Tuesday 7th was our final day in Moscow. The weather continued the pattern - blue skies, bright sunshine and about 25 C.
We started the day with a walk towards Red Square from our hotel. The total distance is about 3 km, b the walk took us down Tverskaya Street to Teatralnaya Square (outside the Bolshoi) and then in a loop back up Petrovka Street, with various wanderings between. These are the main up-market shopping areas of Moscow. Every major expensive retailer of cars, jewellery, watches and fashion was represented. We stopped for a coffee and brioche at one cafe and enjoyed the wandering in the open air.
The streets contain attractive buildings, both for shops and for government offices. There is clearly plenty of money around!
We sampled various foods today, preferring to graze on small serves. We started with the brioche, we had a small burger at a McDonalds (just to experience it - it was very large and very well patronised), later an excellent club sandwich and then a small serve of assorted of pirogzhe in the evening. For the economists - a Big Mac cost 77 rbl (about A$2.60).
We did plenty of additional walking, finding a pretty residential area around park with a fish pond (called Patriach Ponds) - it seemed rather like the South Yarra of Moscow.
In the afternoon we took the Metro out to a market called Izmailovo in the suburbs. It is reputed to have a wide selection of Russian souvenirs. Apparently it is busy on weekends, but was very quiet today. It is adjacent to what looked to be a very kitch theme park, which we had no difficulty avoiding. However, we did find some souvenirs to buy.
Back in the central city we had a quenching ale, a wander around the Gum arcade, by Red Square, and then a further ale before heading back to our hotel to relax before heading for our train.
We have had three busy days in Moscow. Helped by the superb weather, we have travelled far and wide to see many of the sights of this city.
Our train is only a 10 hour trip, which seems so short after our previous journeys. However, we are seasoned train travellers by now, so we think that we know the ropes. We asked the hotel to call a taxi and were told 30 minutes. The hotel offered to have the doorman flag down a car. We found that this was quite literal – he stood outside and flagged down passing cars, negotiating with three until the fourth agreed to take us to the station for a normal taxi price. The statement that any car in Moscow is a taxi seems to be true.
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| Tverskaya Street |
The streets contain attractive buildings, both for shops and for government offices. There is clearly plenty of money around!
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| Matthew in the large Puskinskaya McDonalds |
We did plenty of additional walking, finding a pretty residential area around park with a fish pond (called Patriach Ponds) - it seemed rather like the South Yarra of Moscow.
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| Izmailovo Market |
Back in the central city we had a quenching ale, a wander around the Gum arcade, by Red Square, and then a further ale before heading back to our hotel to relax before heading for our train.
We have had three busy days in Moscow. Helped by the superb weather, we have travelled far and wide to see many of the sights of this city.
Our train is only a 10 hour trip, which seems so short after our previous journeys. However, we are seasoned train travellers by now, so we think that we know the ropes. We asked the hotel to call a taxi and were told 30 minutes. The hotel offered to have the doorman flag down a car. We found that this was quite literal – he stood outside and flagged down passing cars, negotiating with three until the fourth agreed to take us to the station for a normal taxi price. The statement that any car in Moscow is a taxi seems to be true.
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