In April 2013 I was invited by the “Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung” (a Moscow-based German Newspaper) to join a discussion about “digital public life” in Germany and Russia.
My arrival and departure made it possible to spend some free time in Moscow — well, what to do when you only have 24 hours!? So much to see, so less time!
A sunny day in Moscow
It was the first day of spring in Moscow, sunny and warm with up to 20 °C, but still with a lot of snow around as I was on my way to discover this beautiful lady. But: No English signs at Metro stations to guide the way. But for all that I had a very nice contact person of the Newspaper helped me a lot with a map and some Cyrillic letters to recognize.
Around the Red Square
So I made my way downtown to see the Duma, Bolshoi Theater, Red Square with Kremlin, State Historical Museum, GUM store, Kazan Cathedral, Lenin’s Mausoleum and St. Basil’s Cathedral. It’s all located around or near Red Square and very impressive. Some buildings are huge, and I felt like a Hobbit surrounded by Uruk-Hais. Very small, very lost, very insignificant. It’s an impressive show of power. And you can feel the power everywhere. Police and soldiers are always just around the corner.
But the beauty of all these buildings is unbelievable. I still can’t believe that I was really there! What I really liked was the fact that some ancient and historic but destroyed churches were re-build after the end of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, e.g. Kazan Cathedral.
I guess, I spent approx. two hours around the Red Square. Sitting outside with a cup of tea, eating some petit-four at the Bosco Café was a highlight. Very delicious and worth the money! But only taking the Metro is cheap, everything else is costly in Moscow, so save some extra money for your trip!
The historic district of Zamoskvorechye
Later I crossed the river Moskva using the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge to walk through the historic district of Zamoskvorechye. It’s full of beautiful old houses, churches, and museums. Take your time to walk around and discover the Tretyakov Galleries.
Not so far away from it, you’ll find a familiar situation from bigger cities all over the world: love locks at a bridge. In Moscow, you’ll find trees full of them on a bridge.
Gorki Park
Don’t miss the famous Gorki Park, an enormous inner-city park like English Garden in Munich, Planten un Bloomen in Hamburg, Vondelpark in Amsterdam, or Tuileries in Paris — but much more impressive. There’s an old space shuttle — the Russian version Buran — within the park.
But most impressive to me: it seems everyone was out to catch some rays of sunlight. The promenade of the Gorki Park was full of couples, parents with their kids, elder people, and me. A perfect day in Moscow.
Fun Fact: Moscow has so much snow they have to destroy it otherwise the canalization is not able to handle all the melt water.
More Information
A one ride ticket for the Metro costs around 30 Rubel. It’s around 0.50 Euro or US-Dollars. Lunch at Bosco Café is around 1,000 — 1,500 Rubel, it’s 20-25 Euros or US-Dollars (without drinks, some smaller and cheaper meals are available).
On Flickr, you can find more photos of Moscow taken with my iPhone 4S.
Are you going to Moscow or did you ever spend some time here?
What’s your secret spot?
Please share it with us in the comments below.
Analoger Deutscher Post “Moskau – alte Schönheit im Sonnenschein” existiert auf snoopsmaus.de
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