Arrival in Moscow at 6:43 in the morning, it is still dark outside. It is snowing heavily and it is -11 degrees. This time I was lucky to find a working ATM straight-away. Also the metro wasn’t very far away and the entrace looked exactly like the one in Paris. I stayed at the Apple Hostel, which is located just 5 mins. walk from Kitay-Gorod station. Oh… and all metro station names and signs are in Russian.
After checking in at the hostel I went for the free walking tour, which started before 11am just outside the Kitay-Gorod station. Our tour guide was friendly and showed us some of the main sights such as the Kremlin (I thought it would be huge – it’s not) and some churches, the гум (read Goom) shopping center. I couldn’t take in all of the information as I was still a bit sleep deprieved from the overnight train. So had some lunch and went for a quick nap. Later that day I was talking to the people at the hostel but we called it an early night. Unfortunately for me the upper bed was like a ship on a stormy sea, because the Russian guy in the lower bed moved and also snorred a lot.
The Metro stations in Moscow are trully impressive. Seriously you have to see this to believe it. The fare is 28 руб and besides going from point A to B you should check out the stations on the brown circle line. Most of them are like museums. Moscow is as expensive as Zürich, eating out is expensive. However the food is good and I also tasted some local food such as Blinis (pancakes) and Borsch (soup).
In the evening I went for dinner with a Russian guy and girl, who showed me some nice restaurants and clubs. Later that night we went out to Propaganda club, which is located near the hostel. The next day I had to check out and prepare for my train trip to St. Petersburg. Before leaving I went to the Soviet Coin-Op Machines Museum, which I can recommend to anyone into this kind of stuff. It is possible to play the games and lots of fun. Also sometimes hard to understand how it works with the descriptions only in Russian.
I have seen much more in Moscow than I described here. For example Old Arbat street, the Armory Chamber and Gorky Park. Overall I didn’t like Moscow very much. It is to big and I couldn’t discover the a unique character or a great vibe. Maybe I haven’t had enough time or didn’t see all the nice sights. Read in my next post what I like about St. Petersburg and why I like the city better than Moscow.
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