going to moscow. any suggestions?

[ronnielee67 2]

well, i think i'm prepared now. i applied for my passport june 10th, and just this week finaly got my visa, hotel, and plane ticket. ilyana has her train ticket from stavropol. i have never been to russia, and ilyana and i have never met in person. just a web cam. we have been together for 7 months now. i'm very excited now about meeting and spending 4 nights together. we are checking in to the izmailova delta on sept 8. 3 more weeks. i don't speak any russian and ilyana's english is not the best. but, it is enough. we talk a lot on the phone, and icq every day. i would appreciate any suggestions , advice , or warnings from anyone with experience in moscow. i do want to see the sights of this beautiful city , but i don't want it to be the least bit stressful for the woman i am crazy about. we are the same age (39) and share many of the same interests. so please, if anyone is interested, i would appreciate any experience that you care to share. have a great day, ronnie

[slim 1,525]

Ronnie,

You're going to have the time of your life! Just a little more information please and that will help the rest of us "spill" what we know to better help you out.

I've got a few questions for you.....

At which airport will you be arriving, which train station for her? How are the two of you getting to/from your hotel? What kind of activities are you interested in (museums, art, plays, ballet... nightlife, restaraunts, etc?) and do you have any "must sees" while you're there. Are you familiar with the Metro system? Has she been to Moscow before? WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED LEARNING RUSSIAN YET????? And just in general, what do you want to do over there?

Answer a few of these and we should be able to better help you out.

[Jello 0]

Ronnie,

I've been to Moscow twice (and Ukraine twice) to see my fiance and, with the exception of about 10 words, I don't speak any Russian. I think with a little preparedness, a good deal of confidence in your appearance and the right companion and you will have a great time. Moscow is a beautiful city with much to see - it's just not possible to see it all in 5 days.

I am extremely fortunate in that my fiancee is an English interpreter and English teacher so she is very well versed in meeting with clients and showing them around the City. As a result, everything was very well planned when we met so my experience is a little unique from others.

In light of the fact that you speak no Russian and your fiancee's English is limited, in my opinion I think it might be wise to spend a few more dollars and stay at one of the nicer American brand hotels (I stay at the Ararat Park Hyatt when in Moscow). It is expensive (about $500 - $600 per night), but everyone at the hotel speaks very good English and they are extremely helpful (which is especially good since you don't speak Russian and have never been to Moscow). Additionally, it is very well located only a few blocks to Red Square, Tverskaya (Moscow's Broadway) and a short walk to several museums and Arbat area.

I would make sure that you pre-arrange transportation from the airport to your hotel. The taxi drivers aren't regulated and they are vultures. You may be lucky and find someone okay, but you also could find yourself in the middle of nowhere with only the clothes on your back. Call your hotel before you leave and arrange transportation.

Remember to carry your passport with you everywhere. Do not go anywhere outside your hotel without it. Most of the time the cops won't say anything to you; however, you don't want to get stopped by a cop without it.

Don't eat at your hotel. The food will probably be good at the hotel, but they usually charge way too much. Every cuisine imaginable is available in Moscow and a good quality dinner for the two of you will only run about $25 - $30.

These were the first things that popped into my head, but if you have any other questions, just ask.

[John and Anna 0]

Ronnie,

You're going to have the time of your life! Just a little more information please and that will help the rest of us "spill" what we know to better help you out.

I've got a few questions for you.....

At which airport will you be arriving, which train station for her? How are the two of you getting to/from your hotel? What kind of activities are you interested in (museums, art, plays, ballet... nightlife, restaraunts, etc?) and do you have any "must sees" while you're there. Are you familiar with the Metro system? Has she been to Moscow before? WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED LEARNING RUSSIAN YET????? And just in general, what do you want to do over there?

Answer a few of these and we should be able to better help you out.

Rent an apartment it is a lot cheaper than a hotel.

www.pulford.com

write to Nicholas

[john_and_marlene 162]

going to moscow. any suggestions?

Don't take any wooden rubles.

[Satellite 1]

In light of the fact that you speak no Russian and your fiancee's English is limited, in my opinion I think it might be wise to spend a few more dollars and stay at one of the nicer American brand hotels (I stay at the Ararat Park Hyatt when in Moscow). It is expensive (about $500 - $600 per night), but everyone at the hotel speaks very good English and they are extremely helpful (which is especially good since you don't speak Russian and have never been to Moscow).

Wow! That was our entire Moscow budget for two weeks If someone is actually going to spend $2000-$3000 for a week's stay, you can split half with me and I'll come a along and show you how to survive on the remaining $1500

[Chuckles 0]

I have been to Moscow a few times. Yes, of course there are ways to survive there on a small budget, but if you really want a nice 'western' style hotel I would suggest the Moscow Best Western. I stayed there for a short time. It is near the Belorusky (sp?) metro station, a bit farther out then some of the other hotels, but it is $150 a night with all the comforts.

[bruc 0]

Not to worry, you'll be ok and will have a new and rewarding experience.

My fiance is not from Moscow but she meets me at SVO2 when I arrive there and we always rent an apartment for several days thru gotorussia.com . They do all of our transfers and we've never had a problem.

My fiance speaks very little English and I stutter in Russian but it's always been fun for us.

Let your girl take the lead and you'll be ok. Let her do the buying and the negotiating..she'll know what to do.

Go and enjoy your girl, have a good time, enjoy the sights around Red Square and the Arbat Area near Red Square.

I've been many times and have never been checked by the police, never had a pick pocket make a move on me, never been beat-up...always had a great time with my fiance and her daughter.

I'll be there at the same time as you and then on to their city with them for 10 more days.

Give us a report when you get back :-)

bruc

[Satellite 1]

We always rent an apartment for several days thru gotorussia.com.

Let your girl take the lead and you'll be ok. Let her do the buying and the negotiating..she'll know what to do.

This sure sounds very hypocritical or contradictory at best. My wife at the time would never consider jumping on a website designed for an English speaking tourist and rent a place through them. She would go local through her Russian contacts and negotiate a Russian price for Russian accommodations. No offense to gorussia.com, I am sure they are good, but their clientele make an American salary which is not a Russian salary. Just some food for thought. Where as a local newspaper in Russia will have the local Russian in mind when it posts a listing for $100 a week for an apartment rental.

[ronnielee67 2]

Ronnie,

You're going to have the time of your life! Just a little more information please and that will help the rest of us "spill" what we know to better help you out.

I've got a few questions for you.....

At which airport will you be arriving, which train station for her? How are the two of you getting to/from your hotel? What kind of activities are you interested in (museums, art, plays, ballet... nightlife, restaraunts, etc?) and do you have any "must sees" while you're there. Are you familiar with the Metro system? Has she been to Moscow before? WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED LEARNING RUSSIAN YET????? And just in general, what do you want to do over there?

Answer a few of these and we should be able to better help you out.

well, i do thank you all for your attention. it is kind of you to reply. first , about learning to speak the russian language. between the 2 jobs i have, my fellowship and my daughter, the available time i have is spent talking to ilyana. i picked up a couple of books and disks, but just don't have time for it. i trust that she speaks enough russian for the both of us to survive moscow. i am landing at svo at noon. her train arrives much earlier than me. she is to meet me at the airport where the hotel will pick us up. it can't be worse than arriving in down town atlanta, columbia, or miami by greyhound. or can it? i am interested in seeing the kremlin. red square, arbat, and ilyana has talked about a zoo and mabe a concert. i plan to take her shopping, she mentioned that no one has done that in a long time. she liked some of the pages i showed her from victoria secret. is there one in moscow, or something like it? niether one of us drink or do the club seen , but a live band is attractive. we are both music lovers. the main thing to me is that i keep her comfortable as best i can. her home life is hard. she has raised a daughter on her own. i want to make the trip about her as much as possible. she deserves it. she works hard at our relationship. she has always done all the translating and she keeps very late hours because of my available time for us to communicate. i am in love with her and i want to show her. thanks for all the help, ronnie lee

[slim 1,525]

OK Ronnie. Sounds like you've at least got your $#!^ together as far as the logistics plan is concerned. Seems like you're covered there so I won't go too deep except for to say that if the hotel is charging you more than $40 or $50 for the transfer, that's too much. You can take a cab for less than that. I've seen that sometimes they'll charge like $90 or something for "an air-conditioned van" to take you to and from the hotel. That's what the cab does for half the price! (The cab "box" is right outside the international arrivals at SVO. 1100 Rubles for anywhere in the city, and as long as your girl is there to hand them a card from the hotel, you guys will have no problems at all.)

Next.... The Kremlin and Red Square (must see... also be sure to snap a photo in front of St. Basils. That serves as fool-proof "proof" of your meeting in person!) are right downtown and very easy to get to from anywhere in the city. Hop on the Metro and head toward the middle. Really cool to see, and you could easily spend more than one day looking through the museums there. Also, the GUM (or what used to be the GUM department store and what is now just a huge mall) is located right beside Red Square and is an awesome place to go shopping. It rivals any regular mall here in the States and may even be a little more high-end than some.

Arbat is just a stop or two down from there. Jump back on that Metro and go to Arbatskaya. Although, I would avoid doing any "souvenir" shopping there because it's all a little over-priced, it is cool to see as you will see everything from cosmonaut helmets to pictures of Lenin with the Golden Arches behind him. I recommend eating at the My-My (moo-moo) restaraunt while there, it's cheap and has good food, but there's also Hard Rock Cafe, and even a Mexican buffet that's supposed to be the best in Moscow. A fun day just walking around. (There are two Arbats.. the old Arbat, which is the touristy one, and the new Arbat which is more modern and like shopping in stores. Both are worth checking out.)

I was actually impressed by the zoo. Moscow Zoopark, I was expecting to be a run-down little place with maybe a bear and tiger or something. It was actually quite nice with an assortment of animals from all over the world, and was one of the best dates that Elena and I had. We spent the better part of the day there. It had nice landscaping (which is terribly lacking in the rest of Moscow) with beautiful flowers and plants and trees all over. This is a good place to spend a very great day with your sweety! Once again... you take the Metro!

See the pattern? The METRO!!! Get a Metro map from your hotel and have your girl keep it in her purse or you can keep it in your pocket or something. It's really cheap, and you can be anywhere in the city in under 30 minutes. (More like 5-10 usually.)

Another thing that I don't think has been brought up yet is the WC. (Water Closet, or restroom, toilet, port-o-let, etc.) While you're out walking around, there will be little "WC" signs here and there, then you'll come upon a row of port-o-lets with an old lady sitting nearby (or inside one of the units... it's a $#!^^y job!...) and she'll take the money for the right to use the WC. It's only like 10 Rubles or something, but just make sure that you've always got some small coins on you. (And you'll need a few to toss over your shoulders before going onto Red Square.... the center of Moscow, superstition that if you toss a coin over your shoulder that someday you'll return to that very spot!)

Night life, bars, clubs.... there are literally thousands to go to, and there are live bands everywhere. A quick walk through your neighborhood in the evening, and you'll probably hear music from more than a few places. If not, get in a cab and tell the cabby to take you to where the music is playing. If you want to have sort of a westerner feel still, Doug and Marty's Boar House is like a sports bar type thing with live music, gambling, pool, etc. owned by two Canadians. (Or a Canuck and a Yank. Or a Canuck and a Brit... I forget. Anyway, good place for nightlife.)

Other than that, I had an awesome time just walking around the city and discovering new things. The Metro is awesome to get you to and from places, the stations are beautifully done and worth a trip for them alone. However, in the Metro, you don't really get to see the city, so get on the bus sometimes too. And WALK!!! If you walk up Tverskaya from Red Square, there's a HUGE McDonald's about 15 minutes up (near Pushkinskaya Metro stop) Fun place to see as it is PACKED!!! at all hours. I was amazed by how much the Muscovites loved McDonalds.

Another interesting place that we went was the natural history/paleontology museum. It was way out in the middle of nowhere (on the profsoyuzna line, a few stops down from there) but had an awesome fossil collection of dinos and mammoths and the like. Once again, I was expecting much less, but pleasantly surprised.

That's another pattern that happened on my trip. Expecting much less, but pleasantly surprised! Good luck, and have fun!

[PurrSuede 0]

Actually, if you to go to Red Square, there's a "Museum of Antiquities" that you can enter just off of Red Square. Some of the stuff is way old history (paleontology stuff) but some of it included the treasures and artifacts of the Tsar and Tsarinas. I mean things like jewel encrusted bibles from the 14th century and just unbelievable things.

It's worth the trip. Be prepared that many places there is one price for "foreigners" and another for "Russians". Some RW will tell you to keep quiet and try to buy two "Russian tickets" but you'll likely stand out like a sore thumb, so pay the price for the foreigner ticket.

Also if you want to take pictures inside the museum there's also another "ticket" to buy to get permission to take photos. And they have little old ladies in every room who will challenge you with "Mozhna billet?" if you start to take a picture and aren't displaying your "permission" ticket.

I would also recommend. Drink BOTTLED water, and even brush your teeth with it. The water ~might~ not affect you but what if it does?

You can likely drink the water if it's been boiled for "chai" (tea kettle/pot) but most restaurants you eat at will have bottled water.

Just some thoughts... hope you have a great trip... and by the way, you can also rent apartments from "Moscow Rick" an American ex-pat at www.enjoymoscow.com

-- Dan

[Neonred 3,564]

In light of the fact that you speak no Russian and your fiancee's English is limited, in my opinion I think it might be wise to spend a few more dollars and stay at one of the nicer American brand hotels (I stay at the Ararat Park Hyatt when in Moscow). It is expensive (about $500 - $600 per night), but everyone at the hotel speaks very good English and they are extremely helpful (which is especially good since you don't speak Russian and have never been to Moscow).

Wow! That was our entire Moscow budget for two weeks If someone is actually going to spend $2000-$3000 for a week's stay, you can split half with me and I'll come a along and show you how to survive on the remaining $1500

My wife got a great laugh out of this one and also enjoyed (and agreed) with Satellite . We can't imagine ANYONE thinking they need to spend that much money for good English in the hotel.....of course the location is nice, BUT....

Save some of that cash and take your girl to the Bolshoi theater. You both will enjoy it and remember it forever. You can check the schedule and buy tickets online at http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/. We have done this several times and enjoyed it.

We used to stay at the Rossia Hotel next to Red Square at a great price, but it's gone now. Our last visit we stayed at the Ukraina Hotel not far from the US Embassy for $150 a night. They speak English there too!

[Satellite 1]

Some RW will tell you to keep quiet and try to buy two "Russian tickets" but you'll likely stand out like a sore thumb, so pay the price for the foreigner ticket.

We bought the "Russian" priced tickets all the time, even though I am not a Russian citizen. The only time I got "caught" is when I decided to push the envelope and request two (even more discounted) student tickets and when asked to show my "student ticket" as it is called in Russia I pulled out my UC Berkeley ID card and claimed to be local studying there. That is when the lady finally asked to see my Russian passport and we just went to another cashier and bought a regular Russian ticket and one student ticket for my wife.

Just wanted to add that this took place at the Tretyakovskaya, a huge art gallery if you are into those kind of things.

Edited August 18, 2006 by Satellite

[Jello 0]

In light of the fact that you speak no Russian and your fiancee's English is limited, in my opinion I think it might be wise to spend a few more dollars and stay at one of the nicer American brand hotels (I stay at the Ararat Park Hyatt when in Moscow). It is expensive (about $500 - $600 per night), but everyone at the hotel speaks very good English and they are extremely helpful (which is especially good since you don't speak Russian and have never been to Moscow).

Wow! That was our entire Moscow budget for two weeks If someone is actually going to spend $2000-$3000 for a week's stay, you can split half with me and I'll come a along and show you how to survive on the remaining $1500

My wife got a great laugh out of this one and also enjoyed (and agreed) with Satellite . We can't imagine ANYONE thinking they need to spend that much money for good English in the hotel.....of course the location is nice, BUT....

Save some of that cash and take your girl to the Bolshoi theater. You both will enjoy it and remember it forever. You can check the schedule and buy tickets online at http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/. We have done this several times and enjoyed it.

We used to stay at the Rossia Hotel next to Red Square at a great price, but it's gone now. Our last visit we stayed at the Ukraina Hotel not far from the US Embassy for $150 a night. They speak English there too!

That's because you live in Fresno and Florida.

For someone from New York City who is used to a higher standard of living and better accomodations, I guess paying $500 per night would be like $150 per night for someone from a small town. Like I implied - if you can afford it, it's worth it. If you can't afford it, then there are other accomodations available.