Jump to content

Moscow/St Petersburg


Virtual Insanity

Recommended Posts

Two completely different cities. Both pretty excellent. I'd stick with what you have got, I think if you shortened your time I'm Moscow for St Petersburg you would regret it later. February will be fucking freezing. Park of Culture (Gorky Park) is worth going to. The paths are all frozen over and people skate round the park, amazing sight. The Museum at the line the Nazis got to in Moscow (can't mind the name) is pretty good. All in all Moscow has plenty to offer as has St Petersburg. Obviously your mate will have you sorted for there for STP. Take plenty of money, its fucking expensive.

You can flag nearly any car down to act as a taxi and the prices are reasonable as are the vans (instead of buses), but the public transport in Moscow is excellent.

All in all a great country and two great cities. The beer is pretty decent, Baltica being pretty good and the vodka is excellent, Green Mark or Russian Standard being good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take plenty of money, its fucking expensive.

How much are we talking here if you want to enjoy it properly (i.e. out for decent dinners and all the main attractions but not too much drinking). I got the impression Moscow was significantly more than St Petersburg, we also have a honeymoon to pay for next year!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That really depends where you eat/drink/party (also it is 5-6 years since I last worked there). I would say STP is cheaper than Moscow, probably like a normal European City. The closer you get to the centre of Moscow the more expensive. As soon as you go beyond the MKAD (outer ring road) the prices tumble, but I doubt you will be heading out that far. Anything around Red Square and up to Tverskaya is fucking insane. £20 for a Tomatin whisky. Of course there are cheaper 'fast food' and chain restaurants all over. I think there was a shitty Irish bar off Tverskaya and the beer was about £5-7. If you head up Prospekt Mira, plenty of good restaurants and entertainment up there at more realistic prices. There was an absolutely fantastic Azebaijani restaurant about 2 minutes walk from the Prospect Mira metro station. I think about £25-40 a head at the time. Absolutely fantastic grub.

Things get cheaper around the main railway stations, Belorusskaya (the station you will come into by train if you fly into Sheremetyevo), Leningradskiy, etc.

During the day they are plenty of food stalls, vans and Kvass (don't think you will be able to buy Kvass though during the winter) which are cheap and usually good. haha

Been away from Europe too long, so can't give a comparison to the likes of Glasgow/London etc, but it was by far the most expensive place I have been in, also one of the best.

A lot of drinking on the street, even if it is -20c, the Russians are fantastic people, but completely off their fucking heads.

I don't think too much will have changed and if it hasn't getting used to going into even the most mundane restaurants/bars and you go through metal detectors with the security wearing Kevlar and carrying sub machine guns takes a bit of getting used to. As well as some places having 'gun check' rooms instead of a cloakrooms.

In saying that, no fucker will be actually interested in you, pretty damn safe place to be honest. There isn't so much crime against 'minor' people. I believe petty criminals aren't so scared of the police, but the mafia running the places.

You can PM if you want any specific thoughts, just mind my 'knowledge' is a few years old, but I doubt it will have changed too much. I'm sure you will love it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was Russias 'in your face' response to terrorism. She'll love the place, take her skating down Gorky park, perfectly romantic on a freezing night. You should be able to walk on the river in STP and maybe even on the Moskva river at that time of year as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Good detective work! Not too many St Petersburg based Jags I guess.

Was out with the international man of mystery on Wednesday, actually. His love for Thistle is matched only by his passion for rocking out to the Boss. He tells me that you and I have actually met a couple of years ago, I think when I was a guest for the day for the first game of the season at Firhill (against Falkirk, mibbe?) when Killie were away to ICT. I think I was well on my way, having watched Zenit absolutely spank Spartak Moscow that morning and tanned a load of vodka to celebrate.

But I'd agree with him in that St Pete is a better laugh than Moscow, although I may be a little partisan in this. Get him to take you to Fish Fabrique: outside of the late lamented Tsinik, it was my favourite bar there. Not sure what it's like now, but it used to be a great laugh. Check if my Killie grafitti's still in the bogs. Either way, you'll have a blast, it's an amazing city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...