Moscow is often unfairly overlooked by tourists. Time and time again I see itineraries that are heavily weighted in favour of St Petersburg, allowing only a couple of days for Moscow. After all, what is there to see besides Red Square and the Kremlin? The answer is that there's a hell of a lot. In fact, I doubt I'll ever have the chance to see everything I want to in this city. The problem is that Moscow's treasures aren't located in one area that is easily traversed by foot and aren't as well publicised. Here are some examples of what I mean.
It’s easy to fall in love with Kazan. It’s exotic, it’s friendly and the centre of the city is beautiful. The capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, one of the first things that strikes you in Kazan is that it’s a bilingual city. All signs are written both in Russian and Tatar and there are as many Tatar flags flying as there are Russian. An incredibly proud people, the Tatars love to show off their city and their cultural heritage, even if their ethnic group is the minority in the republic. I came to Kazan without any expectations and found it to be the nicest mid-sized Russian city I have been to.
The Way to Russia guide to Ekaterinburg is now online. Make sure you read it in detail here. It's the most comprehensive guide you'll find to Ekaterinburg in English anywhere, except for on the official Ekaterinburg tourism website (yes, there is one - I was shocked as well), but obviously their only intention is to glorify their city so their information can't be trusted. The Way to Russia guide features plenty of reviews and information about hotels, sights, clubs, bars, restaurants as well as all the practical information you need for a visit to the capital of the Urals. And now that the guide is online, it seems like a good time to write about my experiences in the city.
12/09: The Lenin-Mobile
I took a trip down to Gorki Leninskie recently, the place where Lenin started taking retreats after the first assassination attempt on him, and where he spent the last eight months of his life. To be honest, it's not all that interesting unless you have a particular fascination with the man, and the estate isn't the most impressive you can find in Moscow. That said, you do get to see quite a few of his personal effects, the spot where he died and his death mask. You also get to see the personal "Biblioteka Lenina". But probably the highlight is Lenin's car. Tailor-made by Rolls Royce it features some cool snow tyres, reinforced steel for added security and was apparently converted to run on alcohol which was a lot more common than petrol during the Civil War. It seems a flouting of principles to have paid the huge sum of 350000 pounds (I think, the guide was talking rapid-fire Russian and I wasn't paying enough attention) to Rolls Royce for the car, especially when the British were aiding the opposing side in the Civil War.
06/09: Ghost Towns
The picture below is from a photo-essay on abandoned cities (towns that dried up after the fall of the Soviet Union) on www.englishrussia.com. Truth be told, you don't need to journey out to distant places to find cool, abandoned buildings like this one. Just head out into podmoskoviye and you can find plenty of abandoned factories and warehouses that you can explore and vandalise to your heart's content. Sure, it might not have the same eerie feeling, but all abandoned industrial buildings are fun to explore.
