Mark Twain once said,“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
After 6 years of marital bliss and giving away our worldly possessions my husband and I took Twain’s advice and left the Big Smoke on a journey that would take us to 16 countries in 16 months.
What better place to start our adventures than on the Trans-Siberian train trip from Moscow to Beijing?
So here are 10 very good reasons why you must go to Moscow…
1: MEET A RUSSIAN ANGEL
On our first night in this magical city, we bumped into a Russian angel called Sasha: when we got lost behind Basil Cathedral and asked a young man for directions. In retrospect, we were lucky we got lost. With tour guide gusto, Sasha generously showed us the hidden gems (and yums) of Moscow for the next four days. If you don’t literally bump into Sasha himself then another kind Russian will surely take you under their wing! Russians really aren’t as grumpy as they look at first glance – quite the opposite! They are much more hospitable and friendly than us cold Brits who often have icicles hanging from our nostrils. Russian people are some of the warmest, kindest, helpful people I have ever met.
Getting a visa for Russia as a UK citizen was complicated so I invested in Real Russia who were excellent in helping me answer all the long-winded bureaucratic visa questions (yawn!) as well as booking our Trans-Siberia-Mongolia train tickets and China visas.
2: PLEASURE YOUR PALATE WITH VEGGIE DELIGHTS
When I first planned to travel the world, I assumed my work would be cut out finding animal-free cuisine. As a vegetarian-veering-on-vegan, I was wrong! Vegetarian translation apps such as Veggagogo and Google i-Translate are perfect tools for vegans and veggies like me on the go!
And Russian vegetarian cuisine does exist if you scour the menus with the help of the above. Happy Cow is a perfect app for locating vegan and vegetarian restaurants too. Not only will you be helping to save the planet you will be lowering your contribution to animal suffering.
Eating in the Soviet self-service-canteen-style-restaurant on the top floor of GUM Shopping Mall in Red Square is a must when visiting Moscow. The food is mouthwateringly scrumptious on the palate and extremely palatable on the pocket. More importantly, a variety of vegetarian and vegan options will have one’s vegetarian taste-buds oozing with saliva. Beetroot salad, boiled egg and peas, bulgar-wheat, aubergine and walnut wraps to name a few. Wash the nosh down with a cheap Soviet champagne or fruity jelly style drink, which (apparently) are animal-free too.
During the Soviet times and communist regime, people would frequent this restaurant with ration books in hand. The waiters, who still dress in appropriate attire, and waitresses sporting hairspray-coiffed-buffons, serve with the same stone-faced soviet mannerisms of times gone-by. The décor and ambience elevate the impression of being stuck in a time warp. Eat outside of the restaurant on the terrace to view the impressive architecture of the interior shopping mall.
I highly recommend a visit to Georgian restaurant Elardji to sample some exquisite, veggie-friendly cuisine. This restaurant has a cosy warehouse vibe with live musicians performing on the piano and accordion. They even take requests! Brazilian bossa nova was on our list.
The handmade lemonade, grilled vegetables and mushroom dumplings tap-danced on my taste-buds in synchrony to my Brazilian husband’s dazzling duet with the accordion player.
At Ukrainian restaurant Korchma the waiters are dressed in traditional frilly and flowery attire, which adds to the authentic vibe.
A delicious apple and celery salad washed down nicely with another glass of Soviet champagne (hic!) and some more vegetarian dumplings. Plus the fine company of Russian and Brazilian friends!
3: MARVEL CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN ART
Museum of Art & Multimedia – MAMM was my top choice for sampling my first taste of contemporary Russian art in Moscow, spread over several floors the entry fee of approximately £5 Sterling merits the variety and diversity of work - with international artists also on display. When I visited there was work on show from the Rodchenko School Generation Next: an interesting mix of photography, video and installation.
Of all the works, I enjoyed Polina Kali’s Eggs the most; an absurd video of a girl prancing around catching eggs in her skirt. Personally it led me to look deeper into the industrial production of eggs and its contribution to the destruction of the planet and animal cruelty.
But, my favorite part of MAMM was a pig slaughtering a butcher in Inverso Mundo…
A widescreen video made with high-end Visual Effects by AES+F on the top floor.
I loved the futuristic-flying-animal-hybrids in Inverso Mundo: dogs with octopus tentacles and rats with wings are conceivable human-meddling-mutations not far off in the future reality of our planet. The beanbags scattered around the large viewing space were very welcomed by my tired-tourist-toes. In some respects, Inverso Mundo reminded me of the film Melancholia albeit with a sprinkling of humor.
4: VISIT THE OPERA HOUSE
We paid the bargain price of £15 for the front of house seats to a Verdi ‘I can’t remember the name’ opera... I spent most of the performance distracted by my husband’s incessant rummaging around in his backpack to surreptitiously film parts of the show ignoring the ‘filming forbidden’ signs. He has since learnt how to turn the telltale flashing red light and bleep off his Go Pro camera and did not get arrested by the KGB.
5: NAVIGATE MOSCOW BY UBER WHEN YOUR TIRED-TOURIST-TOES BETRAY YOU Taxis are mega cheap if you’re armed with £££’s Sterling and you can use the same app as London. Sometimes even cheaper than the Moscow METRO which is super complicated to navigate we must warn you!
5: MAKE SOME RUSSIAN ANIMAL FRIENDS
In Red Square, we hung out with the local sparrows. They are extremely tame and friendly, and love to nibble nuts or spinach pastry from your hands, without palm-plopping!
This little dicky bird enjoyed a feast on an artwork displayed in the square…
6: STAY IN A HOSTEL AND HANG OUT WITH GRUNGY BACKPACKERS
On a budget? Friends House is a very clean and modern hostel a stone’s throw from Red Square, with the option of dorms, or double room at around £20 per night (shared very clean bathrooms) with breakfast thrown in! In Moscow it’s etiquette to take your shoes off inside, so don’t try to sneak up to your room with your shoes on like we did – the porter will chase after you brandishing a pair of irate Russian slippers.
8: WARM UP WITH A SHOT (or 2) OF VODKA (hic!)
It goes without saying that Russian Vodka warms the cockles and is also very agreeable on one’s pocket money, again, especially if you’re armed with £’s sterling. Russian people are always very happy to share a bottle with you with some ‘blineys’ too (pancakes).
9: GIVE SOMETHING BACK
Thanks to our Russian Angel Sasha, we were lucky to join a HANDMADE Charity party and creative workshops for kids with Special Needs at Le Pain downtown to give a helping hand, take some photos and make a video. It was an awesome day, we felt really lucky and happy to have had this alternative experience of Russian culture by giving something back to the local community.
10: DO ALL THE USUAL STUFF
How could I possibly not include the usual stuff? Go for a stroll in the Square (the red one of course!) visit the deceased Lenin who is on display for all and sundry to gawp at in a Mausoleum in front of the Kremlin. Apparently, he wanted to rest with his mother but didn’t have much choice in the post-humus-matter.
And not forgetting Basil Cathedral, Peter the Great monument, Gorky Park + river, State University (with aerial footage).
Luckily my other half wasn’t daft enough to fly his DJI Phantom drone over the Kremlin, but one drone pilot YUMI apparently took a brave chance flying his big boy’s toy over Basil cathedral and was promptly sent packing by officials. Hats off to Yumi for having such big balls!
