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Moscow, Vologda, and St. Petersburg

131K views 505 replies 44 participants last post by  zZero 
#1 ·
In this thread I will, as time permits, document a 16 day trip I just took to three cities in Russia. When I travel I prefer to see the society as it is and learn about it and not just see touristic places. Hence, many of the photos in this thread will focus on those sorts of things.

Further, as my purpose is to show Russia as I saw it the quality of the photographs is not the point. Some may be good, some not so good. Some are with a regular camera, some with a cell phone (such as the ones in this post).

I will give the best explanations I can of what things are but as always reader feedback and corrections are always appreciated.

I flew into Bnukovo airport which is the smallest of the three Moscow airports and is located to the southwest of the city. As I arrived late in the day there wasn't much time for photography.


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I think that is the Moscow Ring highway.


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The first view of the famous Soviet housing blocks.


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I doubt this golf course is Soviet era :)


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Old unused Soviet airliners at the airport.


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These are some homes I went by while riding the train in to the city center. They looked nice and I think they are regular homes, not "dacha" country residences.


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The Kiev train station. Moscow has LOTS of train stations. The reason is that each train station basically serves one direction of travel. That is, if you want to go to destinations north of Moscow that is from one station, if you want to go north east of Moscow that will be another station. If you arrive in Moscow from the south and then need to go east you will have to get on the Metro and travel to another station. Quite a hassle actually and not such a good system in my opinion but I suppose it would be hugely expensive to change it.


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The Foreign Affairs ministry which is by Arbat street in the center of Moscow. It is one of the "Seven Sisters" which are the tall buildings constructed under Stalin.


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Although I was very tired and had a headache I did manage to walk to the Kremlin and Red Square the first night. It was very much worth the effort.


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Looking up a slight hill into Red Square. The aura from the floodlights is amazing. I live in New York City and let me tell you - Time Square has nothing on this place.


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Lenin's Tomb on the right.


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The State History Museum.

With that I walked back to Arbat Street and my hotel. I was exhausted but amazed by the view of Red Square and of being in Moscow.
 
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#2 ·
The next morning it was off to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War where I would also meet up with a friendly guide.

Hopped on the Metro at Smolensk station. I found the signage in the metro to be very poor but these little route maps with transfers indicated where helpful:


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The Moscow Metro is far underground in most places and has amazingly long escalators


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Not all stations in the Metro are fancy but many are. This one had nice polished marble and a mural dedicated to the Second World War:


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Immediately outside the Victory Park metro station you are on a huge boulevard coming into Moscow that is lined by Stalin era residences.


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The Museum of the Great Patriotic War with the monument in front.


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Kids in Navy uniforms. There were lots of kids everywhere in military or paramilitary uniforms:


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Massive Stalin era housing blocks. I found the Stalin era buildings (I think they are called Stalin Empire architecture) to actually be more attractive, at least externally, than other Soviet buildings)


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Moscow City high rises in the background.


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#5 ·
Next we walked closer to the actual museum and monuments:


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A young guard at the eternal flame:


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Inside the museum there weren't so many artifacts. In the main it consisted of dioramas which had some artifacts in the foreground and then murals in the background:

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#6 ·
Continueing in the museum this was a phone used by the Soviet leadership during the war for secure communications:


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The main hall of the museum


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Soviet emblems are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Many could easily be taken down but aren't. Others are new and they still put the hammer and sickle on things. Clearly there is a very ambivalent attitude towards the Soviet Union. While most people may not yearn for its return clearly neither is it despised.


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They also hard an pretty good sized art display which was military related art like this:


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#7 ·
There is a separate outdoor part of the museum, for which you pay a separate admission, which is where we went next. It has authentic military vehicles and planes from different eras:


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The plane above is a American P-39 Aircobra which was made in large quantities by the United States and given to England and the Soviet Union. This would have been made about 100 kilometers from where I grew up.


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The very famous Mi-24 helicopter which was used a lot in Afgahnistan.


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Some absolutely massive railway artillery


Massive rail artillery from WW2 by 600West218, on Flickr


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A monument to the Holocaust.


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#8 ·
It was now time to start heading out from the museum and start seeing some other parts of the area.


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Looking back at the museum itself.


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This is some nearby housing which I think is the famous "Kruschev slums" housing which was built in the late 50s and early 60s.


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The local commuter rail station. Note all the freight cars in the back. Like the US and unlike Western Europe you see far more frieght trains in Russia than passenger trains.


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There are lots of cars like this that look like they are to carry bulk materials. But they don't look efficient. Why such low sides?


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Some Stalin era housing. Everyone I spoke to considered the Stalinist housing to be much better than subsequently built housing.


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Pro-Putin political party and about the only overtly political stuff I saw in my entire trip.


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More Stalinist housing. Note what must be a very luxerious penthouse on the top.


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The Stalinist apartment buildings were massive and generally took up a full block with a large interior courtyard. They then had arched entrances like this.


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A main boulevard. Note how massive it is. It is clearly more than 10 lanes wide. Further note there are no traffic lights. Just a continuous stream of traffic. It took some doing to figure out how to cross these huge roads.


Typical really big boulevard in Moscow with lots of traffic. There are no traffic lights so figuring out how to cross these roads took some doing. by 600West218, on Flickr


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More Stalinist apartments. Get used to all the cables in the pictures. Tram, trolley and other overhead cables are everywhere.


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Ok, here is the secret to crossing streets in major Russian cities. They have lots of pedestrian underpasses. Also, all Metro stations also serve as underpasses. So that is how you do it. These underpasses are also often full of small shops and serve as a market too.


Soviet President Andrapov lived here. by 600West218, on Flickr

One of the last Soviet presidents, Yuri Andropov, lived in this building.


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An add promoting military service.


There is a cat circus in Moscow. Didn't actually get to see it. by 600West218, on Flickr

The cat circus. Never got to attend. I seriously doubt that even Russians can get cats to do anything.


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They always had trucks driving around hosing down the streets. by 600West218, on Flickr

Now, this is something I've never seen anywhere else. In Moscow there are trucks driving around all day spraying water on the roads. I suppose it is to keep the amount of dust down but its not clear to me why Moscow needs this and other major cities like London, Paris, or New York don't.


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#12 ·
Continuing on the walk...


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Soviet housing is big on balconies but it is interesting in this building how some have them and some don't.


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This is one of the Stalinist "Seven Sisters" which was formerly the Hotel Ukraine but is not a luxury western hotel (Ramada maybe? I can't recall).


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It is interesting to note how Stalin, although he was in theory leading an egalitarian proletarian state, had some pretty fancy architecture. I guess some animals were more equal than others.


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The top angled windows are actually a luxury cafe/restaraunt where Levan took me.


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The number of extremely luxerious cars around Moscow was hard to believe. I don't see anything like it in New York.


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Rolls Royce Bentleys. In New York I see maybe one of these a year. In Moscow I saw several each day.


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Inside the hotel it was quite lavish. I wonder if it was like this in Stalin/Soviet times.


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Inside the hotel there was this huge diorama of Moscow as it appeared in Soviet times. It had audio presentations in all major languages and explained quite well what everything was.

Next Levan took me up to the 26th floor and talked his way past security to get us into the restaraunt which had great views.


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The Moscow river with the Russian Whitehouse on the left and the old COMECON building in the middle. The major road that bends tot he right after crossing the river is New Arbat street.


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The tall building with the point on the right is another of the Seven Sisters and is the Foreign Affairs ministry. It is right by old Arbat street.


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A nice place to sip coffee or tea and admire the views.


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The huge Stalinist lined boulevard with Moscow City on the right.


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#15 ·
Continueing on there are some Soviet era cars:


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Actually, I really like Soviet era cars and as this thread progresses you'll see lots of them. Many are quite nice and they are something we never get to see in the United States.

This is a Lada which is the most common Soviet era car, though probably not the nicest.


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The Ukraine Hotel, one of the huge Stalinist Seven Sisters. by 600West218, on Flickr

The hotel again. A rather massive building, although some of the other Seven Sisters are much larger.


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If you actually tried to walk across this road I think there is a 50% chance the car that killed you would be a Mercedes or BMW.


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A nice little part surrounded by Brheznev era housing which is easy to recognize because it is taller and boxier than other housing and also generally has very obvious panels that are what it is assembled from. You don't see that so much in this case but in other housing it will be more obvious.


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I had to buy a train ticket for when I was to go to Vologda so we went to the Kiev train station to do that.


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I found train stations in Russia to be like New York's Grand Central in the 1970s. It still had its underlying granduer but it was ruined by decay and crass commercialism (ie, too many stores and advertising signs). Hopefully one day some of these Russian stations will be fully restored in which case they will be quite nice.


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As you can see the above hall is quite nice. But the lockers on the right and the cheap colored seating ruin it.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Next it was time to take the Metro back to Arbat street.


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Another longggggg escalator trip


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On the newer metro trains they have this sign where the reds lights flash under the next station. This is extremely helpful as the stations themselves are extremely poorly signed and as the train pulls into the station you can't see any signs. Although they announce the stations if your Russian is not up to par it can be a problem. Hence these electronic signs are helpful.


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Soviet symbols abound.


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Back on Arbat street some dogs being put to good use.


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Yet another Bentley.


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In Arbat you can buy lots of things... including rabbits.


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Fancy bikes on Arbart street. There were lots of bikers in Russia by 600West218, on Flickr

Arbat has a big biker hang out section.


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Can't read this sign but these placards were generally about who lived in which building. I'm guessing some airplane designer was here.


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Once you walk far enough along Arbat Street it meets the New Arbat Avenue.


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The New Arbat street is large with big Soviet era office buildings on both sides of it.


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Interestingly they had newspapers posted for public reading.


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New Arbat street. Note the expensive cars. by 600West218, on Flickr

Range Rovers...


A Rolls Royce Bentley. I saw several of these each day in Moscow. I have never seen so many expensive cars as I saw in Moscow. by 600West218, on Flickr

Yet another Bentley....


Mercedes, BMW, and Audi. That is pretty much what you see there. by 600West218, on Flickr

Every car in sight is a German luxury car. Simply unbelievable.


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The foreign ministry building at dusk.
 
#18 ·
Good job!

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Can't read this sign but these placards were generally about who lived in which building. I'm guessing some airplane designer was here.
This says something like this:
"Fighter-pilot
who accomplished deeds in
Great Patriotic war
Hero of Russia, guards colonel
Alexander Ivanovich Zienin
lived in this house
from 1921 till 1956"
".


The New Arbat street is large with big Soviet era office buildings on both sides of it.

Actually, this side towers were built like residential. Don't know if they are still used for the purpose.

But these were built as office buildings, and they still are:

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The foreign ministry building at dusk.
The small building in the front was rented by the great russian poet and writer, Alexander Pushkin (considered by many as a first one of the golden age). It is a museum currently.

Loved the thread, but:

Do you have a picture of the actual building?

Here it is:

(source - Yandex maps)

Google maps with more photos.
 
#20 ·
As many museums in Moscow are closed on Monday's I decided to head to the Kremlin which was open.

I walked down Arbat which pretty much takes you straight there. On the way was the State Library (formerly the Lenin Library).


Lenin Library by 600West218, on Flickr

An older building across the street from the library


Typical older building in Moscow that probably dates back to before the 1917 revolution. by 600West218, on Flickr


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Old Soviet symbols are everywhere. by 600West218, on Flickr


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I wanted to go inside but you have to have a library card to enter. As it turns out, you can apply for one on the spot (make sure you have your passport) and I did. So I was able to go inside.


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In the west if you are of a certain age you remember these. This library still used them.


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I think I only saw a small part of the library, and I definitely didn't see their reading room. There were a lot of closed doors that as a tourist I didn't think I should try to enter.

I next headed back out and towards the Kremlin.


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Tourist entrance to Kremlin by 600West218, on Flickr

This is the main entry gate for tourists.


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It looked like a nice chaining of the guard ceremony but they were mobbed by Chinese tourists who just didn't give them space.

Inside the Kremlin I didn't go to any of the museums but instead just wandered the grounds which were pretty nice by themselves.


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Lots of cannons on display everywhere. Historically this was a fortress.


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There are also three or four major cathederals inside.
 
#22 ·
Next we get to a really big cannon:


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Note that the Eastern Orthodox crosses are different than the crosses in Western Christianity. It was explained to me though I can't recall the explanation.


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As you can see from the people, this bell was pretty massive too.


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In the haze you can see one of the Stalinist "Seven Sisters" by 600West218, on Flickr
 
#23 ·

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It was definitely full spring mode in Moscow. Not only was it quite hot but there were flowers everywhere.


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ok, now I get to indulge my fetish for emergency vehicles a bit. This appears to be an ambulance, though not a particularly attractive one. Certainly no bright colors to make it highly visible.


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At this point I have left the Kremlin and am taking pictures of it from the outside.


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#43 · (Edited)
Thank a lot for your pics and opinion about Moscow. Great trip!

ok, now I get to indulge my fetish for emergency vehicles a bit. This appears to be an ambulance, though not a particularly attractive one. Certainly no bright colors to make it highly visible.
I totally agree with you. Moscow buys very expensive and well-equiped Mersedes Spriters but with so poor paintschemes and lightbars. Strange economy... Only in 2012 Moscow ordered ambulances with Led lightbars. Just private ambulanes use bright colors, some unique lights and etc. Actually, that old Sprinter on your picture doesn't belong to Moscow.

Here is a police car. Not spectacular but definitely better than the ambulance.
Same situation... Moscow has started to receive BMW 528, but again with weird lightbars. However federal police buy similar cars (Mersedes E-350, AUDI A-6, BMW 5-series) but with normal LED bars like Federal Signal, Ecco, Code3 and etc. Only Moscow fire trucks are really cool and look very bright and shiny.

Some historical information.:) From 1993 to 1997 Moscow police bought hundreds Ford Crown Victoria and some Chevrolet Caprice. Almost every second police car in Moscow was Ford Crown Victoria.
 
#24 ·
Next I started making my way along the walls of the Kremlin towards the State History Museum and Red Square.


This is outside the Kremlin along the wall where they have monuments to different battles. by 600West218, on Flickr

There is a significant WWII memorial. This lists major battles of that war.


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Smolensk


Stalingrad in case you don't read Cryllic. by 600West218, on Flickr

Stalingrad


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The guards of the eternal flame. Later I got to see the changing of the guard which was quite nice.


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The State History Museum


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They do have some signs in English, but very few. Definitely you need to learn to read the Cyrillic alphabet before coming to Moscow as an independent traveller.


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Looking towards Red Square. Note that it is a uphill slope going to the square.


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From the same spot but looking in the opposite direction.


Looking up towards the entrance of Red Square. by 600West218, on Flickr

Gates to Red Square. I am told these gates were removed during Soviet times to facilitate the big parades in Red Square but were put back after the fall of the Soviet Union.


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Here is a police car. Not spectacular but definitely better than the ambulance.

As it was lunch time I wandered away from the Kremlin and into the regular city looking for a place to eat.


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This sculpture was interesting. It looks like stuff from the Afghan war.


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Looking back in the direction of Red Square and the State History Museum.


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More Stalinist housing blocks.


Typical Stalin era housing. by 600West218, on Flickr

Definitely you can't accuse the Stalinist stuff of being drab.


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This is a Niva which is a Soviet era SUV. It is actually made by the same company that makes the Lada I believe. Definitely nothing fancy but it does have good ground clearance and could probably handle off road conditions easily.
 
#25 ·
Niva looks dated but I actually still like it, and you wont believe it but it's one of the best offload vehicles actually, very nimble on dirt and other offload surfaces. Other soviet cars are crap mostly :)

I like your diary man, I love traveling myself, and when I'm too busy with the work I love to look such photo diaries through, keep up the good work!

Cheers :)
 
#26 ·
Thanks.

Actually, there were some other Soviet cars I liked. Some old ones that were restored looked quite nice - classic cars if you will. And there was one brand that was probably comparable to western cars in its time. I'll have plenty of pictures of all of them. As the report progresses they'll be more and more pictures focusing on daily life.
 
#29 ·
Yes, it is a bit austere. Relatively little of the grand old buildings that pre-date the 1917 revolution. When it comes to the old but grand buildings even Liverpool has more than Moscow (I've spent I good amount of time wandering about both those cities so I am confident in that statement). But it really does exude power. I've never seen anything remotely comparable to the Kremlin or Red Square before. Maybe the Zocalo in Mexico City for large plaza's but that had nothing of the power of Red Square. And the avenues are so large - they make the avenues of New York look child like.

Definitely religiosity is on the upswing. You see not just many churches but many new churches and churches under construction. Also, the monasteries aren't museums, they are functioning monasteries.

As to being scary, it really isn't scary at all. Never had any problem with the police or anyone else (well, one person who I'll mention shortly). The only mildly troubling time was being around some obviously drunk people. Also, tourists on their own are quite rare in Moscow, and definitely in Russia as a whole. When people hear English being spoken in definitely gets their attention. Normally that is fine but there can be unwanted attention.
 
#31 ·
After getting some lunch I headed back towards Red Square.

A better look at the police car:


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Again, looking up through a gate towards Red Square. Note St. Basils Cathederal which is actually on the opposite end of Red Square. by 600West218, on Flickr

Looking up towards Red Square. Note St. Basils through the gate.


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This is supposed to be the "zero" geographic spot against which all distances and locations in Russia are measured. I guess it is their equivalent of the Greenwhich Meridian. One thing it helps show is how centralized Russia is around Moscow. What London is to England and Paris is to France Moscow is to Russia and maybe more. All distances are measured relative to Moscow and all times are always Moscow times.

For example, if you buy a train ticket from Novosibirsk to Vladivostock, both of which are far from Moscow and differ in time by many hours the departure and arrival times on the tickets won't be in local times but in Moscow time. Seems bizarre but it is true.


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Red Square with the large GUM store on the left, St. Basils straight ahead, and the Kremlin on the right. by 600West218, on Flickr

Red Square again, which is bound by the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathederal, the GUM store and the State History Museum.


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The GUM store, which is actually now a shopping mall with many stores. It is an arcade, similar to the arcades you'll see in Leeds, England or Milan, Italy.


The State History museum which is directly behind where I took the previous picture from. So Red Square is bordered by the Kremlin, St. Basils Cathederal, the GUM, and the State History Museum. by 600West218, on Flickr

The State History Museum


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Getting your picture taken in Red Square seems to be a popular thing to do.


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I think all the street type markings on the pavement are so the vehicles in the parades no where they should be.


The tombs of top Soviet officials in the Kremlin wall. The one of the left looks to be Stalin. by 600West218, on Flickr

Some of the tombs in the Kremlin wall. I believe the one on the left is Stalin.


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Lenin's tomb. One of the most interesting parts of travelling is comparing the reality of things to how you had always imagined that they were. Some things are much bigger and grander than you imagined. But other things smaller.

Lenins tomb was definitely much smaller and less imposing than I had imagined. When I would see video of the Soviet leaders standing atop it to review a parade it seemed so large and imposing. But in person it was a small structure about 3 stories tall at most.

I think I know why my image of it was so distorted. I think the camera angles when the video of the leaders was taken was from street level looking up. So you could never see exactly how high it was and it looked like it was much higher than it actually is.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr
 
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