Getting into Moscow, Rent a car/rent a bike

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Where do normal humans eat in Moscow?

Экскурсии по Москве и Подмосковью для детей и взрослых

1.Tour of the Spalniy rayon

Visit to a dormitory town and a food market (duration 3 hrs)

We’ll see how the Spalniy rayon(a bedroom community,) looks like. It is about 30 min ride by metro from the downtown. We’ll drop in at the Vyhino food market - the place where average Moscovites go shopping. We’ll be able to feel how and where average people live, what do they buy, where the sellers came from.We'll see where Moscovites live, what schools their children go to. And in the end we’ll visit the 18th century Kuskovo, the former private estate of the Sheremetev family in the neighbourhood.

2.Dacha life I.Peredelkino

(duration 4 hrs)

Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes located in the exurbs of Soviet and Russian cities.

Peredelkino (Russian: Переделкино) is a dacha complex situated just to the southwest of Moscow, Russia. In 1934, with Stalin's consent the area was handed over to the Union of Soviet Writers. Within several years, about fifty wooden cottages were constructed in Peredelkino for writers to German designs. Among the littérateurs who settled in Peredelkino were Boris Pasternak(author of "Doctor Zhivago"), Korney Chukovsky, Arseny Tarkovsky (all three buried at the local cemetery), Ilya Ehrenburg, Veniamin Kaverin, Bulat Okudzhava and many others. In 1988, the cottages of Chukovsky and Pasternak were proclaimed memorial houses, while the area of Peredelkino was designated a "historical and cultural reservation". A decade later, the dacha of Bulat Okudzhava was also opened to the public as a museum.

I’ll tell you the history of this legendary place. We’ll cast a glance upon the Patriarch’s residence near the train station.Then I’ll take you to Boris Pasternak museum and K. Chukovsky house where Alexander Solzhenizin the author of Archipelago Gulag found shelter while being under the official onslaught on him in the early 1970-s. Then we walk to Bulat Okudzhava’s house, he is called sometimes the Russian Georges Brassens.

It is just 30 minutes ride by commuter train from the Kievsky train station.

NB! The museums in Peredelkino are open from Thursday to Sunday, from 10am to 4pm.

Dacha life II

(5-7 hrs)

I invite you to visit my country home(dacha).

Itinerary

I’ll pick you up at the hotel and then we’ll go to the Ploshad treh vokzalov (Three Station Square) one of the busiest squares in Moscow. There are 3 train stations down there: Leningradsky, Yaroslavsky, and Kazansky. You’ll see passengers from different Russian regions, you’ll have a look at the historical 100 years old train terminal. Then we’ll take elektrichka (commuter’s train) from the Kazansky train staton and in some 45 mintes you’ll be taken away from the urban fuss to the place called Tomilino where you can enjoy fresh air and see how the countryside looks like. Some dachas here are really beautiful they are the unique examples of wooden Art Nouveau style. Just as in Moscow where old soviet Ladas and Volgas go along with Toyotas and Fords here in Podmoscovie (Moscow suburbs) 100 years old dachas stand side by side with a grandiose cottages of the “new Russians”. I’ll show you around the community then we’ll get the coffee brake at my dacha. Then I’ll take you back to the hotel.

3.Izmaylovo flee market

(2 hrs)

All sorts of things one can find here: fossil ivory, semiprecious stones, Scythian decorations, 18th century Russian coins, 80 years old primus (kerosene stoves), Samovars ( literally "self-boiler" it is a heated metal container used to heat and boil water for tea drinking), Soviet military badges and belts, old Soviet posters, Tajik plates and amber necklaces from the Baltic sea, along with many traditional Russian gifts and souvenir items e.g. hand painted Russian "matryoshka" nesting dolls and eggs, "Golden Khokhloma" style wooden tableware and lacquered jewelry boxes. And for good measure we could visit Izmylovo Kremlin –a timber replica of Russian medieval fortress with a wooden church, a fairy palace and museum of Russian vodka.

Partizanskaya metro station, 15-20 min from the city center.

4.Sanduny quarter

In this quarter we’ll drop in at the Moscow Architectural Institute, http://www.marhi.ru then we’ll visit the Rozhdestvensky nunnery and the famous English books store. After that you could try Russian banya – the historical Sanduny.

By far the very best banya in Moscow! The downstairs banya is about 1000 rubles for 2 hours, which is plenty of time to have 3 rounds in the banya and time to rest and chat in between. The advantage of the lower banya is the pool. Make sure to order tea with honey and khachapuri! The massage and beauty treatments are OK. Upstairs is the VIP banya, which is the same, but does not have a pool, although you do get a locker for your clothes and is generally a bit more sparkly. There is no better way to spend a winter afternoon then at the banya! ( http://www.tripadvisor.com) And please read the banya instructions before the visit- http://www.sanduny.ru/en/index.php

5.Unusual shops

Eliseevsky is very large and luxuriously designed shop - a good place to buy Moscow chocolate Alyonka and a red caviar can. It is opened round the clock.

Ministerstvo podarkov ( Department of gifts) funny but useless things made of soviet second hand.

Tee shop on the Myasnizkaya street designed in Chinese style.

6.Illuminated Moscow

Evening tour,it is ideal for taking the best pictures.

When it gets dark the best sights of the city come to life . You’ll enjoy the illuminated St’ Basils on the Red square the GUM- Moscow’s most famous store, the Christ the Savior cathedral, you’ll take in amazing views of the city by Sparrow hills. So the tour takes you through all the main sightseeing locations and many of the great places which the tour bus misses e.g. : we’ll make a stop at the Bolotnaya ploshad (Bolotnaya square) it is the meeting place for poister fans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poister) and drummers.

We’ll drop in at the Bilingva(OGI) literature café on the way. It is very casual Moscow chillout where you can meet poets, painters, read books and drink coffee. Almost every day it has interesting performances: poems and texts readings, video shows, music, exhibitions etc. Then we can go to the Grouse's Nest the Moscow Bard cafe to enjoy the singing of best of the Russian bards. “The venue opened (about 15 years ago) just as a new era began for Russian bard singers, whose genre finally received official recognition in Russia”.(Vedomosty #214 (1254) We’ll hop off the car to walk a bit along the night Arbat Street and then go back to the hotel.

7.Modern art venues

a. Winzavod the former winery, today it is the artistic Mecca. Winzavod consists of seven buildings with a total space of 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) located on privately owned, gated property. Four of the country's most prestigious contemporary galleries moved here as soon as the space was open: XL, Aidan, M&J Guelman, and Regina. And five more galleries have recently opened: Proun, Atelier #2, Pobeda, Fotoloft Gallery, and Gallery.photographer.ru. Winzavod is also home to artists' studios, a photography studio, an advertising agency, an avant-garde clothing store, an art supply store, and a stylish cafe.

b. Museum of modern art

c. The Garage- the 80 years old bus garage just 15 min drive from the downtown. It has been restored in 2007–2008 and converted into the art center with the help of Roman Abramovich. Paintings and art objects from collection of Francois Pinault, owner of the Christie's auctioning house and one of the most influential people in the realm of modern art will be shown in The Garage. On show will be about 30 pieces by international artists such as Jeff Koons, Philippe Parreno and Takashi Murakami, arranged in a space of 8.000 square meters. March 20 - until June 14.

8.Moscow from above

The best views on the city. There are some good spots to look at the city center from the top floors, to drink a cup of coffee and just relax after the long day.

The Riz Carlton - O2 Lounge restaurant

The Swiss hotel - City Space Bar & Lounge

The 22nd floor of the Russian Academy of Sciences - Sky lounge restaurant

9.A scenic Tram tour

along the boulevards via the Zamoskvorechye.

We’ll take the “A” tram by the metro station Chistye prudy (The Clean Ponds) and make all the way to Kaluzhskaya plochad. Well drive along 3 Moscow boulevards: Chistoprudny Pokrovsky , Yauszskiy, we’ll go through the Zamoscvorechye the old merchant’s quarter. On our way we’ll see the Sovremennyk theater, Dom na Kotelnicheskoy (one of the seven Stalin’s skyscrapers), Danilovsky monastery, we’ll see the Moscow Kremlin from the bridge while crossing the Moscow river and the Shukhov radio tower. At the end of the tour we’ll hop off the tram and visit the Donskoy Monastery