Stranger In Moscow

Advantages: A unique and interesting experience, some fascinating sights
Disadvantages: Can be a confusing and not as beautiful as most European capital cities

...General Impressions Let me start this review by saying nothing in Moscow is easy. We spent a great deal of time in confusion! This is partly because of the language barrier. In France, Italy or Spain you can make out at least some of the written word or you find you actually remember something from school after all. Russian cyrillic is, however, incomprehensible to the English eye. Then there's the fact that Moscow isn't really set up for tourists at all. Nobody "tells" you anything. Nothing is signposted or explained. For example there did not appear to be a single sign pointing to the Lenin Mausoleum (and I wish I could tell you where he was now, but I still don't know, we never found him), the metro stations are often unmarked and unsigned and there is nothing explaining the three different types of ticket that can be bought...

Tricia24 19.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of Moscow (Russia)

Moscow - Must Go.

Advantages: A unique cultural experience which you will never forget. A high "WOW!" factor.
Disadvantages: Without local knowledge or a grasp of the language, it could possibly be pretty intimidating

...One of my biggest regrets is never having to been to Berlin whilst the wall was up. Amanda, my wife, once managed to visit East Berlin - with no papers - but that's a different story! Since the demise of Communism, I've been behind the former Iron Curtain twice. On this occasion, we visited Moscow. There's a lot to say about Moscow and I won't be able to say it all here, naturally - but I'll do my best to give an informative glimpse of this fantastic city. I can't comment on hotels because we're lucky enough to have friends who own a flat in Moscow, and that's where we stayed. Let me try to tempt you, anyway! I guess the first thing to say is that the currency is a little confusing - in the sense that you're never quite sure whether to use US dollars or Russian roubles. Most of the time it's fairly obvious but it helps if you...

andymcf 01.11.2002 · Read review
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Review of Moscow in general

Moscow - the practicalities

Advantages: Fascinating city, diverse mix
Disadvantages: Expensive, arbitary opening hours, queues

...If you want a review to romance about Moscow and tell you about the glistening streets of the Arbat, you'll have to go elsewhere, because this review is aimed at telling you more practical hints for going to Moscow. I only went for 5 days, so there will be lots of places that went unexplored but it's also a good amount of time to see all the major sites. We flew with BA into Domodedovo airport and made the decision to take a taxi into the city. There is a train as well which takes about 45mins and which stops at a railway station out in the West. But we booked a cab at one of the stalls and it cost us about £20. Not cheap but ok. We stayed at the Radisson SAS Slayvanskaya, which is supposed to be a 5* hotel but wasn't extremely luxurious. It was quite expensive at £100 a night but we wanted to have an International Brand name...

sekyc 12.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of Moscow (Russia)

Hotel Pekin Moscow

Advantages: Central
Disadvantages: Its a dump

...Hotel Pekin Moscow I have read many reviews on this hotel & most of them are bad... very bad. I was there September 2007 & the staff are terrible. I have never been treated with such utter contempt. Not one person will help you. They are utterly useless & often aggressive. I booked my room in advance. I faxed the details, they faxed my confirmation with room cost & reservation number. I confirmed all this by email but when I got there a few days later they knew nothing of my reservation, I showed them their own fax & they still had no clue. After staying two days they decided to put the rate up & the manager told me 'Give me that paper' when I showed her the fax. When I complained this was insane to put the cost up after we had agreed the rate, she just started making out going phone calls & glared at me. To add to the prison camp...

bud82 27.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Pekin (Moscow)

MOSCOW AND ST PETERSBURGH GUIDEBOOK.

Advantages: Help you to find your bearings and plan your day.
Disadvantages: I found it useful as a guide, but tended to put it away during the day.

...Several years ago, I went for a trip to Moscow and St Petersburgh, and went prepared with my Guide book, hoping not to miss a lot of the sites that I would not have otherwise known about. The Cadogan Guides to different Cities have always been concise and this one is no different, although to me, visiting a country or a new town is not so much about reading a guidebook, as exploring and finding out for yourself what a city has on offer. The guide is detailed and gives you details of transportation, details of walks which was fascinating, and of course full details of the historic buildings that make up cities of the world, their background, and information that perhaps you may miss on a guided tour. MOSCOW I followed the map the first day, and took myself into Red Square. I wanted to see it. I wanted to feel the ambiance...

thingywhatsit 05.06.2004 · Read review
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Review of Cadogan Guide to Moscow & St Petersburg - Cadogan

Must go to Moscow

Advantages: Culture, architecture, paradoxical, metro
Disadvantages: poor customer service, Russian only spoken

...As a child I had always been fascinated by the Red Square parades in the shadow of the Kremlin and St Basils Cathedral. My vision was that of a far off place, full of snow, peasants and an indecipherable alphabet. How wrong I was?? Expectations ? peasants, gang warfare and snow. And arriving at Sheremetevo does nothing to dispel the illusion. Dark and dreary you can wait a couple of hours to push your way forward to passport control who devour every inch of your passport and visa. Domodedevo is a much more modern airport and the cafes are very reasonably priced on the outward journey. However as soon as you leave the airport and hit the city you quickly realise how vibrant Moscow is; loads of history, shops, restaurants, beautiful women and a meticulously efficient metro system. Hotels are good, but if given a choice...

Baltica 27.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of Moscow (Russia)

Moscow SVO to go or not to....

Advantages: Cheap Airline
Disadvantages: poor service and facilities

...Moscow Sheremetyvo Airport I have been fortunate to visit about 23 countries and see several national and international airports. I have no hesitation in saying that I would rate this airport at the bottom of my list. Sheremetyvo is 100% Government owned and was built during 1980 Olympic games. It is 35 km from Moscow City and quite small for an International Airport. The statistics tell us that airport has a total area of 85,000 sq. m and can serve 2100 persons/hr. Nevertheless, how they serve is a thing to see!! My first impression was it perhaps one of minor airport and not the main one. Once you are inside you feel the interior is quite dark and there is complete lack of open space or space for that matter. Areas are closed off with glass partitions. Issue of boarding passes and immigration check is a sandwiched area. No...

greatmum1 15.11.2003 · Read review
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Review of Moscow Sheremetovo (SVO)

Live in Moscow

Advantages: many
Disadvantages: not so many

...MoscowThis is the first album from the current and longest lasting line up in Heep's storied history. It is also one of the most important live recordings in Rock history for the concerts that this album is taken from were the first ever concerts by a Western rock band in the old Soviet Union. Over ten nights, Heep played to 180,000 Russians! (for more details, read the reissue liner notes). I remember when I first found this on cassette and listened in the car for the first time. It blew me away how well Bernie could handle David Byron's old songs. After listening to this and Spellbinder, I'm convinced that Bernie performs the Byron-era songs better than any other Heep vocalist since David. The band also plays very well, especially Trevor and Lee, who play off each other almost instinctively. The harmony vocals are very tight, some...

vitaliy_heep 19.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Live In Moscow [Remastered] - Uriah Heep

Moscow Sheremetovo

Advantages: Gets you to Moscow
Disadvantages: Depressing, slow, difficult to reach

...Visitors to Moscow from abroad are likely to arrive at terminal 2 of Sheremetovo airport. Terminal is the word; I really can?t think of a better introduction to modern Russian life. The atmosphere inside is dingy, and you will be able to enjoy it at leisure as you spend a good long time standing in queues, then being scrutinised by fierce ladies in uniform. When your visa, face and passport have finally been stared at and stamped to the officials? content, and you have got your baggage back, it?s time to try and get into Moscow itself. There?s no train into town. Outside the airport you will be met by a load of dodgy looking guys in leather jackets offering you taxis. There is also a taxi desk. Foreigners can easily get charged $100 dollars for the trip, and some of them may even have bits of paper showing that whatever they are...

TheMonk 06.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of Moscow Sheremetovo (SVO)

Vegetarian Moscow

Advantages: Beautiful city with an interesting history.
Disadvantages: Cold in winter and little advice for vegetarians

...My first time in Moscow was at Christmas. I used the internet to find a member of the Russian veggie society who rents out apartments. His help in finding fresh veg, tofu and soya was invaluable, but perhaps most importantly, I was shown and have found that it is certainly very possible to be vegetarian in Moscow. My advice would be to get an apartment rather than a hotel room - you'll have a kitchen and won't have to rely on finding vegetarian dishes at restaurants, which may be expensive. If you're going in winter, take a couple of thermal vests and socks. Also, you can get shoe inlays, which are reflective on one side and fleece on the other - really work to keep your feet warm. Do use the underground - it's cheap and some of the stations are beautiful. Do learn some Russian (or at least the alphabet) before you go. Don...

kongoo 21.02.2002 · Read review
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Review of Moscow in general