Moscow & St. Petersburg suggestions

[IST66]

Originally Posted by banis

Thanks.
As I can see, there are also many other Russians on this forum.

Unfortunately, they not all Muscovites, Ivan!
I with pleasure read about "your" Moscow. Thanks!

 

[andreyb2]

Re: restaurants. Those owned by Arkadiy Novikov are generally quite good, but for the price.

You can read breif descriptions, along with approximate prices, here: http://eng.novikovgroup.ru/

Personally, I think that "Barashka" (http://eng.novikovgroup.ru/restaurants/barashka/) has good price/quality ratio.

If you want to try traditional soviet cuisine for rock-bottom prices, visit "Stolovaya 57" (http://www.gum.ru/en/shop/392) in GUM. The quality of food is surprisingly good.

As for souvenirs, don't buy fur and other "traditional" Russian clothing. Russian porcelain (http://www.ipm.ru/enstart) is a safe (and relatively inexpensive) bet, with some items being hand-painted.

Andrey

 

[andreyb2]

Another suggestion that might be interesting for tourists: "Dymov N1" (http://eng.novikovgroup.ru/restaurants/dymov/) features terrific view on Kremlin. The food is edible, though nothing to write home about. The only branch with the view is the one on 34, Sofiyskaya naberegnaya. Andrey

 

[ville_e]

Originally Posted by banis

I'll try to ask what are good places for national clothing and so on.
Where are you staying?



Did not know about that.
Probably should try visiting it in order to be on his blog. Will go and check what type of ppl he likes and will dress like that.

I will be staying right next to the Kremlin (5-10 mins away or so).

Looking forward to hearing more tips. I will be taking the overnight Tolstoy train from Helsinki on Thursday and will arrive in Moscow on Friday morning.

 

[ville_e]

Thanks for all the tips. Much appreciated.

If you have any more please let me know!! I'm leaving on Thursday.

If any members want to meet please drop me a PM, Spasibo.

 

[P-K-L]

Moscow Meetup coming up?

 

[banis]

I am available on Saturday evening.
P-K-L, are you also in Moscow?

 

[ville_e]

Let me know.. if we could set smth up that could be quite fun!

 

[P-K-L]

Originally Posted by banis

I am available on Saturday evening.
P-K-L, are you also in Moscow?

Yes, I am here all the time

Member Khnelben as well btw.

 

[ville_e]

Anymore suggestions? Is the Pushkin Museum worth visiting? Is there any souvenir worth getting that isn't the usual tourist crap?

 

[banis]

Originally Posted by ville_e

Let me know.. if we could set smth up that could be quite fun!

Originally Posted by P-K-L

Yes, I am here all the time

Member Khnelben as well btw.

I saw some of your previous posts and thought that you were residing in Germany.

So what about meetup?

Originally Posted by ville_e

Anymore suggestions? Is the Pushkin Museum worth visiting? Is there any souvenir worth getting that isn't the usual tourist crap?

Pushkin Museum is always worth visiting. Although, as I previously said, there is Picasso's exhibition at the moment which has quite a long queues (1-2 hours). There is also impressionists exhibition in Pushkin's museum of private collections. It is located at the adjacent building and does not have big queues.

 

[ville_e]

Sure please PM me if we organize smth.

Any extra tips would also be much appreciated. I leave tomorrow (Thursday)

 

[Omega]

What to see in Moscow and St. Petersburg??? Everything!!!
Kremlin, Red Square, Pushkin Museum, Winter Palace (I want to show it to my wife, the paintings there are priceless), Army Museum (war and history are interlinked), Moscow metro (especially central part, check out photos on internet, this is a real museum, plus it works better than London Tube), Tolstoy museum, Moscow State University (beautiful building). Have a walk along Nevskij prospect in St. Petersburg (famously described in classical book "Evgenij Onegin"), visit Arbatskaya in Moscow. You will not have time to see everything.
About food - well, I am very different from most people on this forum. I find food to the East from ex-Iron Curtain just amazing though I heart many complaints from Western people that Russians tend to put soured cream almost into every meal.
What to buy? It depends. Most of my friends, except ex-Soviets, don't drink strong alcohol, so perhaps you should give a miss to vodka. Armenian brandy is good (it is now owned and produced by French), it used to be a favourite brandy of Winston Churchill. Brandies from Moldavia, Caucus countries or Central Asia are also good as long as they were aged long enough. Soviet Champagne used to be very famous in Eastern Europe until Italians bought a patent and started producing it, but of an awful quality, so don't buy it if it came from Europe, the only drinkable sparkling wines are from Central Asia there. Also bear in mind the difference in taste - most people there prefer sweet wines, while people in Western Europe mostly drink dry wine. Caviar - most is not genuine, except red salmon caviar, genuine black caviar is very fashionable and costs a lot of money there too, plus you could get into a trouble if you bring it to Europe or the USA.
If you really want something outstanding, then check military and hunting items produced in Ural. The styling of knives, axes, pewters and flasks is very different in Russia from other countries. They are real museum quality items though they are not cheap either. http://mednayagora.ru/index.php?categoryID=91 http://www.ezoloto.com/index.php/200...roduct_id=1535 http://www.binbon.ru/order/ http://www.apophoretus.ru/category/f...stopkikruzhki/ http://www.stpetersburger.com/html/r...crystal_1.html http://www.stpetersburger.com/html/r...vo_tray_1.html

 

[ville_e]

Thanks for the tips guys! Much appreciated. Looking forward to this trip, it's my first time in Russia.

 

[SuitedDx]

Bringing back an old thread! I'll probably be in Moscow this fall for the first time. From what I've read, window shopping is more realistic than actually buying something?