3 DAYS IN MOSCOW
“People, not politics!” said the Russian Toronto Maple Leafs fan we met in Moscow, slapping my husband on the back. It was more proof that almost everything we’d heard about Moscow was wrong, as in, there’s not much to see, people don’t speak English and
DAY 1, 10:30 A.M. Tell me everything you know
Get oriented and crush your jet lag with a walking tour. Every morning, Moscow Free Tour takes English-speaking travellers on a pay-what-you-like, two-and-ahalf-hour tour. Our guide, Ksenia Terenteva, began with a visit to one of the oldest churches in the city, The Church of All Saints in Kulishki, founded in 1380.
During Soviet times, it was used as offices by the KGB. Now the restored painted icons gleam dimly through a haze of incense and candle smoke while a steady stream of worshippers pay their respects. We followed Ksenia underground to see the foundations of Moscow’s ancient ring road and then popped up near the massive construction site for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Rounding the multicoloured facade of St. Basil’s Cathedral beside the crimson Kremlin walls, we saw the enormity of Red Square spread out before us.
DAY 1, 2 P.M. Notes from the Underground
Get acquainted with the Metro, Moscow’s mode of transport for more than nine million people a day. For less than $1, you can transfer between spectacular stops that will completely change the way you look at public transit.
The Metro system began in 1935 with instructions from Josef Stalin to make the stations “palaces for the people.” With some prior research and a map of the subway system, you can take your time exploring their unique mosaics, bronze sculptures, carvings and ballroom-worthy decor. The Avtovo station, with its gleaming cast glass columns, marble floors and sparkling chandeliers, is a standout.
Ploschad Revolyutsii, the closest stop to Red Square, is a favourite with Muscovites. Seventy-six bronze statues of soldiers, farmers, athletes and other cultural heroes adorn the columns. Busy commuters pause to rub the shiny nose of
the soldier’s dog or pat the farmer’s chicken for good luck.
DAY 1, 7 P.M. A Birds-eye view of Moscow
When night falls, head to the bend in the Moskva River, where tour boats cluster at the foot of the Radisson Royal Hotel Moscow. This neoclassical postwar skyscraper is one of a series commissioned by Stalin and nicknamed the Seven Sisters.
Cruise by the Rolls-Royce dealership in the lobby and head to the piano bar where you’ll find an artificial sun, rising and setting every few minutes over a diorama of central Moscow as it looked in 1977 at 1:75 scale. Slip on the headphones to hear the English commentary. It’s free and open to the public 24 hours a day.
DAY 2, 9 A.M. Walk this Way
If you haven’t already bought your
ticket to The Amory in the Krem- lin online, find your way to the ticket office well before it opens at 9:30 a.m. (closed Thursdays).
After you have your timed entry ticket, head to the Kutafiya Tower entrance, not the Borovitskaya entrance. That way you can walk past the churches of the Cathedral Square in the Kremlin courtyard
on your way to The Amory. Once inside, prepare to be dazzled by a seemingly endless array of finely worked silver and gold tableware, incredibly detailed Faberge eggs, jewel encrusted icons, magnificent court dresses, armour and weapons, and carriages so ornate and fanciful they would make Cinderella cry.
DAY 2, 12 P.M.
Shopping, not dropping
Ready for lunch? Moscow offers a huge range of restaurants and choices — every type of international cuisine (French, Italian, Asian). We used the Foursquare app to find restaurants and it worked very well.
In a nod to Soviet-style lineups, the retro Stolovaya No. 57 restaurant on the top floor of the GUM shopping complex on Red Square offers a buffet of Russian specialties.
Don’t be surprised if your entrée arrives warm, not hot. It’s common practice at buffets to use the microwaves in the dining room to heat them up.
Shoppers and window shoppers will love GUM. There are three floors of luxury designer stores plus a caviar bar under its gigantic art nouveau glass canopy.
DAY 2, 2 P.M.
Impress Me
Lovers of impressionist art will want to make a pilgrimage to The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (closed Mondays). The main building holds over 700,000 artworks and objects from ancient Egypt to the present.
The Gallery of 19th and 20th Century European and American Art, in a separate building beside it, contains masterpieces that are rarely, if ever, seen outside of Russia. The intimate galleries allow the time and space to engage with works by Eugene Delacroix, Ingres, Goya, and French painters Corot, Honore Daumier and the Barbizon school.
The dazzling collection of French impressionist, post-impressionists and early 20th-century masters contains paintings by Claude Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Picasso, to name just a few.
DAY 3, 10:15 A.M.
Dance Me Inside
Ballet and opera aficionados will know that tickets to the Bolshoi Theatre have been the hottest ticket in town since 1825.
To tour the gilded baroque interior, arrive early and join the line outside on Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning. Wristbands are distributed to the first 15 Englishspeaking people in the line about a half-hour before the doors open.
The Bolshoi (Grand) Theatre has undergone fires, wars and many reconstructions, most recently a $688-million six-year overhaul. The perfect wooden acoustics have been fine-tuned, the filigree grisaille has been tickled to shining perfection by 700 restorers using squirrel hair brushes and sheets of gold leaf, and the deep red velvet on the chairs has been dyed using millions of dried beetles imported from South America, just as it was 200 years ago.
DAY 3, 2 P.M.
Give me some Space
The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is a treasure chest of Soviet space flight memorabilia from the earliest days of space exploration through to the present day.
Take a peek into the padded capsule that carried Yuri Gagarin on the first manned orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961. Learn how early space suits were designed and see full-sized models of Russian lunar landers among thousands of other items.
The English audio guide is painfully thorough, so allow for a bend in time if you’re visiting with a space geek.
DAY 3, 7 P.M.
Old and New
Old Arbat Street stays lively late into the night.
Strolling along the historic pe- destrian mall, you can shop for matryoshka nesting dolls, fur hats and Putin T-shirts at dozens of souvenir stores.
Take in the public art exhibits or drop in for sushi, burgers or pasta at one of the many casual restaurants.
There’s even a newly opened Canadian Pizza Company serving pies like The Ottawa and Gretzky’s Favourite Goal. Break away and enjoy a slice of Moscow without politics.
And yes, Moscow has a nightlife — there are lots of clubs and cocktail bars, including karaoke spots, but we were too beat after walking for hours every day to search them out.
I had planned to, however, they tend to get started late, just like here.