Weekend in Moscow

Thinking about going to Moscow for the Ice Speedway next February.Travelling with an Organised Tour Operator.
Fly in Fri PM,Transfer to 4* Holiday Inn.
Sat AM 3 Hr Coach Tour-Red Square,St Basil's etc,Coach to Krasnogorsk for the Racing then back to Moscow.
Sunday AM Breakfast then off to 2nd Day of Racing, Evening free in Moscow.
Monday AM Breakfast then Free Time before Mid PM Flight back.

NOW, i am probably THE worst Tourist; Hopeless at Languages,Not experimental with Cuisine (don't eat Curries,Chinese,Italian-you get the picture).

Will i survive the Weekend without Starving ?

Dee Tee said:

NOW, i am probably THE worst Tourist; Hopeless at Languages,Not experimental with Cuisine (don't eat Curries,Chinese,Italian-you get the picture).

Will i survive the Weekend without Starving ?

Click to expand...

Take a pack up

Bryn said:

Take a pack up

Click to expand...

Cross "Comedian" off the list of Potential Career Choices

moscow

macdonalds, kfc, pizza, burger king
rubbish i know, but all there.
in general i thought russian food was minging, but moscow is a very big place
with all the comforts of any big western city.

there is a mac thing next to moscow hardley ableson.
pop in and say hello to max[owner] tell him the 5 english guys that were heading to mongolia say hi.
and red square is awsome.

paul nicholls said:

macdonalds, kfc, pizza, burger king
rubbish i know, but all there.
in general i thought russian food was minging, but moscow is a very big place
with all the comforts of any big western city.

there is a mac thing next to moscow hardley ableson.
pop in and say hello to max[owner] tell him the 5 english guys that were heading to mongolia say hi.
and red square is awsome.

Click to expand...

Cheers Paul. I am only too well aware that my blinkered outlook is restricting but i have always been that way and at 58,am not likely to change.

You'll probably get more or less the same shite you'd get over here.

Dee Tee said:

Cheers Paul. I am only too well aware that my blinkered outlook is restricting but i have always been that way and at 58,am not likely to change.

Click to expand...

dont worry the food in russia is tasteless anyway, but the ladies are quite
tasty an the vodkas not bad either,

paul nicholls said:

macdonalds, kfc, pizza, burger king
rubbish i know, but all there.
in general i thought russian food was minging, but moscow is a very big place
with all the comforts of any big western city.

there is a mac thing next to moscow hardley ableson.
pop in and say hello to max[owner] tell him the 5 english guys that were heading to mongolia say hi.
and red square is awsome.

Click to expand...

Like he says. The only tip I would add is that it is worth spending an hour or two learning how to pronounce the Russian alphabet, so that you can 'sound' out a word like Макдоналдс in your head. People will tell you that all the important signs have 'English' translations, but it isn't entirely true. A little effort will pay huge dividends in terms of getting around and enjoying yourself. You will also find that a lot of Russian words are pretty close to either their English or French translations.

Mr K said:

You'll probably get more or less the same shite you'd get over here.

Click to expand...

Fair Enough,

harrybo1 said:

dont worry the food in russia is tasteless anyway, but the ladies are quite
tasty an the vodkas not bad either,

Click to expand...

Sounds Promising

mrsroynie said:

Like he says. The only tip I would add is that it is worth spending an hour or two learning how to pronounce the Russian alphabet, so that you can 'sound' out a word like Макдоналдс in your head. People will tell you that all the important signs have 'English' translations, but it isn't entirely true. A little effort will pay huge dividends in terms of getting around and enjoying yourself. You will also find that a lot of Russian words are pretty close to either their English or French translations.

Click to expand...

I've got till February,so i might manage a few Words,Ta.

I am fussy about my food and unlike previous comments, it is good food, you just have to know what to eat.

Words of warning though, check the prices before you go in and dont go to restuarants, little cafes and old style food houses serve very good food at good prices.

The metro (tube) is very good, buy a book of tickets ( 5-10) and you use one ticket no matter how far you travel, unlike in London with the zones.. its one ticket one ride..

Moscow can be f! ing expensive on food, e.g. £5 for a cup of tea so again check before you go in.

Do not eat in the GUM (Big store next to Red square) its a tad on the high side of cost.

There are some little places around Red square but again, look to stay away from the centre for eating.

Make sure you carry your passport/visa and papers as some of the police will check, if you have not got them, tell them they are at the hotel being certified.


Looking from the bolshoi towards the Kremlin.


St Basils in Red Square


Tours of the Kremlin are now only through organised/certified guides, so dont take a tout or you may lose your dosh. It is well worth a trip in the Kremlin.

Oh yeah Feb, is going to be f!ing cold.. I was there in Jan a couple of years ago and Feb last year (we spent the 2 days in Moscow mainly transit to St Petersburg and Ulyanovsk) and its a bit nipply..

Good socks, and gloves and a nice warm coat oh and a bennie, I wear my fox fur sharpka


Napoleans cannons, inside the Kremlin.


One of the metro (tube) stations

Around Arbat street are some good little places to eat. As for sight seeing, it really up to you in the end, alot to see, and never enough time..

Oh and vodka is way cheaper than you think.. what you pay £30-40 for you pick up for like £8. The beer is more lager based,

I dont have to worry about the language..

english pronounced

yes da
no net
hi pri`vet
hello zd`rravstvuite
bye pa`ka
goodbye dosvi`daniya
good morning 'dobroye 'ootro
good afternoon 'dobry 'den'
good evening 'dobry 'vecher
good night spo'koinoi 'nochi
I don't undersand ya ne poni`mayu
excuse me izvi`nite
sorry pros`tite
please po`zhaluista
thank you spa`sibo
no, thank you net, spa`sibo


and one of my favourites moi slutke (spelt like it is pronouced) it acutally means my sweet.. lol.. Russian is phonetic..

dcuk46,Ta . I should be able to make a decent job of the Visit. Looking at the Itinery,the Guided Tour on Saturday takes in a good many of the Main Tourist Venues. It looks like i would have Sunday Evening and Monday Morning for having a look round so i'll give your thoughts some consideration alongside a Street Map,etc.
I have Cold Weather Gear (i went to Oslo for a visit,Last Year) and a Irvin Flying Jacket which should do .

Respect to dcuk46. I'm sure he knows what he's talking about however, you can buy a self-guided tour of the Kremlin ... Just don't do what ANOther of our group did and buy the cheap ticket. The Armory is where it's at (the cannon in dcuk46's picture is as far as we got and the two guys - we were a group of three - weren't interested in Churches ... Duh!! )

Re carrying passport/ID. Carry a photocopy of your passport and visa at all times to be on the safe side, and be prepared to hand it over if required. (However, we were never asked for ours.)

Do check the prices, but don't panic. Cups of tea don't have to be £5 and "toast" is "toast" and "coffee" is "coffee" in both languages.

Do take a trip on the Metro - even if you don't really need to. The stations are spectacular ... and just as dcuk46 describes. Don't expect any PC multi-lingual nonsense from Rosa Clebb in the ticket booth though. She's Russian and doesn't acknowledge the existence of any other nation.

If you want the alphabet, a few essential words and to hear proper pronunciation, I can recommend the BBC's Talk Russian. More than you'll ever need for one weekend at under a tenner.

If you want an interesting evening out, I can point you in the direction of the oldest biker bar in Russia (a bit Mad Max, but there are always a few GS's parked up inside) or the HD Club of Russia clubhouse ...

There is a fantastic war memorial in Moscow, with Tanks you can climb in, and they are still bringing stuff out of the woods from WWII.
Some of the art galleries like the Tretyakov Gallery are worth looking at if you are inclined that way.


Old KGB Headquarters..

Some Russian do speak english, and if they do I have always found them very helpful.

And yes the old crone, who sits in the booth, is no fountain of information or would not win an award for service thats for sure, about the only down side of the metro.
Metro tips when the doors open, stand to the side, let people off and dont muck about getting on, and ALWAYS let the oldies sit down e.g. offer your seat..

DO NOT take your wife into the GUM with an empty credit card.. that place makes Harrods look like ASDA.

Your probably already doing a bus tour around, but if not they are a good trip and are in english.

We loved Moscow. I'd go back tomorrow. But we were very spoiled in our unofficial, unconventional, tour guide. Here's our picture of the KGB HQ and the one off Red Square that he managed to persuade the police officer to stop the traffic for. The joke we were told was that Lubianka Jail was the tallest building in Moscow ... because you could see Siberia from the basement!

As for GUM. If you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it!

WE had an unoffical guide for the Kremlin, and he was a fountain of information, he winged his way past the overzealous offical guide guard.

Think I need to talk to you mrsroynie we are planning a trip via Finland to Moscow and down through past Germany..

dcuk46 said:

WE had an unoffical guide for the Kremlin, and he was a fountain of information, he winged his way past the overzealous offical guide guard.

Think I need to talk to you mrsroynie we are planning a trip via Finland to Moscow and down through past Germany..

Click to expand...

Ours was a very rushed trip due to time constraints imposed by charity commitments and the guy on the 350cc MT . PM me if I can help with anything specific.

Weekend celebrations in Moscow will be really good and i think there are pretty much good hotels over there to celebrate and have fun. How it would be if i wish to travel Moscow with my family.. Can i have all cheap and affordable?

You're only going for a weekend, I doubt you'll starve.

why will we all starve, Is the food too bad over there? there must be some nice restaurants and hotels which provide the best quality food at high cost... Do think such kind of hotels there?

In any cafe you find local soup called Borscht, have it hot or cold with black bread. Lovely.....

Or go posh in Moscow
http://www.waytorussia.net/Moscow/EatChillOut.html