October 29, 2012

  • Moscow

    The book I read to research this post was DK Top 10 Moscow which is an excellent book which I bought from a bookshop in Hereford. This book has lots of top 10 lists each item with a little writing like there's a top 10 attractions and a top 10 features of St Basil's Cathedral. Apparently if you enroll on a russian language course prior to going to Moscow it may qualify you to be eligible to stop as a homestay. That's basically where you can pay so much and stop at someones house which I think is a good idea. At least they'll probably look out for you and warn you of any problems. There isn't a lot of violent crime in Moscow but it's rife with pickpockets who often carry a knife and will cut the strap to your camera or handbag. Another favourite is to drop a wallet with money in and if you try to pick it up you get accosted. I have heard stories of gangs of skinheads who prey on tourists. It's a good idea to have a look at the English Foreign Office website which can easily be found via google. You can select the country you are going to and they will tell you if there's any problems there. The police are probably best avoided unless you have problems and a lot of people are quite wary of them. It's an idea to photocopy your passport and visa and if they need to check that they can take that away with them.

    Red Square is probably the most famous sight in Moscow. Incidently Kremlin means castle in russian. Another very famous sight is St Basil's Cathedral which has had its bell restored. Under the communists it was removed and smelted. That also means you can hear it ringing. There's also a wooden staircase that leads upto the bell tower that was only discovered in the 1970's. It had been hidden for hundreds of years. The Cathedral of the Assumption has been rebuilt. It had been pulled down quite a long time ago. The bolshoi theatre was closed for renovation and the bolshoi ballet were using The New Bolshoi Theatre in the meantime. The State Armoury in addition to weapons has a famous collection of faberge eggs. The first few metro stations they built are impressive and it's rumoured that Stalin built a metro much further underground for the military but nobody knows for sure. The Tretyakov Gallery houses the biggest collection of russian art in the world. There are plans to build a New Tretyakov Gallery which will house even more art.

oldscratbag

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