{MOSCOW ~ March 26-29, 2017}

PART II

Is Moscow as amazing at day light as at night? I was wondering. And luckily I had a few hours on Monday afternoon to find that out.

First destination was the Red Square. Unfortunately the weather was not very nice. rain, snow, wind, little bit of sunshine. Arriving at the Red Square, I was again amazed by the architecture and the little details each building has. Especially the St Basil Cathedral. I walked around the cathedral and with every step I discovered more and more of the beauty of the cathedral.

Daylight didn’t take away the beauty of the city; but night-time definitely takes away your breath!


ST BASIL CATHEDRAL


ST BASIL CATHEDRAL


STATE HISTORY MUSEUM

Clearly the GUM with its thousands of lights at night, lost a bit of glam during the day. But still – architecture and the size of the building is very impressive. So is the Kazan Cathedral as well. The combination of the very light red, pastel green, white and gold is just beautiful. Adding a few iPhone filters and the terrible weather doesn’t matter anymore anyway 😉


THE GUM AT DAY LIGHT


KAZAN CATHEDRAL

I continued my stroll – also in the search of some restaurants. I wasn’t sure about Russian cuisine but I assumed lots of heavy meat dishes. Not very vegetarian friendly, but I didn’t want to have pasta or pizza – that I can have at home.

So I walked again thru the little side street between the GUM and Kazan Cathedral with all its souvenir stores and found a restaurant that looked very local with a menu that has far more than heavy meat dishes. I entered the restaurant – and again: I time-travelled back into the 1950s or 60s. What a cool place! It was like entering someone’s house: old furniture, pictures, toys, tables and chairs. The waitress and waiters were wearing outfits from the 50s and on the walls were huge TVs showing old Russian cartoons.

That’s my type of restaurant! I got a table upstairs – someone’s old dining room. The menu looked great. I picked a dish that was a mix of ravioli, dumpling and German Maultaschen. Very good! Yumm.

VARENICHNAYA No. 1 Restaurant


RESTAURANT VARENICHNAVA


RESTAURANT VARENICHNAVA


RESTAURANT VARENICHNAVA

I went back to the hotel right in time when it it started to rain cats and dogs. Later that evening I went back to the restaurant together with the team.

The next days in Moscow were occupied with work till late in the evening. But that didn’t stop me from exploring more of Moscow. Apparently Moscow has the most beautiful metro stations in the world and as they are open until 1am in the morning, there was plenty of time to explore in the evenings.

Ploshchad Revolyutsii Metro Station is near by the Red Square and must-see. It opened in 1938 and is absolutely beautiful in its architecture. Be careful as you can get lost in the metro-maze! There is old music playing when a train is approaching, and looking at the train, one could actually think that nothing changed since 1938.


PLOSHCHAD METRO STATION


PLOSHCHAD METRO STATION


PLOSHCHAD METRO STATION

Beside the arches that lead to the platform are sculptures of soldiers, athletes, workers, writers. One of the bronze sculptures is a frontier guard with his dog. People believe that rubbing the dog’s nose brings good luck.


GOOD LUCK


PLOSHCHAD METRO STATION

I was thinking for a while, why I find Moscow so fascinating and beautiful, and I came to the following conclusion:
beside the financial quarter, there are no high-rise buildings in the inner ring of the city. There are no flashing neon lights when you walk thru the city at night. The architecture is very old and really well maintained and most of the restaurant, shop, store or street signs are in written in beautiful fonts and characters. I guess that’s why I like the city.

Although my stay was really short, it was a great experience going to Moscow and the city is absolutely amazing. There will be definitely a trip back. Next time for leisure!


MOSCOW TRAVEL JOURNAL