Parks/Walking Routes, Moscow

This is a copy of the first spaceship - "Vostok-1". One can see it at VVC.

Behind the roket there was the great museum of space exploration with real dublicates of many space systems - "Lunokhod-1", stations - Mars and Venera, interior of the space station "Salut" and many others. Where are those exhibits now I do not know. After "perestroyka" there is a market in this building :-((((((( This looks like a barbarin's stable in the Great Library.

P.S. I finaly have got an information about the fate of the most popular soviet technopark. All exhibits, incl. Lunokhod-1, were sold by international auction. I hope they are now in good conditions in world museums. Moscow goverment finally decided to remove all markets, and renovate and reconstruct all VVC area to compete for Expo 2015.

When in Moscow, walk with Phoebe Talpin, if you can catch her.

Or get The Moscow News and read ‘The Local’ section, that’s the only place where you will find Phoebe’s most thoroughly lay-out maps. I suspect they keep their on-line version poor to boost up circulation of printed copies.

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Chistye prudy, or the Clean Ponds, is a beautifully peaceful park in the northern part of Kitay-Gorod that is easily accessible either be walking north from Pokrovka or by taking the subway to Chistye Prudy subway stop. This is a sort of oasis, where Muscovites can enjoy a quiet meal beside a man-made pond, or spend an afternoon idling away the time by sitting on the grass and contemplating the playing of children or the swaying of trees in the wind.

It's also a good idea to head out to places like this one (especially Chistye Prudy!) to see one of Russia's greatest traditions - the wedding party. We walked through this park almost everyday, as it was on the route from our hotel to the university. Saturday provided us with the most entertainment, when we got to watch a wedding party progress through. Despite it being illegal, participants will in fact drink vodka during the festivities, which adds to the boisterousness and fun of the entire occasion.

There is also a larger than usual concentration of Kazakh-related places in this area, including the Kazakh embassy, various Kazakh restaurants, and the statue to Abay, the Kazakh national poet.

Quite nearby the "Vostok-1" there is a very popular jet of 1950-s TU-154. Children are allowed to sit in a cabin.

The same planes but with modern avionics and engines are still in operation.

P.S. In 2008 this exhibit was ruined, cutted into parts and utilized as a scrap metal without any explanation after 30 years in the place !!! Vandalizm is continuing!!!

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Ever seen a bee reality show?

The demo-hive is just one of the 40 beehives in Kuzminki park, Moscow. And if you come across one wearing a kepi, be sure to ask for a photo – it belongs to Yury Luzhkov, a most distinguished bee-master and the Mayor of Moscow.

Metro station Kuzminki , shuttle bus 48
Beware rush hour

All photos - courtesy http://www.kuzpark.ru/pages/7/

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I know, I know, I already have a tip on Tverskaya Street, but I felt that I had to add this extra tip because I was so disappointed that I couldn't endulge in it more than I actually did. Tverskaya is a historical district, one that has always been known for its collections of intellectuals and ethnic minorities, making it a haven for creativity. A great joy for the independent tourist looking to really absorb old Moscow without running into the same tourist traps is to simply wander about Tverskaya. I started in at a Tverskaya Square and wandered about some of the streets and got a good few shots of interesting buildings and structures. Some are dilapidated, others are throwbacks to the roaring twenties, and another set include some interesting parks, like the one I found with a huge statue of Lenin. There's also a quaint little church, dedicated to Saints Kosmas and Damian of Shubin, that is tucked away, only its shining copulae pointing the way. The area is yours to discover, and you won't be disappointed!

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I have yet to find out the name of this park, and I'm beginning to believe that it doesn't actually have one. The interactive map of Moscow simply lists it as "forest". This is a well-groomed greenspace that lies between Ilyinskye vorota and Slavyanskaya ploshchad (i.e. the Monument to St. Cyril and Methodus). There are plenty of trees and flower beds, as well as lots of benches for those looking for a quiet rest on the route between the bustle of central Moscow and the shops of Kitay-Gorod.

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Kolomenskoe is an open-air museum set in a large park bordering the Moskva River.

The main attraction at Kolomenskoe is the Church of the Ascension, built in 1532 and added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. Its construction was ordered by Vasily III to commemorate the birth of his son Ivan ("the Terrible"). Its importance lies in its shatior (tent-roof) tower, the first-ever to be built in brick instead of wood, which paved the way to the Red Square's Pokrovskiy (St. Basil's) Cathedral a generation later.

Unfortunately for us, in June 2007, both the Church of the Ascension and the Church of St. John the Baptist (located a bit further in the park) were undergoing renovation. Our favourite building turned out to be the Church of Our Lady of Kazan (1650), on the left side of the entrance, with its beautiful blue-and-gold domes. It is considered to be one of the earliest examples of Naryshkin Baroque architecture.

Other highlights include the front gate and clock tower, midway between the Saviour Gate (main entrance to the Museum-Reserve) and the Church of the Ascension, and the cabin of Peter the Great, brought in from Arkhangelsk in 1934. The oak trees behind the cabin are said to have been planted by Peter himself.

Also, see if you can find the 12th-century stone of Boris, on which "Boris the strong, the courageous, the saint" was inscribed. It lies beside a secondary path between the cabin of Peter the Great and the Saviour Gate.

Admission to the Museum-Reserve grounds, open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in summer and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in winter, is free. There are also exhibitions in a small museum at the front gate that can be visited every day except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The entrance to Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve is a 5-10-minute walk from Kolomenskaya metro station. If you want to go through the entire park like we did, you can also get off at Kashirskaya (one station south of Kolomenskaya) and take Andropov Prospekt until you see a green space -- it's the back end of the park.