Things to do in Moscow’s artist’s block
Arbat Street is a 1.25km pedestrian mall and is one of Moscow’s most famous streets. It’s an art market, with instant portrait painters, craftsmen, jugglers, buskers and little cafés offering nice treats.
Arbat Street, with poet Pushkin’s house
Arbat St and little picture exhibits
There were a number of performers who were handing out discount coupons for circuses and music shows and other gigs.
Wall of peace
This wall at the east end of the street consists of individually painted tiles on the theme of international friendship. A section of it is covered in spent chewing gum, forming an interesting but sticky mosaic.
Café. I can’t quite read cursive Cyrillic alphabet
шоколадный торт и кофе с молоком
Sports Bar (near Arbatskaya)
At night, I went to a sports bar to have some local beer and watch a football (called soccer in USA) game between Moscow and St. Petersburg (I think). I was meeting someone I found on couchsurfing, and she told me it was important to get out of the place before the match ended. The place was getting louder as the match was drawing to an end. I did encounter drunk football fans in the subway later on. 
So as you can see, I had fun on Arbat street and it definitely deserves more attention that I gave it!
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Seven most prominent buildings of Moscow
The “Seven Sisters” is the English name given to a group of Moscow skyscrapers designed in the Stalinist style. Moskvich (Muscovites) call them Stalinskie Vysotki (Сталинские высотки / स्तालीन्स्कीए वीसोक्ती), meaning “Stalin’s tall buildings”. They were built from 1947 to 1953, in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, and the technology used in building American skyscrapers.
The buildings had more symbolic than utilitarian value and gave a taste of Soviet architectural and technological progress.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
The building is on the first ring highway of Moscow and close to the Old Arbat artist street.
The building was obviously bigger than what my camera could take!
The seven sisters are as follows:
Moscow State University (MGU), Sparrow Hills
Hotel Ukraina
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel
Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building
Kudrinskaya Square Building
Red Gates Administrative Building
Lomonosov Moscow State University seen from my flight. (Also seen is the circular Olympic stadium)
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The communist ideal of the past has radically changed to a symbol of flourishing capitalism
Red Square: Kremlin to your left, GUM to your right
Государственный Универсальный Магазин, (गोसुदार्वेन्नीई उनीवेअरसाल्नीई मगाझीन / Gosudarstvennyi Universalnyi Magazin – गुम/GUM) or simply known as the State Department Store during Soviet times, is a beautiful building on the north side of the Red Square.
GUM
Soviet era: By the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the building contained some 1,200 stores. After the Revolution, the GUM was nationalised and continued to work as a department store until Joseph Stalin turned it into office space in 1928 for the committee in charge of his first Five Year Plan. After reopening as a department store in 1953, the GUM became one of the few stores in the Soviet Union that was not plagued by shortages of consumer goods, and the queues to purchase anything were long, often extending all across Red Square.
GUM at night, with the iconic St. Basil’s cathedral
Post communism: At the end of the Soviet era, GUM was partially and then fully privatized. It is open today as a popular tourist destination for those visiting Moscow. Many of the stores feature high-fashion brand names familiar in the west; locals refer to these as the “exhibitions of prices”, the joke being that no one could afford to actually buy any of the items on display. I agree, the prices were ridiculous.
The swanky shopping mall
Indeed, one of my fashion-conscious friends joked, “We go to London or Paris for shopping.” 
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One of the most famous city-squares in the world, the Red Square, situated in the heart of Moscow, reflects its deep historical and iconic importance in Russia’s identity.
The Red Square. L>R: Kremlin, State Historical Museum, GUM. Some construction work was going on there.
I went to the Red Square, known as Krásnaya plóshchad in Russian (Красная площадь क्रास्नया प्लोश्चद) on my second day in Moscow. The Square separates the Kremlin from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. Major streets radiate from here in all directions, thus making it the center of not only Moscow, but all of Russia. Krasnaya Ploshchad is open to the public practically all day. With the fall of communism, the significance of Red Square might have fallen, but it is still one of the most powerful landmarks in the country.
The name of Red Square derives neither from the colour of the bricks around it nor from the link between the colour red and communism. Rather, the name came about because the Russian word красная (krasnaya) can mean either “red” or “beautiful”. The place was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1990.
Lenin’s Mausoleum
Kremlin and Lenin’s Mausoleum
Lenin’s Tomb, situated in Red Square in Moscow, is the mausoleum that serves as the current resting place of Vladimir Lenin. His embalmed body has been on public display there since the year he died in 1924 (with rare exceptions in wartime).
One has to deposit their luggage at the State Historical Museum in order to visit Lenin’s Mausoleum. You are not allowed to talk, run or indulge in any non-serious behavior. Guards posted every few meters will make sure you keep walking. Photography is not permitted inside. Lenin’s body can be seen enclosed in a glass case and brightly illuminated. He looks exactly like his statues and pictures. You may stand here for a couple of seconds, but you’ll be nudged to move on by guards who look like ghosts – since they are completely covered in dark army uniforms except for their faces which look bright and pale in the dim light.
Behind the Mausoleum is the Kremlin Wall. This huge wall is a tribute to the Bolsheviks who fought for their country during the 1910s. There are others buried there besides these men, including a number of different writers and former leaders of the country. You can also see the large busts documenting who is buried where. A tourist graveyard!
St. Basil’s Cathedral
Saint Basil’s Cathedral and statues commemorating the leaders of Russia’s volunteer army against the Polish invaders
Probably the most famous pictures of Russia feature this old church with its spiraling colorful onion domes. For a long time, this building was like a symbol of Russia – just like one thinks of Paris when one sees the Eiffel Tower. The church was first built by Ivan the terrible in 1555 CE and several additions were made later. You are allowed to go inside the building, and it has interesting design inside about which I’ll blog later.
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Walking on the Red Square
The Red Square
After you’ve seen Lenin’s tomb, St. Basil’s Cathedral and the State History Museum, you could either enter the large GUM (Shopping Mall) and get lost inside, or simply stroll on the red square. There are a number of little sights to see. Near the colorful building is the Lobnoye Mesto, a circular platform where public ceremonies used to take place. Next to the GUM is the Kazan Cathedral, standing in its unique architectural fashion.
The square, only 330m x 70m, is nothing but a open piece of land paved with stones. The square was used by Russian Tsars for coronation, and later, governments used it for important occasions. It was the place where the Soviet might was paraded for decades. Now the square is used for recreational purposes too, such as music concerts. Walking around the square, it is wonderful to imagine the grandeur of these proceedings.
I thought the place was very charming, and I went to the red square 3.5 times over my stay in Moscow. Every time, the beauty of the red square only increased.
Information
मोठा नकाशा पाहा
Being in the center of the city (as you can tell by zooming the map), its rare to miss the Red Square – Kremlin complex. Several metro stations (there are atleast 4 around it) will take you very close to there. Police conduct random checks at the entrance gate, so if you are foreign-looking, be ready to show your passport (yes, original passport!) and the migration card.
Oh as a tip, do not drink beer on the red square, you can drink outside.
St. Basil’s Cathedral and the large clock on Kremlin’s main tower. (Picture taken on a cloudy day from the south east end)
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First impressions of Moscow; Written on October 20, 2008.
My flight landed at Moscow’s large Sheremetyevo-2 (Шереметьево शेरेमेत्येवो) airport at little past noon. Everything starts to look very different from the moment you land. Firstly, there are lots of Slavic people (obviously) and you suddenly feel like a foreigner. Secondly, there are lots of police and security people who will stare at you as if you are an object in a museum. Even while walking through the corridors, it feels that you are being watched. There was nobody carrying a backpack or wearing ‘american’ clothes except me. The airport is not swanky at all – everything is shushed, minimal and basic.
The queue (if you could call it one) at passport control was interesting too. There were 2 queues, but later I found that they were somehow merging into one because the other window was closed. My window closed for some reason and the people behind me started complaining loudly. The security people shouted back at them, but in the meanwhile the window reopened. And this time they opened the second window (for the second queue) too – Was I in India? 
My passport stamping was very swift.
“Where you come from?”
“Toronto”
“Ok”
Ring road on my way from airport to the city. Some drivers don’t know what those fancy white lines on the street are for.
I was in Russia! FINALLY! My long standing dreams! The country where everyone smokes, drinks vodka and a speaks something that sounds like PRZFTPNZYSK..SKI. A country where nobody smiled and you could be in prison for a tiny thing… Haha! I’m happy to tell you that none of those stereotypes were even remotely true.
I waited at the arrivals lounge for a bit for my friend to pick me up. Meanwhile, numerous taxi drivers kept on asking me if I needed to go somewhere. I knew what to say to them: “Spasiba, ne nada” (स्पासीबा, नी नाद. Thanks, no need), and they left me alone – for a while. I think ‘Taxi drivers’ is a unique species of human beings that are the same all over the world. I spotted an ‘Information’ booth, so I thought of killing time and having a real conversation in Russian, probably my first. It was a rail information and booking desk.
Me: Dobri Den! (दोब्री दीन! Good day!) [A common greeting in Russian]
Me: Ya hachu nemnoga informachiya. (या खाचू नीमनोगा इन्फोर्माचीया. I want some information.)
She: [blank look, I wondered if I was saying it with the right accent]
Me: Я хотел бы купить Билет на завтра… Москва-Сочи… плацкарт. Сколько стоит? (या खातेल ब् कुपीच बील्येत ना झाफ्त्रा.. I would like to buy a ticket for tomorrow… Moscow-Sochi… platzkart. How much?) [Platzkart is the third class coach]
She: [she wrote the price on a piece of paper and handed it to me] вот. (here.)
Me: Я купить позже, не сейчас. Спасибо. (I buy later, not now. Thanks.)
I think she was annoyed. But I was selfishly delighted for being able to ask for a train schedule and price!
PS: I wonder how they write Russian in English (Latin) alphabet…
“Tsvet: 24 chasa” (Flowers: 24 hours) – Ubiquitous flower stores. This one is next to the Arbatsyaka metro station entrance. (Picture from day 18)
My first glimpse of Moscow was very interesting as my friend drew me from the airport to his apartment. The airport is at some suburb of Moscow and it very bland. The first thing I noticed was ubiquitous flower shops, called цветы ( त्स्वेत् ), meaning ‘flowers’. I also started reading all signboards and practicing my Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet that I learnt only few hours ago on the airplane. I felt like a baby who had just learned to read a language. I was literally reading everything I could! It was fun, you see a signboard which means nothing. Then, very slowly, you read it. And suddenly you know- р-е-с-т-о-р-а-н…. r-e-s-t-o-r-a-n! That’s a restaurant! I felt very victorious after being able to read and make sense of stuff – it was painfully slow but very satisfying.
I settled at my friend Evgeny’s place and spent the next five hours with his mother-in-law who spoke only Russian. I hear that its common in Russia for the mother to move-in with her daughter after marriage. She made some nice food for me and told me many stories and I responded by constructing little sentences. I, ofcourse, understood less than quarter of what she was saying but it was pleasant anyway.
Evgeny took care of me like a baby, right from my arrival to departure. The trip couldn’t have been smashing without his active involvement.
Kremlin and the Red Square from a distance. Yeah, Russians drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road too – like Americans, Germans, and uh, most of the world… (Picture from day 2)
So, yeah I was in Moscow finally. Pretty relaxed and interesting first day. Tomorrow I will visit the heart of Moscow: Red square and Kremlin. Can’t wait!
Related posts
Arbat Street, with poet Pushkin’s house
Arbat St and little picture exhibits
Wall of peace
Café. I can’t quite read cursive Cyrillic alphabet
шоколадный торт и кофе с молоком
Sports Bar (near Arbatskaya)
Bhutan
Canada
India
Israel
Peru
Russia