Moscow, I love you!

On 14 February I celebrated 3 years of living in Moscow and, finally, I can make a declaration of love to this wonderful city.

I had lived in other places in Russia and Ukraine before and in 2014 I moved here.

Did I like Moscow when I started to live here? No. With Moscow love at first sight is not likely to happen.

What do people from other Russian cities/towns know about Moscow before coming here? They know that  “Moscow is an evil city”, “Moscow doesn't believe in tears”, “Moscow never sleeps”, etc. This is why I disliked Moscow before even coming here – I knew living here would not be a bed of roses.

Now, after 3 years, I know that Moscow is probably the best place to live, because here you can find anything you want: the choice of jobs, places to go (theatres, museums, art places, bars) is really wide. You can choose any kind of lifestyle here. You can be whatever you want. You can meet lots of very interesting people. You can just walk around in the center and wonder how much history every building has. You can live in the building where Bulgakov met his wife, to whom he dedicated “The Master and Margarita” or you can walk around places where tsars liked to hunt.

Moscow centre 

If you want to fall in love with Moscow, maybe the following advice will help:

•         If you have recently moved to Moscow and do not like living here, maybe you just do not like the neighborhood – try to change it (I changed 5 places in Moscow before I found the one I enjoy. Living in different parts of Moscow is really like living in different cities);
•        Ask your friends who know the city to show you around – after going to good places with friends you enjoy you will find the city quite friendly;
•        Go on a date with the city alone once a week: choose one new place that you’d like to visit (GUM or Partiarch ponds, Gorky park or café Pushkin, the Tretyakov gallery or Izmailovo Kremlin, etc.) It is always fascinating to dive into atmosphere that Moscow places can offer;
•        If you do not like to explore the city alone, join one of the group of excursionists – you can find lots of them on the internet (most of them are at a charge, but there some which are free – for example, ones which are organized by my friend who is interested in Moscow history and enjoys to tell his friends about it. Feel free to join us if you speak Russian).

We can never love someone/something that we do not know. So, learn Moscow – and you’ll love it. 

Photo by Ksenia Zasetskaya

Why do Russians love Italy?

Every Russian loves Italy. We love Italian people, food, location, weather, style. When I listen to someone’s story about going to Italy, Russian people tell me that there is only one disadvantage of going there – that there are too many Russians in Italy. You know, Russian people have not changed that much since the times of Anton Chekhov (writer, 1860 – 1904) who once wrote in his notebook that “Every Russian in Biarritz complains of the number of Russians here”. We still do not like to bump into each other when abroad. 

Speaking about Russians’ loving Italy, here is why I am sure we love it:

• In every city we have restaurants with Italian food (well, maybe the food is not very much Italian, but for us, it is:);
• For lots of Russians Monica Bellucci is the most beautiful woman in the world;
• If a Russian has been to Europe only once and the place is not Paris or Barcelona, this is Italy;
• We think that the language is very beautiful;
• For many famous Russians like Bunin, Gogol, Tchaikovsky and others  Italy was the source of inspiration;
• Many Russians like the movie Il Bisbetico Domato (The Taming of the Scoundrel), and I think that this is because Russian men are like Adriano Celentano from that movie;
• Russians can spend the whole night trying to purchase online tickets for the exhibition of Vatican treasures in the Tretyakov Gallery (the exhibition will run until February 19).

  

  Florence

      For me Italy is associated with sun and happiness.  I know, it is not always warm and sunny there – but when you are sitting somewhere in Florence drinking your cappuccino and looking at Italian people (of course, I am speaking about the morning, because no one drinks cappuccino in Italy in the evenings) – you have no doubts that they are enjoying there lives. This is something we all need to learn. La Dolce Vita! :)

Photo by Pavel Terenin 

Is it cold in Russia?

In 80% cases this is the first question that people ask when I travel as soon as they learn that I am from Russia. There is a belief that Russia is a country which is extremely cold. Especially in winter. I guess this is why some people who do not like cold are afraid to come to Russia in winter. But! I strongly recommend to try it, because winters here are fun - a lot of snow (if we are in luck), winter sports, snowman making...

Russia is big, and the climate, of course, differs from one part to another. In the central part it is not so cold: in winter sometimes we have long periods when the temperature does not go below 0  - for example, this New Year we were celebrating with rain, not with snow (the average temperature for January in Moscow is around -5-6 ºC though).

Well… last week it was freezing even in the central part (-30-35ºC), and believe me, this is cold for us too:). Not that cold that we will stay at home in such a weather, of course (my friends went skiing and skating, which meant spending from 1 to 4 hours out). I was not that brave and could ski only when it was -15ºC.

Skiing in a forest of Nizhniy Novgorod region

But today it is -8-9 and it is snowing heavily, so we went skating – perfect weather! Soft snow glowing in the moonlight, falling like in a fairy tale, gentle wind…You would enjoy it!

lovely snowfall! some snow on my head after 20 min of skating

However, if you come to Russia in winter, do not forget to take warm clothes with you. As my mother says, there is no bad weather, there are bad clothes. 

Stay warm!

xoxo

Photos by M. Morgunov, V. Alekseyev