We're now almost 1/2 way through our trip so definitely overdue for a proper update!
We are having a wonderful time. Russia is really amazing – even better than i imagined. I think we are all victims from the years of cold war propaganda by the USA that still may affect our perception of this place. This is a classy 900 year old City with obviously a rich rich history (how many times did they save the entire world from disaster?!)
Now, let's just take a minute to dispel the images of Moscow and Mother Russia that most people have:
* Poverty (Russia is now one of the of the most buoyant economies - it is obvious by being here and seeing the amount of consumerism and consumption - build a shopping mall or retail complex and they will come in droves. Also the income tax rate is only 13% flat tax – how amazing is that?);
* Dangerous (Moscow is now statistically safer than most American cities);
* Miles away from anywhere (just over 3 hours from London, Spain, Dubai, France, Ibiza, etc);
* Terrible food (Moscow is now home to some of the best dining options in the world); and
* The weather (it's wonderful in the spring, summer, and fall!)
Today's Moscow is a beautiful, vibrant and majestic city. Fantastic restaurants, buzzing bars, great public squares, parks around every corner, numerous world class museums, a clean city, and glamorous clubs open to enthusiastic travelers. There is so much to see just here in the City of Moscow alone - including obviously a number of historical places but also great new buildings, places, technologies, innovations, fashions, transportation systems, bars, etc. There is a really great combination / juxtaposition between the old and the new. Moscow is no ordinary 21st Century cosmopolitan city - to be here is to believe and the only way to really understand the vitality of Moscow right now is to be here now.
We've been down to the city center (they don't call it downtown) 5 times already (for 4-8 hours each time) and I've still yet to see half of the city. Every day has been filled with exploring this large (15 million people) metropolis. The streets are beautiful and very clean. The public squares, fountains, parks, trees they have on seemingly every block are all absurdly beautiful. There are parks EVERYWHERE and cool things to see (bookstores, cafes, shops, museums, bars, galleries, historical alleys, etc) on every corner.
There are a LOT of rich and successful people here now, all who have made their quick fortunes over the past 15-20 years on new private industry after the fall of communism. Some cheated their way to the top through connections, and others made it the hard way. Put it together and you have the largest collection of billionaires in the world (33 of them to be exact). We've seen more Mercedes Maybach's, AMGs, Bentleys, Porchse Cayenne's and BMW M5's in 2 weeks than I've seen in the past 10 years in LA. And remember that these imported vehicles cost about 75% more here in Russia than they do in the US thanks to hefty import duties.
We have had a good stretch of weather (and we get daylight/sunshine until 11:30pm since we're so high up in the hemisphere) but alas got hit with a bit of rain over the past 3 days. It’s a warm summery rain (tropical-like … in Moscow) but despite the spot of precipitation we still made it out to a russian premier league soccer game earlier this week and that was a story onto itself (people actually pay attention to the game, aren't consumed by eating hot dogs + nachos the whole time, and chant so effectively all together in an organized and respectable fashion). Dodger and Laker games will forever be lacking a few elements for me from now on.
The nightlife and events here would require a whole another chapter or blogpost to detail – but let me just say that there's no less than 10 amazing rooftop bars/lounges that all feature great house music every night, have terrific views of downtown and/or the moscow river, and also serve excellent food. just ridiculous. then there's about 15-20 spectacular nightclubs that again all play only top notch house music (they even play house music in the malls, grocery stores, cafes, etc). One of our favorite DJ's Royksopp were to come this week but had to cancel the show at the last minute. But alas to make up for it we are able to catch a few other of our favorites Desyn Masiello and Paolo Mojo here tomorrow night.
We’ve really enjoyed re-connecting with many of Anastasiya’s friends here in Moscow, they are all so warm and accommodating… it's interesting to watch how they all fight over taking us out every night and showing us different sights and parts of the town (and seem to have no problems with staying out until past midnight on worknights). There's always a big battle when time to pay the bar or restaurant bill, but I've finally gotten my way and have been able to start paying for a few rounds. Russians are very hospitable!! We went to former president and current prime minister Vladimir Putin's favorite beer garden this week, but it doesn't seem like he was able to drag Obama over there. We will be traveling outside of the City to the countryside this weekend to visit more family and friends in their summer cottages (called Datchas in Russian).
Last note: regarding the vodka - I would be remiss not to chime in on that - as you might imagine they have entire aisles of 100% amazing russian vodka at all of the supermarkets (there's even a pretty good one named after Putin that we've been enjoying that's only $5 per bottle... although really the best one on the market is standby Russky Standard Platinum and Imperia which have both been available in the US in the past 18 months).
here's a link to a ton of photos from our trip so far:
http://s372.photobucket.com/albums/oo168/aheydari/Moscow%20Summer%202009/?albumview=grid
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