Anyone been to Moscow recently?

We stayed at the Ararar Park Hyatt Hotel when in Moscow. The location is excellent and close to Red Square, Bolshoi Theatre and a great Metro connection. The front desk staff spoke fluent English and were very friendly and efficient. The continental breakfast served in our room was excellent.

The Moscow Metro should not be missed. A very interesting trip is available on the circular line. I've forgotten the name. Metro passes can be purchased. It is the most beautiful Metro we ever visited.

The Kremlin is walled in with palaces, cathedrals and government buildings. It's a very interesting place to explore but be prepared for long lines. The churches are magnificient.

The Goodman Steak House is worth a visit. I believe it's owned by an American. The steaks are excellent and the service impeccable. I had a filet with peppercorn steak sauce which was delicious. My wife enjoyed the beef stroganoff. I understand there are several located around the city. The City Space Bar and Lounge serve excellent cocktails. Advice...don't overindulge. We visited the Cafe Pushkin a few times and were not disappointed. The service was great and we enjoyed our beef stroganoff and wine.

Moscow is a very interesting city and well worth a visit!

 

For tourists, it's a safe city. There are police absolutely everywhere. The crime tends to be around business deals, not tourists, mainly because most tourists seem to be Russian.

I didn't notice any particular rip-offs while I was there, but some do say that if you go to a nightclub and get joined by a very attractive woman on the dance floor then watch out as you may be unwittingly hiring her for the night.

Mind you, the guide books also say that the restaurant in the basement of the state museum at one end of Red Square is extortionately expensive, but I found it quite reasonable when I was there.


Learning cyrillic is very useful for the metro and for reading maps, as it means you are able to sound out the names of the places you want to go, which makes remembering them much easier. Cyrillic is pretty easy to learn. I practiced for about 10 minutes a day for about a week, and I was fine. I was still slow, and spelled words out like a child reading his first book, but I could read. Undertanding the words is a different matter, but you'd be surprised how many, once you've "converted" them from cyrillic, you'll be able to guess much like you can with any language in Roman letters.

It'll also help if you buy a map, as the map will be in cyrillic. If it's not in cyrillic it'll be useless, and you won't be able to match the street names to your map. Presuming you can still buy it (I went 4 years ago), I'd recommend "Atlas Moskva". It's blue, about 6" x 9" and covers the whole city.