them with the more underground locals and transfers them all into the atmosphere where the right DJ plays the key role. This is very different from Soho where nobody really cares about the music. Krysha Mira has several levels including the top floor with a large terrace. With its plethora of six-foot-one models, growing music scene and excess leisure time, Moscow has become a hub for high-end nightclubs. If you can get past the face control, or bouncers, you’ll have a wonderful time on the top-floor deck enveloped by supernatural blondinki, electronic music and the occasional fire-breathing dancer.
Swiss Ôtel. If you haven’t get enough checking out the beautiful views, try to take some time going to the City Space Bar & Lounge on the 34th floor of the Swiss Otel or you can enjoy a night of concert at the new House of Music next door. It regularly feature the country’s popular classical-music concerts and then swing by the café, which has an excellent late-night menu. Vacation is about relaxing and getting off the stress brought about by everyday life that’s why we are imparting to you places where you can enjoy best what a vacation in Moscow can bring.
Gorky Park. For those who love parks and enjoy rides, one will appreciate Gorky park can offer. The park stretches along the banks of the Moscow River. For those travelling with kids or those wants to have some fun, as it contains a range of funfair rides and rollercoasters. There are also boats or horses that are available for hire, go bungee jumping, and there’s a sports club with tennis courts. However, during winter the whole area becomes a vast skating rink with skate hire, disco lights and music to match. In summer the “beach” area is hugely popular with sun-worshippers, and becomes an open air club in the evenings. There’s a huge, Brandenburg Gate style structure that sits outside the entrance. Proceed toward the river, skip the Ferris Wheel, continue parallel to the river all the way to the Uzbek restaurant Chihana, where it would be very wise to get one of their specially prepared lamb dishes, a glass or two of red wine and green tea.
Winzavod. Winzavod is a former brewery and wine factory, which now became a place for Moscow’s most influential art dealers, such as Marat Guelman Gallery, Aidan, Regina, and XL , the galleries that promoted contemporary art in Russia and Russian contemporary art abroad before the country spawned a billionaire-infested art scene as well as Proun, which specializes in 20th-century Russian avant-garde art. In Winzavod, there arealso boutiques where you can do shopping, the “concept store” Cara & Co., which features Belgian and Australian clothing designers, a hip, if overpriced, café and an array of household items, the neighborhood is a textbook example of gentrification, with a shopping mall in front of the spruced-up train station, trendy art space behind it, and shrinking strips of seediness in between. Many a Western celebrity has made Winzavod the place to swing by when in town for they look forward for fashion shows, art openings and sightings of the city’s rich and notorious.
Lenin’s Tomb. Vladimir Lenin, the Father of the Revolution. Immediately after his death in 1924, a wooden mausoleum was erected on the square. In 1929, architect Aleksei Shchusev designed a lasting home for the body of Lenin. The result, unveiled a year later, is a squat but attractive pyramid in layers of red, grey and black granite that harmonizes remarkably well with the Kremlin buildings behind it, despite its clear Constructivist influences. In the 1930’s, granite platforms were added around the sides of the mausoleum, providing a point for government officials to inspect parades, a sight that became famous throughout the world in the Soviet Era. It requires a lot to pay a visit to Lenin’s Tomb although it’s the easiest place to find in Moscow, big black box, middle of Red Square. No one will be allowed to bring any backpacks or handbags this is to ensure that nothing will be taken from the premises. It is their way to keep the Father of the Revolution safe and sound as preserved.
By merely reading the experiences to look forward to for a vacation in Moscow, anyone can get excited and can’t wait to get there. Especially for those who love the nightlife will definitely have the best time of the vacation. Well, it is what a vacation for afterall. So pack your things and experience a few days of good times in Moscow.