Meandering on the streets of Moscow

With its hidden secrets, Moscow is not easy for a traveller to unravel but that just adds to its enigmatic charm.

Winter had just set in and I was preparing to travel to Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation. A city that was completely frozen, with most people hiding at home to avoid the cold. Also, it was a city amidst chaos that month, due to political protests over the results of the recent parliament elections, bringing thousands of people on the streets. Everyone around me thought I was just crazy to head there.

But, we had a very good reason. We were there to witness one of the best events in the world, Red Bull BC One, where 16 of the world's best B-boys battle it out to vie for the Championship title. The event had set up camp in one of the most important historical buildings, the Old Moscow Circus, an arena that usually saw artistic circus performers. The idea of visiting the place, which was home to the famous Russian clown, Yuri Nikulin, was unimaginable.

Whirlwind madness
With just about 72 hours in the city, thanks to the highly strict visa regulations, we decided to sleep less and make the most of it. Did I forget to tell you? It was a work trip and I was there with my boss. If you have images of an old balding man in a pin-striped shirt, please get that out of your head. Imagine someone who is infamous for having been run over by a bull in Pamplona, Spain, a couple of years ago. You can be certain that anyone with that sense of adventure would be an entertaining travel companion.

Unlike planned travellers, reading up on the history and culture, we were totally unprepared, leaving the discovery of Moscow to a cheap metro ticket, a map in Russian, a last minute printout of top things to do and a deranged sense of direction. Having been welcomed to the city on the first night with many a glass of vodka, we already felt at home, since all the foreign letters started to revolve a bit and look like English. That gave us the confidence to jump into the brown circular line and visit the first museum, the Moscow Metro.

Moscow's metro
Mother of all metros in the world, Moscow's metro stations are architectural masterpieces, heavily themed-up with sculptures, reliefs and mosaics, all expounding the benefits of a healthy communist life. From soldiers to artists, workers to tractor drivers, you'll find them here. Built at a time when there was severe competition with the west, Stalin was eager that the power of the Soviet state should be visible even underground. Each of these stations portray a different theme, bringing alive a chapter in Russia's history. My favourite ones were Polishchad Revolyutsii, with its life-size bronze statues arranged in pairs under marble arches, and Novoslobodskaya, with its stunning stained glass panels of Russian tapestry. Another unique metro is the Mendeleevskaya, which has the track walls decorated with plaques depicting atomic and molecular structures, as a tribute to Dmitry Mendeleev, the wellknown scientist and creator of the first periodic table of elements.

Red Square
After the immersion in Russian history, we chatted up a young musician, who was only too happy to practise his English and show us the way to the city centre. There we were, standing in the Red Square in front of the colourful church with onionshaped domes, absorbing how fairytalelike it looked. The name Red Square was neither derived from the colour of the bricks around it (which, in fact, were whitewashed at certain points in history) nor from the link between the colour red and Communism. Rather, the name came about because the Russian word krasnaya can mean either "red" or "beautiful". This word, with the meaning "beautiful", was originally applied to Saint Basil's Cathedral and was subsequently transferred to the nearby square.

The Red Square separates the Kremlin, the official residence of the President, from the historic merchant quarter Kitai-Gorod. Having housed the coronation of many Tsars, political protests, festive processions, the Red Square is considered the central square of all of Russia. Surrounded mostly by buildings of religious or political importance, the only shock is when you look to the left and see GUM, a large over-the-top mall of luxury brands, sticking out like a sore thumb. It is a city of contrasts and contradictions indeed.

It is a city that is hidden and secretive as much as it is obvious and evident to a traveller's eye. The quick tour of the Kremlin, even being within the huge fortified walls, isn't enough to get a sense of what goes on behind the walls. For a few minutes, we felt like any stereotypical spy in a film. Extracting ourselves from this setting and lounging around Pushkinskaya, the square with the grand statue of Alexander Pushkin, the father of Russian literature, elements of normal life took over - people feeding the pigeons and reading the papers.

Nightlife in Moscow
Long aimless walks call for rich local cuisines and we indulged in a heavy meal - Borscht (a beetroot soup with meat), Pelmeni (dumplings) and the Kiev-style chicken (borrowed from neighbouring Ukraine). That wasn't the end of our trip. We were told that a Moscow experience is only complete when you head to a highend nightclub or an underground one. If you can get past face control, or bouncers, and deal with the fact that you are the shortest person around, you'll enjoy the vodka and the electronic music and the occasional fire-breathing dancer. For men, the Russian six-foot models are enough reason to be there.

Cruising in and out of a few clubs, I remember us taking a photo outside one of the most beautiful buildings of Moscow. A few more vodkas and we saw the same building again. And again. We called it a night, thinking we had completely lost our sanity. To our relief, we discovered the next morning that these were the 'Seven Sisters', a group of buildings made in Stalinist style and scattered around the city. The three days went by pretty fast with a mixed pot of experiences - some more historic monuments, crazy taxi drivers, street markets, Latin dancing clubs and what not. As we headed to Domodedovo airport, the only thing we realised that we had figured out about Moscow was that it was one hell of a difficult place to figure out. Our advice, if you plan to go there, is to get a really warm coat and a local friend.

Fact File

How to get there
There are daily flights from every major city in India to Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, via the Middle-East or Europe. Fares are approx Rs 35,000/- return on Economy class

Where to stay
Moscow Marriott Grand Hotel or the Sheraton Palace Hotel in Tverskaya, very close to the city centre, offers double rooms at Rs 12,000 to 15,000 a night approx. For a better budget option, look up www.booking.com.

leisure.mirror@indiatimes.com

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