Goodbye Moscow (can't wait see you again!)

Gorky Park of Culture & LEISURE

The new / refreshed Gorky Park is quite simply the greatest park / public space I have ever visited in my life.  Cannot explain how awesome it is.  Official Name is Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure.   What a fantastic name.   Culture AND LEISURE.   Never miss it if you visit Moscow- NEVER !!   Such a warm young energetic vibe here, tons of sport activities, bike rentals, dancing groups/lessons, daybeds, rollerblading, river cruising, a huge forest to the side, people watching, incredible restaurants (16 of them), kids areas, museums onsite, ponds, paddle boats, hip bars, good music, white sandy beaches, cafes, etc etc etc etc.  Gorky Park is so incredible that it has its own newspaper.  Oh yeah, and admission is free.  

 

 

Rubik's cube art (mindblowing)

Really innovative, incredible and awe inspiring exhibit was on display over at ARTPLAY last week (in the arts district just east of downtown).  Artplay is a new complex of art, music and interactive exhibit spaces in a former abandoned tea factory.   It's got so much energy.  

Back to the exhibit - it featured dozens and dozens of huge (larger than life) recreations of portraits and pictures of famous people and artwork comprised of Rubik's cubes, from 500 Rubik's cubes for the smaller pieces up to one that featured 10,000 separate Rubik's cubes, with each dialed a certain way to line up the pattern.  So fantastic to see and share with Dasha.   

Check out a small sample of the pieces below (that's right - a Yoda made up from Rubik's cubes was almost too awesome to explain).   It's a must see if this exhibit visits your town.  Here's more info on artplay and the exhibit - here and more info here

Classic russian outfit

Throw back Thursday - shot of dasha last year at her school's international festival (in her russian outfit) 

Dancing on the ceiling

The air over here is crazy in the summer (allows you to do absolutely amazing human tricks).  No wonder that half of the cirque de soleil dancers are from russia (not to mention the strong space program) !!

Russian Slam Dunk

Slam Dunk, flush or Alley-oop, whatever Chick Hearn phrase you want to call it - this is how you throw it down in the USSR !!

Rolling Underground Museum !!

This is probably my 5th post about the Moscow Metro subway, but it is an important (and convenient) part of the daily life here.   After taking over 100 rides, I finally lucked into a ride on the Museum Train earlier today with Darya and Anastasiya.   

Anastasiya's been able to ride it a few times before, so she was immediately excited when the train pulled up as it's visible from the outside (special murals even on the outside of the train cars).   They've removed about half the seats from every car on the museum subway train and placed beautiful scenic and patriotic artwork in their place.  As an engineer, and a fan of russian art - getting to experience some great art while being whisked underground at high speed to our destination was an awesome experience.  

See more details on the Museum Train here (and photos below)

Bike Moscow !!

An incredible transporation transformation is taking place in big moscow - - the sudden popularity of bicycles all around town (as not only a leisure activity, but a serious form of getting around on a daily basis).   The bike rental kiosks that have been popular all over western and northern europe for several years have made their way over now, but those are used by visitors typically.   It's evident the bike movement is more than that, it's locals from 10-50 years old biking around all the time.   

Bike paths have been created on several streets around town, special bike paths in most of the large parks, bike allowed on metro, bike festivals, and the one that blew me away - Bike in Dining at a popular cafe in Gorky Park (you can remain standing on your bike while having your meal, while your bike is locked into a slot underneath you).   Pretty awesome.  here's some pics

anastasiya & dasha - gorky park 2014

papa + dasha ready to roll

dasha on a dedicated two-way bike path

Bike up dining (with dining table above)

Bike rentals near city center

Bike Festival Poster

Moscow mules

I guess this is the modern day 21st century Moscow Mule around town here (standard issue Rolls Coupe and Ferrari for the everyday russian businessman).   Luxury rides literally littered around every street corner!  

Borscht is the BEST

Dasha enjoying her first borscht in Moscow, and the best part is that it was homemade with local ingredients by our wonderful freind Olga !!!   I didn't know she could cook up a storm.   I really cannot describe how good this soup is, and while it is not an outright russian invention (it's ukranian), it's served all over eastern europe, and is quite common in moscow.  In the winter it can warm your bones, and in the summer can be eaten cold, with sour cream on top for an extra kick.   LOVE IT (and Dasha does too) !     

GOOOAAAALLL

Throwback photo from my first trip to Moscow from '09 - but had to post it with the world cup going on right now.   Too bad Russia and Iran both flamed out in the group stage (and actually no Eastern European teams remain!!)

Russian Berries

Goose Berries, Black Currants, Red Currants and Forest Berries - - each simply amazing, and put all together it's exotic berry overload.   But then again that's what Moscow is - an overload of the senses.  

Modern highrise architecture - case study

Modern Russian architecture is generally defined from the postware period of the later 40's / early 50's through today.   Here's a quick contrast study (with what's known as the Soviet "Brutalist" 70's architecture on the tower on the right, mid-range 1990's residential tower in the middle, and a much more recently constructed stone & glass high rise on the left).

Photo by me.  Clouds courtesy of mother nature

Цирк ! (Moscow Circus)

Family time tonight @ the world famous Moscow Цирк (Circus)!!  Nearly 3 hours of dizzying acrobatics, stunts, feats, music and dance was a great way to spend a thursday night.   The best part is that the show is not solely geared towards kids, instead there are a lot of fascinating elements in there for grown ups too, including a lot of cirque-de-soleil type of elements (unlike the circus shows in america).    It's no wonder that a huge percentage of professional dancers, acrobats and cirque performers around the world are russian - they just have a knack for this stuff !  

420 hours

We're in Moscow for a total of 17.5 days on this trip.  That is 420 hours in a city full of surprises old and new, in a city that doesn't sleep, in a city of 11 million residents that is is awash in daylight until 11pm in the summer.   A city full of tree and buildings and parks and boulevards and museums.  Full of hot soup and cold vodka.  

How will we spend our 420 hours?    Only time will tell....

A 7 year old amongst 7 Million (first subway ride)

Dasha's first subway experience probably didn't live up to all her imagination probably had led her to believe (such as flying pods underground going at the speed of sound), but it was still awesome to watch this 7 year old navigate the underbelly of the city, study route maps, jump on different lines with us (at rush hour on the way back as well), and be amazed just like I continue to be at the efficiency of the system - - with new trains coming up every 60 seconds most of the day.  

7 million riders a day on these tracks, and one special 7 year old on her first ride.