Moscow City is a ghost town on weekends. It also might very well be a ghost town on weekdays too – this skyscraper city known officially as the Moscow International Business Center has entered its third decade of development, and although a number of businesses have already moved in, the complex still has a “work…
If you have been losing sleep over how to get your hands on all those amazing Russian crafts I wrote about last week, fret no more. Izmaylovo Vernisazh to the rescue! Vernisazh (derived from French “Vernissage” or a preview for an art show) is Moscow’s, if not Russia’s, biggest and best known market for all…
For many Moscovites the Old Arbat street is imbued with an almost mythical aura and a heavy dose of nostalgia. One of the most famed Russian bards, Bulat Okudzhava, even sang “oh Arbat, my Arbat, you are my Fatherland…” It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact source of this reverence. Arbat’s history is very layered. In the…
This is the second part of my long and meandering hike through Moscow. While part one was all about capital’s grandest landmarks basking in the rays of a setting sun, part two is straight-up Christmas nostalgia. I loitered around GUM shopping arcade, walked the historic Nikolskaya Street, went up to Lubyanka Square and its massive…
My awesome Crimean vacation had to end some time and then it was back to work — and back to Moscow. Contrary to popular assumptions about the discomforts of spending the summer in the city, there are some unexpected opportunities to be found in this experience, especially in Moscow. Last month I wrote about how…
Or, Part II of Moscow’s Cost of Living (go here for Part I – The Cost of Going Out). Grocery prices in Moscow vary widely from one store to the next. In the area where I live there is only relatively large supermarket – Azbuka Vkusa (Alphabet of Taste), well-known for its sky-high prices and…
To date, I have lived in five wonderful cities: Moscow, New York, Washington DC, Paris and Madrid. This is my take on the best things to do, places to visit and treats to try in each of them. While this is not an exhaustive compilation by any means — and a rather subjective one at…
How many kinds of honey do you know? In the US, I was aware of just one — this one: Yes, I thought that practically all honey came in either bear-shaped bottles or little plastic tubes (individual servings at a diner), but that it’s all basically the same. Then again, I generally could not stand…
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